Bad Art Mother

Bad Art Mother is a 2022 novel by Edwina Preston. The novel follows a poet named Vera in 1960s Melbourne who decides to give legal guardianship of her two-year-old son Owen to her childless friends in order to give herself greater time to write. The novel consists of six parts, each of which is composed of Owen's childhood memories followed by a collection of Vera's letters to her sister. The book, which was rejected 25 times before finding a publisher, was shortlisted for the 2023 Stella Prize.