AustLit

'With the long hot Australian summer still burning fiercely here in Brisbane, it’s hard to think of this as the Autumn issue, but here we are. A few months ago, while reading submissions, I tweeted: “the skin as map / body as landscape metaphor feels very overdone”. Images came to mind of black-and-white cinema advertisements tracing a body’s contours in close-up, making them look like geographical formations in order to sell moisturiser (or something); or slightly more obscure references like lyrics from the song ‘Cardiac Atlas’ by June of 44: “he finds his way with a map of arteries / he makes camp just above your heart”. So yes, it felt overdone to me, but I was quickly forced to qualify this with another tweet: “but I’m reading a piece by someone who’s doing it well, so who cares?”' (Editorial introduction)

'In a phone call followed by several conversations and a string of other phone calls, John Clarke slowly explained to me the concept of the Commonplace Book. Not a diary. Not a journal. Jottings and observations; little notes on the subtle specialness of life. Several emails followed with various jotted musings attached.' (Editorial introduction)