Hello, I’m Elizabeth Bryer, the author of >>a book<< or >>two<< (more on this latest one soon) and the translator of >>a few of them<<.
contact me: ekbryer@gmail.com
about me: >>bio<< & >>conversations<<
purchase: a signed copy of my first book, including Australia-wide postage >>
Thanks for dropping by.
From Here On, Monsters
Joint winner of the Norma K Hemming Award
a genuinely exciting debut from an Australian writer — Maria Takolander, The Saturday Paper
the envy of far more experienced novelists — James Bradley, The Weekend Australian Review
a beautiful, thought-provoking novel — Kaylia Payne, Lip Mag
a page teaser — Thuy On, The Age & Sydney Morning Herald
★★★★☆ 4.5 stars out of 5 — Jemimah Brewster, Arts Hub
wonderfully strange — Fiona Wright, ABR Books of the Year
takes us into uncharted literary territory — Fernanda Dahlstrom, Kill Your Darlings
defies easy or simple reading — Better Read than Dead
this Australian debut has it all — The Saturday Paper Best Books of 2019
a bold statement about culture and humanity — Clare Rhoden, Aurealis
una novela compleja y fascinante; un gran debut, en definitiva — Jorge Salavert, Notas Literarias
looks to unsettle our assumptions about asylum — James Halford, ABR
a very fine book — Lisa Hills, ANZLitLovers
this novel is comprised of incredibly complex layers — Underground Writers
places the reader into the abyss of storytelling — Tara June Winch
traverses the chasm between truth and history — Shaun Prescott
Bryer writes with compassion and generosity — Tony Birch
about me
My debut novel From Here On, Monsters is out now with Picador Australia. It was joint winner of the 2020 Norma K Hemming Award (!! cue wild dancing). My second work of fiction is called The Young Geriatric. It will be released in late 2026.
The novels I’ve most recently translated from Spanish are Eduardo Sangarcía’s The Trial of Anna Thalberg, for which I won the 2025 NSW Premier’s Translation Prize, and María José Ferrada’s companion novellas How to Order the Universe and How to Turn Into a Bird. Others include Aleksandra Lun’s The Palimpsests, awarded a PEN/Heim Translation fund grant from PEN America in 2017; Claudia Salazar Jiménez’s Americas Prize–winning Blood of the Dawn; and José Luis de Juan’s Napoleon’s Beekeeper.
I divide my time between Birraranga/Melbourne on unceded sovereign Wurundjeri land, where I pay the rent, and Arequipa, Peru. You can say hi over at ekbryer@gmail.com.
>>Below<< you can find some interviews where I talk a bit more about writing and translation. And, a recent piece of writing that people have said nice things about can be read over here.
translated books
// Eduardo Sangarcía, The Trial of Anna Thalberg [Anna Thalberg], Restless Books, 2024
// Karina Sainz Borgo, No Place to Bury the Dead [El tercer país], New York: HarperVia, 2024
// María José Ferrada, How to Turn Into a Bird [El hombre del cartel], Tin House, 2022
// María José Ferrada, How to Order the Universe [Kramp], Portland: Tin House, 2021
// José Luis de Juan, Napoleon’s Beekeeper [El apicultor de Bonaparte], Sydney: Giramondo, 2020
// Aleksandra Lun, The Palimpsests [Los palimpsestos], Boston: Godine, 2019
// Karina Sainz Borgo, It Would Be Night in Caracas [La hija de la española], New York: HarperVia, 2019
// Melba Escobar, House of Beauty [La casa de la belleza], London: 4th Estate, 2018
// Claudia Salazar Jiménez, Blood of the Dawn [La sangre de la aurora], Dallas: Deep Vellum Publishing, 2016
conversations
// Sydney Review of Books, 3 October 2025
// 2025 NSW Literary Awards (from min. 55:30), 19 May 2025
// ABC Sunday Extra, 11 April 2021
// Southwest, 16 February 2021
// Poets & Writers, 16 February 2021
// Words Without Borders, 10 February 2021
// Everyday I Change Your Name, Vre Books, 2020
// Adroit Journal, 21 February 2020
// AALITRA newsletter (scroll down), December 2019
// The Garret, July 2019
// ArtsHub, 21 October 2019
// Godine, 21 August 2019
// Huff Post, 9 July 2017
coda of shorts
A revolving selection of one story, one essay, one translated story, one translated essay
story // essay // translated story // translated essay // academic article
Elizabeth Bryer 