Photo: Ana Tiwary

Suneeta Peres da Costa

Suneeta Peres da Costa was born in Sydney, on Gadigal land of the Eora, and is of Goan heritage. She writes fiction, non-fiction, plays and poetry. Her novella Saudade was shortlisted for the 2019 Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Awards and the 2020 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, and was a finalist in Field Notes’ 2020 Tournament of Books. Her earlier novel was Homework. Her first book of poetry, The Prodigal, was published in 2024. Her honours include fellowships and residencies from Asialink Arts, the Australia Council for the Arts, Varuna, MacDowell, the Yaddo Corporation and the Fulbright Program. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, New York.

Titles

Poetry

94 pages
Paperback, 21 x 14.8 cm
Published November 2024
ISBN 9781923106147

In her debut poetry book, the acclaimed author of Saudade unravels myths of homecoming and return, belonging and displacement, patrimony and sovereignty; the poems’ speakers feel both at home and also far from home.

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Fiction

128 pages
Paperback, 15 x 17 cm
Published March 2018
ISBN 9781925336634

A coming-of-age story set in Angola in the period leading up to the colony’s independence, Saudade focuses on a Goan immigrant family caught between complicity in Portuguese rule, and their dependence on the Angolans who are their servants. The title speaks to the melancholy longing for homeland that haunts the characters, and especially the young girl who is the book’s protagonist and narrator.

Suneeta Peres da Costa’s novella captures with intense lyricism the difficult relationship between the girl and her mother, and the ways in which their intimate world is shaken by domestic violence, the legacies of slavery and the end of empire. Her intellectual awakening unfolds into a growing awareness of the lies of colonialism, and the violent political ruptures that ultimately lead to her father’s death, and their exile.

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