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The new issue of @Meanjin is out, and I had the immense privilege of proofreading it again. It's full of beautiful, exploring and provoking writing. I hope all who can do subscribe (only $5!), and get into some amazing work.
Here are some highlights, but it's all excellent obvs.
Here are some highlights, but it's all excellent obvs.
. @foomeister's 'Time in the Antipodes'. An utterly moving look at our comprehension of time in relation to the Australian government's detainment of refugees on Manus Island and Nauru, and our response to climate-change induced events.
https://meanjin.com.au/essays/time-in-the-antipodes/
https://meanjin.com.au/essays/time-in-the-antipodes/
. @clairegcoleman's 'Hidden in Plain Sight'. A bracingly honest memoir piece about the author's family history, the Stolen Generations, and incredibly hard decisions made due to Australia's racist colonial history. Really very powerful. Thanks Claire.
https://meanjin.com.au/memoir/hidden-in-plain-sight/
https://meanjin.com.au/memoir/hidden-in-plain-sight/
. @ShellenbergerMD's review of 'Cherry Beach' by @laurahelenmb. A evocative and visceral review that delves into a book that does so much to give visibility to queer woman adulthood. Dixon explores McPhee-Browne's writing and ideas so well.
https://meanjin.com.au/review/taking-female-queerness-from-subtext-to-text/
https://meanjin.com.au/review/taking-female-queerness-from-subtext-to-text/
Amal Awad's 'Sage Tea, Spices and Spaces'. A lovely testament to the power of food in culture and family. ‘The nostalgia it creates; it aches'. Awad uses memoir here to deftly speak on food's significance to memory, identity and culture.
https://meanjin.com.au/memoir/sage-tea-spices-and-spaces/
https://meanjin.com.au/memoir/sage-tea-spices-and-spaces/
. @LuciaOC_'s 'Depreciated: The Price of Love'. This powerful essay picks apart the strictures woven deep into relationships, especially hetero ones where even 'good' men burden their partners with emotional, and domestic, labour. It asks more of love.
https://meanjin.com.au/essays/depreciated-the-price-of-love/
https://meanjin.com.au/essays/depreciated-the-price-of-love/
. @MWehwah's 'Mixtape–Side A'. Al-wehwah speaks so beautifully here on their migrant experience growing up in Australia, and the significance of cassette tapes in his Lebanese family history, one of political turmoil, missing relatives, and communication. https://meanjin.com.au/memoir/mixtape-side-a/
. @LucyTreloar's 'Writing the Apocalypse'. Such an important essay on writing in the age of climate change, of how to weave climate change into prose without it being the centrepiece. I came away with many new insights into the future of Oz writing. https://meanjin.com.au/essays/writing-the-apocalypse/
Winnie Dunn from @sweatshopws on three excellent Australian books by @Sisonkemsimang, Ruby Hamad and Tony Birch that challenge the white-nation fantasy, racism, power imbalances and much else in Australia. Essential reading, especially from white people.
https://meanjin.com.au/essays/australia-in-three-books-15/
https://meanjin.com.au/essays/australia-in-three-books-15/
. @ElizabethFlux's 'Call Him Al'. A superbly surreal, evocative short story on the power imbalances in relationships, and the slow transfigurations that can happen as a result. Loved it. A perfect pairing to Crowley's essay actually.
https://meanjin.com.au/fiction/call-him-al/
https://meanjin.com.au/fiction/call-him-al/
. @sarah_sasson 'Attachment'. A frankly unforgettable recount of the author's pregnancy that's seared into my brain. Importantly unembellished, an essay that explores the physical and emotional toll of an act that can leave severe lasting trauma.
https://meanjin.com.au/memoir/attachment/
https://meanjin.com.au/memoir/attachment/
There are obviously so many other pieces of writing in this volume that also deserve your attention. Subscribing is really easy and shockingly cheap for such work. Support Oz mags and join the club: https://meanjin.com.au/subscribe/
