Not One Smoker Has Ever Been Accused of Suicide
By Edward O’Dwyer
I’m convinced of it, but of course I know how it looks,
the oven, the gas, the history of clinical depression.
Incontrovertible evidence shows she’d left her husband,
taken their kids to London to live in a flat once lived in
by W.B. Yeats. But cigarette packets come with
the clear warning ‘Smoking Kills’, and yet
not one smoker has ever been accused of suicide.
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Featured Writing
Recent Works
The latest poetry, fiction, essays, art and reviews from Verity La.
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…
In the Hills, On the Shore (Patricia Russo)
In the hills overlooking the sea, she is chopping and stirring. She sends a message in the wind: In half…
Letter to a Reader (Mark Mordue)
Hey You, Can you feel me there – with you still? Way back when. Some presence in your imagining? Or…
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UNpersoned Podcast
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Fiction, poetry, essays, and criticism published in Verity La since 2010.
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My Nana is a Mermaid (Anna Jacobson)Artist’s Statement This video work was inspired by old photographs I discovered of my nana and grandad when they were young. I was drawn to the photograph of my nana ... Read More
HOME, LAND AND LONGING: Tangea Tansley’s A Question of BelongingReviewed by Carmel Bendon Edited by Robyn Cadwallader Between 1976 and 1992 the country of Mozambique was torn asunder by civil war as the Frelimo nationalist movement fought for independence ... 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.
VERITY LA POETRY PODCAST Episode 10: Eileen ChongEILEEN CHONG: In this edition of the Verity La Poetry Podcast, Podcast Producer Alice Allan and Managing Editor Michele Seminara chat with Eileen Chong about her forthcoming book, Rainforest, out ... Read More
Memory for Dust (James Laidler)Artist’s Statement ‘Memory for Dust’ is a poem that lay buried in one of my journals for a number of years. It recounts the death of our pet cat which ... 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.