今日吃瓜

Brisbane author Steve MinOn has released his debut award winning novel, First Name, Second Name.

This touching and unique exploration of family, identity and sexuality is a refreshing and unique read from this Queensland author.

In 2023 Steve MinOn was awarded the winner of the Glendower Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer at the Queensland Literary Awards for his manuscript, which has now been released for the world to read.

First Name, Second Name by Steve MinOn

What does a migrant lose when they are so desperate to fit in?

That is one of the main questions that Steven MinOn poses to his readers as they explore First Name, Second Name, but not in a way you would expect.

Stephen Bolin is dead. Or at least he should be.

In the hours before his passing he finds himself compelled to leave his family one last request on his death bed, that they return his body to the place of his birth in Far North Queensland.

When his is request is denied Stephen awakens in the morgue and finds himself drawn to return himself, commencing the pilgrimage on foot from Brisbane as a form of Ji膩ngsh墨, dead but still moving with the living.

As Stephen commences his journey back home so too begins the exploration of Stephen’s past in a complex and poetic narrative throughout the novel.

From sweltering far north Queensland in 1878 to the small Scottish town of Penicuik in 1922 the exploration of Stephens family and their Chinese and Scottish origins begins.

Whilst First Name, Second Name is not a memoir it was inspired by elements of Steve MinOn‘s personal life.

“I wrote my debut novel when I discovered my second name was an anglicised amalgamation of two Chinese first names” he says.

“It bothered me that my ancestors had agreed to it, and I wanted to know why. So I decided to explore this idea of what a migrant loses when they are so desperate to fit in.”

So the story unfolds stepping from generation to generation until Stephen and his siblings are born.

Questions of identity, history and belonging are explored along the way as each generation navigates their own choices that ultimately lead to the life of Stephen.

Stephen’s story however, whilst continuing this exploration, also delves into his life growing up as a young gay man in North Queensland and ultimately Brisbane and later London. Here

MinOn’s storytelling is rich, unique and captivating, weaving multiple stories across several generations almost seamlessly. His writing is as gentle and questioning as it is sharp and poignant. Each chapter transports the reader to different places and times effortlessly as they vividly relive the chapters of this family’s history.

Beautifully written and captivatingly original First Name, Second Name is a perfect debut from Steve MinOn and is available to purchase from March 4 nationwide.