Kirsty Jagger is a journalist by trade. In 2019, she won the inaugural Heyman Mentorship Award, established by acclaimed Australian author Kathryn Heyman, for a writer from a background of social or economic disadvantage.  

Her debut novel, Roseghetto, takes some inspiration from growing up in the housing commission estates of Sydney’s Western Suburbs. 

Roseghetto was published in July 2023, by University of Queensland Press, who recommend it ‘for fans of Douglas Stuart, Sofie Laguna, Emily Maguire, M.J. Hyland and Jennifer Down’. It is an Australian, working-class, coming of age story about overcoming trauma, and breaking the cycle of poverty and violence.  

Roseghetto made the Good Reading Magazine's list of Best Fiction Books for 2023, and The AU Review’s list of Best Books of 2023.