Ben
Fresh off the train from Sydney, wide-eyed and keen to infiltrate Melbourne’s literary scene, Ben’s first stop was to apply for work at Paperback. Two years and a pandemic later, he got the call he’d forgotten he’d been waiting for. Ben’s tastes revolve around oddball fiction, catty non-fiction, jaded leftists and arty comics. Outside of Paperback, he co-runs Glom Press, teaches and occasionally makes said arty comics.
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Esther
Esther came to the Paperback on strong recommendation from an outgoing employee, and over a long-black at Pellegrini’s Esther managed to talk so convincingly about the works of Henry James that she was hired within the week. She continues to indulge her taste for outdated writers, mid-century female authors and more recently, European fiction in translation. She is aware that contemporary writers exist (and has even read some of them) but has taken it upon herself to shepherd some of the more awkward writers of slim, charming and strange fiction onto the recommendations table and into the hearts of our readers. Outside of work Esther is a Struggling Artist (Musical Variant).
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Robert
In 2015, Robert came into the Paperback and bought a copy of Jonatham Lethem’s The Fortress of Solitude. The week after he returned with a resume in tow, then returned again the week after that. Luckily, this annoying strategy was successful and he was soon behind the counter processing book sales and talking a lot about Southern Gothic literature. Robert’s readings interests are mostly translated fiction and independent presses, but you’ll also find him blitzing through hip-hop biographies or re-reading his favourites: Javier Marias and Shirley Hazzard. In his spare time he occasionally writes and creates an underground hip-hop zine.
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Anna M
It took Anna fifteen years to work up the courage to drop off her resume at The Paperback. During that time she worked as a curator, completed a PhD, and spent many evenings browsing the bookshop’s shelves. Anna’s been a bookseller at The Paperback for a decade and she organises our Salon events with the help of the rest of the bookshop team. She will read anything told from the perspective of a peripatetic narrator, anything written by a sharp-witted mid-twentieth century woman, and (almost) anything composed in fragments. Anna is the author of two books and, in her spare time, is currently failing to write a third.
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Georgie
Georgie is the newest addition to the Paperback staff. Her literary interests centre around fiction that documents the feminine experience and the Australian outlook, and non-fiction that explores politics, gender and philosophy - or anything to do with Bob Dylan. Outside of the Paperback Georgie is a student of gender and geography studies, an amateur socialite and a nature nerd.
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Sally
Sally started working at the Paperback after doing a Salon event for her first book. Having admired the shop’s regal carpet and impressive range for years (no-one in Melbourne stocks more NYRB classics than Paperback), she leapt out of an aimless summer and into the role with great enthusiasm. She likes to read fiction from all eras with a particular soft spot for 20th century comedies-of-manners, under-appreciated Australian novels, and novels where nothing much happens. She also enjoys essays, political and historical texts, and old glossy long-form magazine articles. Like Esther, Sally is also a Struggling Artist (Writer Variant).
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Anna T
Anna T was born on a Friday in summer and now she works at the Paperback, where she feels like a minor character in one of those “happy novels” that people would like to read on holiday. But she primarily likes to read miserable, disturbing and gruelling novels and memoirs with a good amount of attention to ethical and emotional complexity or depravity. Or funny books, but they're hard to do. When not at the Paperback, she is a book editor.
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