Karen Comer – författare

WINNER OF THE 2024 CBCA BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR OLDERS READERSSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 ETHEL TURNER PRIZE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURESHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 UTS GLENDA ADAMS AWARD FOR NEW WRITINGThis song has a grace note,a tiny note that's there for embellishmentbut can easily be ignored,not played.Tonight, I add it in -just because.We can all do with an extra noteof grace.Grace Dalfinch is a talented violinist who longs to play contemporary music in bars, but her mum forbids her. James Crux is an aspiring street artist who promised his dad he wouldn't paint in public until he's finished school. When Crux witnesses Grace's impromptu performance on a deserted tram, he's inspired to paint her and her violin; and when Grace stumbles across her portrait in a Melbourne alley by an anonymous street artist, she sets out to find its creator.Grace Notes is a debut YA verse novel, set in one of the most locked-down cities in the world - Melbourne, 2020. For fans of Cath Crowley and Pip Harry.'A classic in the making; Grace Notes is a vital balm of a book, a story to press into everybody's hands.'DANIELLE BINKS'Poetry, music and art, woven together in an uplifting story about endless lockdowns and first love.'NOVA WEETMAN'Comer captures the beats of Melbourne's 2020 and the unique experience of a generation of teens in one of the most locked-down cities in the world.'Books+Publishing'Heart and soul triumph over Covid lockdowns and restrictions . . . Karen has used the verse novel to beguile, dance and demand layers of emotion and depth that only poetry can sustain. A masterful debut!'LORRAINE MARWOOD'Like the grace note of the title, this beautiful story strikes the perfect tone, mixing colour, light and music at a time when we needed it most.'NICOLE HAYES'A Romeo & Juliet tale of the modern era . . . Grace Notes [is] a compelling rallying cry for the pursuit of passion, of perseverance in the face of adversity, and the essential work of artists'Sydney Arts Guide

Three girls. Three fates. Three interwoven stories. Spanning a hundred years from the present to the future, three girls on the cusp of life search for truth and connection amid family dysfunction, climate change and the march of new technology in this exquisite verse novel from the award-winning author of Grace Notes. Miri, an eighteen-year-old hopeful Jungian student, discovers she's pregnant in 2025. Aleita, sixteen, shelters in the library, the one place free of jolts to her digital implant in 2125. Interwoven between them stands Sylvie, spinning tapestries to save her life and the kingdom. Sylvie exists in the pages of a mysterious fairytale titled The Girl at the Threshold.Miri, Aleita and Sylvie each need to make a choice in their search for the truth. All three are connected through time by heartbreak, a desperate need to save the environment and a search for family and community. An expansive verse novel about the parallel journeys of three extraordinary girls carving out their own histories - and each other's.'Once Upon Tomorrow is an ambitious but captivating novel that explores the bonds of women and craft, technology activism, climate change and psychology, and it will appeal to readers who enjoy verse novels, literature, fairytales, handcrafts and authors such as Cath Crowley and Pip Harry' Books+Publishing'Comer weaves an ambitious, luminous feminist fable about what matters most - family, agency, creativity and hope' PIP HARRY'A fiercely intelligent, profound and groundbreaking work, Once Upon Tomorrow takes the YA verse novel form into territory few authors have explored, achieving poetic and narrative brilliance in the process. Karen Comer is undoubtedly one of our finest contemporary writers' ROBBIE COBURNPraise for Karen Comer's award-winning debut, Grace Notes: 'Perfect for any young reader who's ever felt left on the outside.' Books+Publishing 'A masterful debut!' Lorraine Marwood 'This beautiful story strikes the perfect tone.' Nicole Hayes 'A classic in the making.' Danielle Binks