First Name Second Name
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Stephen Bolin leaves a bizarre note by his deathbed, asking his sisters to take his body back to his birthplace in Far North Queensland. When they ignore his request, Stephen’s corpse makes the nocturnal pilgrimage alone. But what is compelling him and what will he find there?
His journey takes him back through his turbulent family history: from his Chinese great-grandfather’s life on the goldfields in Queensland, to his Scottish grandparents’ migration to Australia, and to his own coming of age and coming out in Brisbane and London.
Original and satirical, First Name Second Name follows four generations of one family through a reckoning with racial, familial and sexual identity.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
First Name Second Name is a compelling tale of a restless corpse, a moving migrant family saga, a story of queer reckoning, and an energetic 1,600-kilometre journey from Brisbane to Far North Queensland. (State Library of Queensland)