Mark Mupotsa-Russell

author

Books

BOOKS

The Wolf Who Cried Boy

the Hitwoman's Guide to Reducing Household Debt

BIO

Mark Mupotsa-Russell is a writer living on Wurundjeri Country in the Yarra Ranges. His debut noir thriller, The Hitwomans Guide to Reducing Household debt, won the 2023 Affirm Press Mentorship Award and is out now! Before writing novels, he was a screenwriter, film reviewer, cocktail columnist, PR consultant and communications adviser in the suicide prevention sector.

Mark was previously shortlisted for the Text Prize, won a screen development grant from Screen Australia and had screenplays optioned. He lives among the trees with his Therapist-superstar wife, hilarious son and a moodle majestically-named ‘Mufasa’. When not writing he obsesses about movies and martial arts.

Bio

UPCOMING EVENTS

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In The Press

IN THE PRESS

The Age & SMH

From absorbing tearjerker to Miriam Margoyles, here are the latest new books

10 September 2025

Readings

Book Review by Aurelia Orr

August 2025

write and seek podcast

Debut Books Podcast Episode 17

15 April 2025

The Age

The year in books: Writers pick the best reads of 2024

4 December 2024

words and nerds podcast

Mark Mupotsa-Russell and Dani Vee Episode 699

27 Septemer 2024

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ABC RaDIO

Victorian Evenings with David Astle (2:32:40)

3 Septemer 2024

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Happy Mag

Mark Mupotsa-Russell’s Top Five Hitwomen in Movies and Television

27 August 2024

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Australian arts review

Mark Mupotsa-Russell: The Hitwoman’s Guide to Reducing Household Debt

28 August 2024

Books+Publishing

Affirm acquires Mupotsa-Russell debut thriller

28 November 2023

Arts Hub

The Wolf Who Cried Boy review: Mark Mupotsa-Russell’s heart-wrenching second novel

26 August 2025

words and nerds podcast

Mark Mupotsa-Russell and Dani Vee Episode 739

27 June 2025

Books + Publishing

Affirm acquires new Mupotsa-Russell fiction

31 March 2025

university of Canberra

The UC Alumnus' Guide to Becoming a Published Author

21 November 2024

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3CR RaDIO

Mark Mupotsa-Russell and Raeden Richardson

5 Septemer 2024

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Reading by Candlelight

Interview with Mark Mupotsa Russell

29 August 2024

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Good Reading Magazine

The Hitwoman’s Guide to Reducing Household Debt by Mark Mupotsa-Russell

September 2024 Issue

Books+Publishing

Tinsel time: Christmas 2024 fiction

3 July 2024

News and Events

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Instagram updates

Unfortunately I can’t make the event with @kmildenhall this weekend in Meenyian for @nicestack The wonderful @toni_jordan_writer has stepped in, but I still want my chance to rave about THE HIDING PLACE.

This book is effing FANTASTIC! It’s so many ‘ives’- propulsive, incisive, perceptive, explosive! People are giving Kate her flowers for her ability to cross genres, but I reckon she deserves the whole bloody florist. It’s not simply that THE HIDING PLACE has a perfect crime plot, when her previous plots were perfect for their vastly different genres (speculative epic, sci-fi roadtrip thriller, historical fiction). It’s that in each case she captures the tones and rhythms that elevate the best books in those genres, while keeping stylistic touches that mark them as authentic Mildenhalls.

The Hiding Place has her economy of characterisation, nuanced humans, and subtle exploration of relationships/politics/sex/gender/etc. It also uses the perspective-swapping perfected in The Hummingbird Effect, shifting between multiple characters of different ages and views, all fully developed, without ever feeling too busy. The dynamics between them are complex and well-explored, and the initial setup of four city families going camping on a bush block they’ve pooled money to buy would have been enough to sustain a novel. Chuck a dead body in, and things crank to a whole new level. It’s a brilliant conceit and will have you turning pages so fast, you’ll think you’re in a wind tunnel.

