Mr Clean and The Junkie is a 70s love story which begins at a Sydney casino and ends in a remote river valley in northern New Zealand. An Elvis Costello lookalike and the son of a local crime boss, Jon is weighed down with the burden of his filial responsibilities. But on his way to the casino to launder a briefcase of his father's cash, he catches sight of the dark beauty of gambling junkie, Justine. With her on his arm, pursued by his father's hitmen and a relentless 70s soundtrack, Jon finds the strength to fight back against a life that's lost its shine. But it's not just up to him - somewhere there's a director with a camera rolling, and then the poet herself steps in as a sceptical narrator with a vested interest in her star-cross'd lovers. A startling and original work from a poet who's won awards both sides of the Tasman.

Author Biography

Jennifer Compton is an award-winning poet, playwright and fiction writer who was brought up in Wellington, emigrated to Australia in the 1970s and lives now in Melbourne. Jennifer has published poetry collections in both countries, winning Australia's Newcastle and Robert Harris poetry prizes, and New Zealand's Kathleen Grattan Award for poetry and Katherine Mansfield Award for short fiction. She has also been awarded a number of international writer residencies. Kathleen Grattan judge, Vincent O'Sullivan says Jennifer's collection This City 'sustains a questing, warmly sceptical mind's engagement with wherever it is, whatever it takes in, and carries the constant drive to say it right'.