Without
By Ellen Shelley
He’s moved to Varsity Lakes; loose as an untied shoe or a
shameless escape. Raised down south where bands play and
friends came to stay. Now it’s just him and his beat-up wreck
heading north with a blanket in the back and that wicker lamp
he snagged from the side of a road.
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Featured Writing
Recent Works
The latest poetry, fiction, essays, art and reviews from Verity La.

Knock You Down; Lift You Up: Devika Brendon reviews ‘That’s What They Do’ by Koraly Dimitriadis
I have a theory about outspoken women. They are accused of being disruptive, confronting, provocative and too direct. They highlight…

Not One Smoker Has Ever Been Accused of Suicide (Edward O’Dwyer)
I’m convinced of it, but of course I know how it looks, the oven, the gas, the history of clinical…

The Stone Hookers (Carol Major)
Two years before I ever heard about stone hookers stealing a place away, my mother and I had already been…
Fantasy (Murtaza Ali)

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Artwork, illustration and visual storytelling.
Sea Country (Sophie Finlay)

Wali (Djon Mundine OAM)

Drawing on the Land: Garigal Country (Michael Glasheen)

UNpersoned Podcast
Tune in to the UNpersoned Podcast where managing editor Michele Seminara unpacks what's happening in the arts and literary scenes with guests from Australia and around the world.
The Vault
Fiction, poetry, essays, and criticism published in Verity La since 2010.
An archive of writing committed to freedom of expression and resistance to ideological conformity.
Explore our Archives
Master of the Ghost Dreaming (Graham Akhurst)A bloodied sunset reminds us That ghosts come from the ocean in the dark They bellow on trumpets And greedily watch sails flex Drawing them closer They leave their dreaming ... Read More
The Lumen Seed (Judith Crispin)The Lumen Seed opens onto an apocalyptic scene. A hardwood mulga tree, reaching for the sky, holds a placard: “The Lord’s Return is Near”. In Coober Pedy, a curved handmade ... Read More
UNpersoned Podcast
Tune in to the UNpersoned Podcast where managing editor Michele Seminara unpacks what's happening in the arts and literary scenes with guests from Australia and around the world.
Watch interviews and social commentary from the Vault.
The Vault
Fiction, poetry, essays, and criticism published in Verity La since 2010.
An archive of writing committed to freedom of expression and resistance to ideological conformity.
Into the Woods (Rebecca Stringer)Rebecca Stringer is an academic and erstwhile photographer and lives on the Otago Penninsula in Dunedin, New Zealand, with her partner and son. Rebecca lectures in Gender Studies at ... Read More
Working it out (Jen Webb)Getting there This is the morning I wake from a dream of drowning, and wait for what comes next. Someone brings me tea I cannot drink, chocolates made of coconut. ... Read More
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Verity La Journal is an independent international literary journal publishing fiction, poetry, visual arts, essays and cultural commentary.
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About Verity La Journal
Verity La Journal is an independent international literary journal publishing fiction, poetry, visual arts, essays and cultural commentary. Join our mailing list to get email updates.

