One of my earliest memories (and one verified by mother and various relatives) is of me standing on a table surrounded by smiling people as I sang the old country …
In the Palm of Her Hand (Katie Monteleone)
Megan is small. Megan is born six weeks early and Megan is small enough to rest in the palm of her mother’s hand. Megan is small enough to ride on …
The Cry Room (Gaele Sobott)
Birth I just slipped out she said. Like a slip of the tongue, slipshod, a slip stitch forever unknitted. I was born. Slippery, sibilant, small in the scheme of everyday …
The Health Inspectors – Part One (Anthony Macris)
(from an untitled novel in progress) He lies on the worn lino of the living room floor, waiting for his favourite TV show to begin. The room is dark; he …
Canjeera (Deb Wain)
The house is early-morning quiet when Khadro wakes. Light leaks into the room; the moon glows through the poorly curtained window. Nightmares of her past have followed her across borders, …
Unearthing Hidden Histories: an interview with Claire G Coleman
Born in Western Australia, Indigenous author Claire G Coleman was raised in a Forestry’s settlement outside of Perth and identifies with the South Coast Noongar people, as well as having …
The Art of Leaving (Miki Laval)
(Edited by Laura McPhee-Browne) The man who opens the front door is naked except for the towel around his hips. He seems surprised to see her and takes a quick …
YEARNING FOR JUSTICE: an interview with Sara Dowse
Sara Dowse is a prize-winning Australian novelist and reviewer. Born in Chicago, Dowse grew up in Hollywood, the daughter of an actor mother and celebrity lawyer father. After experiencing anti-Semitism, …
The Gilded Boy (John Bartlett)
Christ, one minute I’m walking behind Akmal and the next I’m lying on the ground, stunned, covered in dust and blood. His blood. I never understood why there wasn’t a …
Breathing Machine: a memoir stopped here (Carol Major)
In December 1999 the earth spun toward a great shadow marking the end of a millennium and those who relied on mechanical timekeeping began to stack tinned goods into cupboards, …