Listen to Irma interviewed by Katherine Collette at Readings, Carlton for her Melbourne launch.

Listen to Irma interviewed by Madeleine Cleary on The Book Deal podcast. They cover Irma’s whole career as an author, editor and podcaster, and talk about her latest novel, Shift.

Arlie is a moderately successful thirty-something photographer who can’t seem to get his shit together. He can’t hold onto a girlfriend, or much else, and his relationship with his parents is complicated. His agoraphobic mother, Dellie, has long drawn silence over her South African upbringing. The more she refuses to illuminate, the more Arlie wants to know.

After another break-up, Arlie needs to get away, and there’s only one place he’s drawn to. In Kliptown, he meets choirmaster Rufaro, singer Glory and her younger brother Samson. Amidst the poverty, violence and beauty of this neglected South African township, Arlie begins exploring ideas for an exhibition, and courting the possibility of happiness. But then his father unexpectedly turns up, and a catastrophic event changes everything.

Gusty and gripping, tender and deeply compassionate, Shift is a compulsively readable story about the messy process of art-making, and the mess of love and family. It is an unflinching, insightful and immersive novel that takes the reader inside the inner life of one township, beyond the hyperbole of newspaper headlines, to offer bold, big-hearted hope.

Praise for Shift
‘Shift has cemented Irma Gold as a standout voice in Australian contemporary fiction….The violence depicted in the novel is stark and unsettling, yet Gold’s cinematic and evocative prose is beautiful and transforms even the darkest moments into compelling scenes.’  Books+Publishing magazine, read the full review

‘This isn’t a novel to be read quickly. Slow down and savour each word, because Irma Gold is an immense literary talent. Her control of subject matter, character development and narrative arc is exemplary. Her words are as precious as her surname might suggest. 5 stars.’  Good Reading magazine, read the full review

‘Gold writes a gripping and moving story, within which she interrogates colonialism, systemic racism, family ties, the nature of love, and the nature of success. But being the skilled writer she is, the narrative drives everything. She never allows themes to take over from character. The work is about people, not ideas. Her characters are beautifully rounded, real, vulnerable, and ultimately sympathetic … Shift is perfectly measured, and Gold’s writing is crisp and uncompromising, yet gently melodious … This is a perfect novel. 5 stars.’  Glam Adelaide magazine

‘This book was an absolute winner for me. Set in Soweto in South Africa, I genuinely felt transported, the characters staying with me for days after finishing the story. Bravely tackling issues of post-apartheid racism and entrenched poverty, family history and dynamics, while also considering what it means to be an artist, Gold has still managed to deliver an engaging novel with great heart and lots of joy amongst the sorrow. The nuance and humanity that Gold has brought to complex issues and circumstances demonstrates her great skill as a writer. Highly recommend.’ Kate Horton, owner & bookseller, Farrells

‘If Australian writer Irma Gold suffered from Second Book Syndrome while writing her second novel, it certainly doesn’t show … In Shift, I sense a writer who has reached another level of confidence in fusing her writing, story-telling, and the ideals and beliefs that drive her … The writing is tight. It has the confidence of an editor, which Gold is, but mostly of one who is passionate about her material. The descriptions are fresh and vivid … Shift is a strong, moving novel about a struggling community that has been left behind, for all the promises of freedom. However, it is also a novel that believes art can expose truths and, through that, shift our thinking and thus nudge the world towards being a better place. Gold has written her heart out in this novel to “make the invisible visible” – and to make room for hope. The next move is ours.’  Whispering Gums, read the full review

‘Shift is a powerful novel that takes us somewhere brand new. It makes us think and feel what it is to live in a world where our chances are determined by history, birth and luck. Evocative, propulsive and heartbreaking, Shift is a novel that can change the way you think.’  Rochelle Siemienowicz, author of Double Happiness

