White Noise
Fifteen-year-old Emma is woken up by her dad’s nightmares. Again.
On Friday evenings they go running at East Point Reserve to escape. Escape the ripples of grief that still chase them three years after her mum’s death; escape Emma’s autism diagnosis; escape her dad’s work as an emergency room doctor.
At school, Emma has won a spot on the beach volleyball Sports Institute program. The spot that her best friend Summer desperately wanted. And Summer’s family are moving to the other side of town. Their friendship has kept Emma going since her mum’s death but now things are changing between them – and change isn’t something Emma can outrun.
Set in tropical Darwin, White Noise is an achingly true portrayal of girlhood, grief, and autism from the authentic and gripping voice of debut author Raelke Grimmer.
Raelke Grimmer grew up writing in the hills and foothills of Kaurna Country in South Australia and has lived in Darwin on Larrakia Country since 2016. She writes YA, poetry and creative nonfiction. Raelke’s work has been published in Westerly, Kill Your Darlings, Griffith Review and Meniscus, and she was shortlisted in the Poetry Award in the 2023 Northern Territory Literary Awards. She is a founding editor of Northern Territory literary journal Borderlands, a publication showcasing the very best of Northern Territory and First Nations storytelling. In 2023, Raelke was a participant in Creative Australia’s Digital Fellowship Program and is a 2024 recipient of an online ArtsNT Varuna Fellowship. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Flinders University and is a Senior Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at Charles Darwin University. White Noise is Grimmer’s debut novel and will be published in September by UWA Publishing.
