Libby Hathorn has asked some of Australia s finest writers for their response to the painting by internationally acclaimed artist Brian Dunlop. First love, joy and disappointment, secrets, violence and the vagaries of fate are interwoven in these stories that remind us things are not always as they appear. Full of pathos, insight and wry humour, The Blue Dress is a stunning display of the possibilities of imagination. The contributing writers include Brian Caswell, Gary Crew, Libby Gleeson, Sophie Masson, Jenny Pausacker and Nadia Wheatley.

These stories offer the reader different ways to define and access our common experience and in doing so the writers reflect with considerable insight on what it is to be on the threshold of childhood in an adult world. Libby Hathorn