In the near future, Sydney is collapsing into chaos. The internet disappears, the water isn’t running and the electricity goes out. An academic and a medical student try to smuggle themselves out of the country. But when their boat gets stopped, they are interned on an island detention centre somewhere in the Indian Ocean…

‘Mostafa writes with a fine command of rhythm and pace, and the book builds an escalating sense of panic as the mental toll of being a refugee is laid bare. Its social critique is more lucid, and more barbed, for the plausibility it brings to its portrayal of a future Australia consumed by chaos and calamity.’ - Cameron Woodhead, Sydney Morning Herald.

‘One of the reasons Joshua’s scenes are so compelling is that they could be set today, right now, and that they are set in the world – the Sydney, and the Blue Mountains – that we know….The way Joshua paces and interweaves these narratives, uses them to maintain suspense – the erotics of this text, if you like – is close to masterful.’ - David Brooks, author of The Fern Tattoo and The Grass Library.

‘In the vein of M. Barnhard Eldershaw’s cult classic Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Offshore constructs a near future that’s vivid, terrifying, and eerily feasible.’ ‐ Shaun Prescott, author of The Town.

‘Mostafa shows how you, me, anyone, could find themself in this situation…This is a book that shines a light on dark things that are already happening – not just in Australia’s treatment of refugees, but in attitudes that always lurk beneath society’s surface.’ - Elizabeth Flux, Kill Your Darlings.

Winner of the 2019 Viva la Novella prize, Offshore is published by Seizure, an imprint of Brio Books.

Shortly after publication, the filmmaker Partho Sen-Gupta optioned the film rights to Offshore and a script is currently in development.

Links to buy the book at other shops, including online retailers, can be found on the website of Brio’s distributor, Hardie Grant Publishing, at the relevant page.

You can also find it at a number of public libraries around Australia, and it’s also available as an ebook from Amazon and Apple, if you are so inclined (I can’t stomach linking to either of those companies, but feel free to search on Kindle or Apple Books).