‘Seductive, superbly atmospheric and beautifully narrated with a painterly, cinemascope feel, Shift will make your heart race.’  Niq Mhlongo, author of The City is Mine

‘Care, concern, compassion, art – it’s all here in Irma Gold’s heartbreaking new novel. Brimming with characters who leap off the page, and written with Gold’s famously precise and spirited prose, through the prism of fiction, Shift asks us to open our minds to how life is lived with all its mess, complexities and injustices, as well as its wondrous diversity. Unforgettable.’  Nigel Featherstone, My Heart is a Little Wild Thing

‘Shift is such a beautiful book. Irma knows how to write people and places, and I fell deeply in love with both in this book … There’s a gripping tension as we wait for how an incident foreshadowed in the prologue might unfold. I read this one so quickly and I can tell these characters are going to stay with me. I know this one is going to be one of my top reads for the year, and I’m already keen to see what comes next!’  Bookish Bron, read the full review

‘Shift by Irma Gold is recommended reading for those of you who are looking for smart, deeply probing fiction that examines political, economic, and social issues in places that are screaming into the void … This is a complex illuminating story that was very thought-provoking, a great one for book clubs.’  Theresa Smith, read the full review

‘There is nothing of what is sometimes called ‘poverty porn’ in Irma Gold’s novel. To the contrary, she paints a portrait of a vibrant community that transcends scandalous governmental neglect and an absence of basic infrastructure with an informal local economy and a rich cultural life … Shift is a multi-layered story [and] there’s a lot to mull over … Shift is exactly the kind of novel I enjoy.  It explores ethical dilemmas in a setting that most of us will never encounter, without diminishing the complexity of the issues.’  ANZ Litlovers, read full review

‘Shift moved me with a mix of dread and hope, becoming progressively more and more difficult to put down … It also touched me as a photographer. Photographic processes, both technical and in the mind’s eye of the photographer, are a major element in the novel’s construction. The insights into the process of portrait photography are exceptional … Gold is an acute and sensitive observer. She captures the intensity of life in Kliptown. The human spirit in the face of grinding poverty, the pain and the love are all there. Shift is masterful.’  City News, read the full review

‘Gold’s South Africa is a place of beauty and optimism, but also of dark and bitter resentment, where violence and tragedy can explode to the surface. Shift encapsulates both heartbreak and hope. It’s a deeply political novel, but it’s also an engrossing family drama and a story of the redemptive value of making art.’  Newtown Review of Books, read the full review

‘Irma Gold writes in an assured and fluid prose … Her technique of foreshadowing the climax on the first page is clever in several ways, not least because we spend the whole story waiting for it – its explication and expansion. A sense of nervous anticipation disturbs us from the start and everything in the story from there is an inching step towards the fall … Shift is at once affecting fiction and a pertinent social commentary on the chance of birth that sees some of us living in relative ease and luxury, and others in poverty, violence and despair … The confidence that photographers have that their work can sometimes change the world is writ large in these pages. Some writers, too, achieve this – the power of their words to persuade. Irma Gold is clearly amongst these.’  Barbie Robinson, Living Arts, read the full review

‘Gold takes us into the chaos and beauty of Kliptown, where people struggle to free themselves, and love runs deep. A fiercely sympathetic novel about struggle, freedom and love.’  Leah Swann, Sheerwater

‘Shift is an unforgettable book with vivid descriptions … It has changed my way of thinking.’  Kim Robyn Smith, author of A Room on the Moon

‘Shift is a beautifully written and evocative novel that explores how a place, its people and history can profoundly shape and enrich our world view. An insightful and multi-layered story, Shift will stay with you long after you’ve turned its final page.’  Emily Brewin, Small Blessings

‘I was hooked. There’s generational trauma, systemic racism, family angst, and romance. I finished reading Shift with a desire to know all about South Africa and its current living status … A good book makes you think, makes you yearn to learn. A good book builds a fire in your belly. Well done, Irma Gold!’  Lisa Jewell