This book does that thing I love most in crime fiction, using the crime to explore moral quagmires and expose deeper character stuff. But it also offers so many other elements: suspense, mystery, messy characters, wicked wit, setting as character and social commentary. You could happily read it as delicious well-plotted page-turner OR razor-sharp satirical character study OR engage with its themes of privilege, ownership, performative politics and public vs private morality. That’s all a long-winded way of saying it’d make a perfect Christmas gift, whether the giftee is super bookish or looking for a beach/campfire read to accompany a glass of not-too-sweet pinot gris!

@simonschusterau

MANSFIELD EVENT!

Come along to @inkbookshopmansfield on Thursday November 13 at 6pm when @lynyeowart and I get together for a co-event, discussing her astounding new novel THE HOLLOW GIRL and THE WOLF WHO CRIED BOY - both!! Double the chat!

Tickets $5pp, phone 03 5775 1701. Can’t wait!

#thehollowgirl #thewolfwhocriedboy #inkbookshopmansfield @affirmpress @penguinbooksaus

Some wonderful audiobooks I’ve heard lately (in the order I listened to them):

UNTIL THE RED LEAVES FALL

@alliparkerwriter ’s debut found small emotional character stories within the horrific scale of the bombing of Hiroshima. This new novel inverts that - taking the intimate settings of a theatre production and a marriage and expanding into an allegory for epic societal issues and historical traumas. There’s so much craft and range on show here, amping up every beat. Superb!

STILLWATER

A brilliantly bruising noir that is rich with character and lived-in detail, without ever feeling bogged down. Stillwater is lean, gritty, sharp and fun as hell. @tanyascottauthor writes the best fight scenes I’ve ever read!

BREAK ME DOWN

The suspense master @anna_downes_writer twists the tension tighter, page by page, while maintaining a primal feeling of disquiet. It’s a biting, often satirical look at the film/acting industrial complex - Megan Abbott meets La La Land! The exceptional production makes the audiobook even better.

NATURE’S LAST DANCE

@nat_kyriacou writes with astounding wit and intelligence - making complex concepts fascinating instead of overwhelming - then splashes in profound wisdom re: humanity’s place in the world and the interconnectedness/intersectionality of environmental degradation and climate crisis. The scope is breathtaking. What could have been depressing is ultimately a rallying cry towards hope and action.

WHEN SLEEPING WOMEN WAKE
@emmapeiyin balances textural beauty and romance with political/historical intrigue and violence (honest in its brutality, never gratuitous). The context, detail and commentary on colonialism/imperialism are deftly communicated without ever overloading the characters or story. Stunning!

THE FARM

@jessica_mansour_nahra_author uses her gifts for mood and character brilliantly, ratcheting up the tension and keeping us enthralled/unnerved. Most remarkable to me is the way she infuses the themes/subject matter into the fabric of the writing, marrying the physicality and physiology of illness/death/agriculture/sex/violence. Loved it!

Happy birthday to this marvel @chenaimupotsa !!! 40 years of big hearted, rainbow excellence, fighting tooth and nail for everyone marginalised and taking “you can’t do this” as a cute phrase that silly normies say. What a human!!!

MORE BOOKSTORES!

Slow on posting these but I took a tour round a bunch of outer Melbourne and regional bookshops and chatted to a whole bunch of wonderful booksellers in their beautiful stores. Signed copies of THE WOLF WHO CRIED BOY are now at:
@thebookbird_geelong
@farrells_bookshop
@rosebudbookbarn
@torquaybooks
@headsandtalesbookstore
@dymockswaurnponds
@collins_booksellers BALLARAT (both stores)
@collinsbookswagga
@novel.nook.yarraglen

Thanks to everyone I chatted to for being lovely book people!
@affirmpress

#thewolfwhocriedboy #booktour #bookstagrammer

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@markwillrussell