User:Mkarpin

Matthew Karpin is a Brisbane-based writer of fiction. His most recent work, published by Kardoorair Press (2004), is The Thesis, a tragicomic novella about a young woman, Barbara Marchant, who heroically (and absurdly) completes her doctoral thesis over a period of 20 years. Australian writer, Delia Falconer, says of Karpin's writing, "[He] powerfully evokes a sense of controlled hysteria in his writing (laughter and fear at once) which builds without release…as each novella is written it becomes part of a bleak human comedy—an impressive achievement." Karpin's work has been described as Australian Kafka. He has published one other novella, In Our Own Day, and numerous short stories. His most recent short story can be found in Social Alternatives, and is excerpted from a new novel, a political tragedy entitled Hand and Heart. Hand and Heart traces the rise to prominence of Michael Kutin, a NSW ALP right-wing aparatchik. Karpin teaches writing and English literature at the University of Queensland where he is also working on his doctorate through the Australian Studies Centre. Karpin's thesis is a study of gatekeepers of contemporary Australian fiction.