Pretty Ugly - Kirsty Gunn

Longlisted for the JANN MEDLICOTT Acorn PRIZE FOR Fiction - 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards

Pretty Ugly by Kirsty Gunn is the inaugural title in a new series of short story collections from Landfall Tauraka and Otago University Press, celebrating the art of short fiction in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Contradictions, misunderstandings, oppositions, enigmas, provocations, challenges – these messy troubles are the stuff of life. In Pretty Ugly, Gunn reminds us of her unparalleled acumen in handling ambiguity and complication, which are essential grist to the storyteller’s mill. These 13 stories, set in New Zealand and in the UK, are a testament to Gunn’s unrivalled ability to look directly into the troubled human heart and draw out what dwells there. Gunn’s is a steady, unflinching gaze.

In this collection, Gunn practises ‘reading and writing ugly’ to pursue the deeper (and frequently uncomfortable) truths that lie under the surface, at the core of both human imagination and human rationality. Each story is an exquisite, thorn-sharp bouquet.

‘I am fully in love with Kirsty Gunn’s stories. They hit the heart of life so truly it makes me quiver.’ —Jane Campion

Paperback