Welfare is wholly made up of four-line paragraphs and has a cadence that is uniquely its own. A high school student leaves his parents’ home to live on his own with friends and with the help of government aid. The narrator becomes your best friend on the first page.

I walk down the slight slope of their driveway. A backpack full of t-shirts and socks and underwear and books on my back. I have $50 and 2 packs of cigarettes in the pocket of my army surplus jacket. But no lighter. You can’t have everything I tell myself.

Steve Anwyll lives in Canada.

Steve Anwyll's profile page

Steve Anwyll lives in Canada and writes for Hobart. This is his first novel.

In wakeful, rhythmic prose, Anwyll writes a mirror for our double vision and the selves we don't want ourselves to see. There's no getting out of Welfare. The voice stays in your blood. - Mila Jaroniec

“Steve Anwyll's entrancing novel about a 16-year-old on welfare surprised and moved me, made me smile and laugh a lot, and increased my appreciation for life. I recommend it and look forward to reading it again.” –Tao Lin