Stephen Orr was born in Adelaide in 1967, studied science and education and taught in a range of country and metropolitan schools. One of his early plays, Attempts to Draw Jesus, became his first novel, shortlisted for the Australian/Vogel's Literary Award. Since then he has published ten novels (most recently, Sincerely, Ethel Malley) and two volumes of short stories (Datsunland and The Boy in Time). He has been nominated for awards such as the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Miles Franklin Award and the International Dublin Literary Award.
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'While the distinctive life of time and place comes across vividly through the interactions of a believable cast of characters, the deeper attractions of the novel come from the way Orr has woven tragic young Hal into the magical tapestry of Rimbaud's famous poem, Le bateau ivre (The Drunken Boat)' - Katharine England, Advertiser
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'One of my favourite authors.' - Lisa Hill, ANZLitLovers LitBlog
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'It is interesting to speculate about the historical details, which may have inspired Stephen Orr to write this cleverly constructed novel.' - Julie Wells, ReadPlus
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'A haunting novel of quiet power, with strikingly etched dialogue, Incredible Floridas is the work of a literary craftsman at the top of his game.' - Cameron Woodhead, Age/Sydney Morning Herald
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'The author has captured beautifully the slow-moving nature of an Australian town in the 1950s with all its colloquialisms and latent sexism … There is a subtext in the dialogue which an astute reader will readily understand but seemly it escapes those speaking it and those to whom it is directed.' - Rod McLary, Queensland Reviewers Collective
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'A compelling and at times distressing portrait of a twentieth-century Australian painter and his family.' - Gregory Day, Australian Book Review
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'Orr has chosen a difficult path to explore; one that not many writers would choose to ever touch, and I'd say that he has raised the bar rather high with this work.' - Carl Delprat, Compulsive Reader
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'Incredible floridas is the third Orr book I've read … What keeps me coming back is his ability to capture ordinary, day-to-day human interactions, human hopes and fears, with such realism and warmth. There's no judgement from Orr. He leaves that for the reader to consider.' - Sue Terry, Whispering Gums