The anthology format presents a unique opportunity to represent diverse authors and literature in meaningful ways. The product of WrICE (the Writers Immersion and Cultural Exchange Program, led by RMIT University and Copyright Agency), The Near and the Far travels a long way, literally and figuratively, in achieving this. (Clarke’s own contribution ‘Aviation’, by the way, is a highlight.)

Comprising fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and essays from emerging and established participating writers in the collaborative residency program, The Near and the Far is wide in scope. The authors hail from the Asia-Pacific region, otherwise bound only by their participation in WrICE, many in places far from home. ‘It felt like cheating,’ reflects Joe Rubbo (each inclusion is followed by a comment from the author) of penning his suburban-Australian story ‘Trampoline’ during the 2015 residency in Hoi An, when, in fact, it nestles quite skilfully alongside the likes of Suchen Christine Lim’s revelatory family tale, Xu Xi’s amusing vision of life before Google, Melissa Lucashenko’s affecting story of unfathomable loss, Omar Musa’s account of an unlikely friendship, and Jennifer Down’s closing story of the bond between siblings amid familial chaos.

The reflections that follow each inclusion are jarring at times – better to collate such in an appendix – but this is a small gripe in an otherwise impressive anthology, sure to stir something powerful (to borrow Clarke’s wording) in many a reader.