AustLit

'Are we a nation of racists? Thirty-nine writers confront our darkest truths in this fearless collection of short stories, poems and essays from the margins of Australia.

'Featuring Tyree Barnette, Meyrnah Khodr, Adam Phillip Anderson, Guido Melo, Janette Chen, Riley Ingersole, Sydnye Allen, Chris Tupouniua, Rizcel Gagawanan, Amani Haydar, Christine Shamista, Krisneth Paddy, Ting Huang, Heikmah Napadow, Mark Mariano, Daniel Nour, Monikka Eliah, Shirley Le, Kabien Parker, Ayoub Jama, Ferdous Bahar, Ayusha Nand, Pamela Asare, Natalia Figueroa Barroso, Sara Saleh,  Nellie Tapu Nonumalo Mu, Cassandra Taylor, Noor Abuzamaq,  Dezheen Shivan, Fiti Fainifo, Elisha Toese, Mahran Asghari, Lara Ahmed, Sopanha Chea, Yash Bab, Zoyal Dahal, Cleveland Brown, Max Edwards & Sarah Ayoub. Edited by Winnie Dunn, Stephen Pham & Phoebe Grainer.'(Publication summary)

'This issue of Cordite Poetry Review in particular focuses on the racist act of Brownface, especially in Australia. Brownface stems from the dehumanisation of Black people in the form of Blackface. Award-winning Afro-Caribbean-Australian author Maxine Beneba Clarke writes that Blackface was created when ‘White performers liberally applied black greasepaint or shoe polish and used distorted dialogue, exaggerated accents and grotesque movements to caricature people of African descent’ in the name of ‘art’.' (Winnie Siulolovao, from Editorial introduction)

'On the day that Donald Trump was elected president of the United States in 2016, four hood-rats clash in a string of violence, substance abuse and sexual encounters. This is a vivid and compelling portrait of life growing up in Western Sydney. 

'Experienced as a multi-screen installation Sex, Drugs & Pork Rolls is an oral storytelling experience from the heartland of multicultural Australia. The four-part monologue weaves together a portrait of young people of colour (POC) growing up in the Western suburbs of Sydney. Presented across four screens, live audiences will experience the work from the comfort of a socially-distanced chair while enjoying a complimentary Bánh mì. 

'Sex, Drugs & Pork Rolls has been created by a team of extraordinary artists and technicians, all of whom are from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse background, infusing the work with depth and authenticity. The work resonates with an astute sense of place, connection and shared experiences of those traversing the tensions and challenges of mixed cultural mores and behaviours with empathy, humour and uncompromising clarity of truth. 

'Written by Winnie Dunn, Stephen Pham, Shirley Le and Omar Sakr, with script editing and dramaturgical support from acclaimed author Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Sex, Drugs & Pork Rolls has been crafted for the screen by Helpmann Award winner S.Shakthidharan and performers Hazem Shammas, Emily Havea, Aileen Huynh and Henry Vo.' (Production summary)

'How does one interpret the world after their mother has died? Through this question, Cath Moore makes a brilliant debut with her magical-realist novel, Metal Fish, Falling Snow. On a cross-country drive to the coast, mixed-race protagonist Dylan witnesses signs that tell her to take her mother’s spirit back to Paris by boat. For Dylan’s caretaker, Pat, each kilometre only deepens his guilt. He knows there is no boat waiting at the ocean for Dylan, only her paternal Guyanese–Australian family – their connection having been severed by her estranged father almost a decade before.' (Introduction)

'After a whirlwind 2019, in which three of her plays debuted around the world, Anchuli Felicia King is showing no signs of slowing down. The Thai–Australian playwright and multidisciplinary artist speaks about language, learning from other Asian women and how storytelling can make a difference. “I’m drawn towards muscular political storytelling, art that has a clear politics and an ethical framework it’s trying to impart. That feels especially vital in a world lacking humane moral leadership.” By Winnie Siulolovao Dunn.' 

'Sweatshop Women is an exciting and contemporary collection of prose and poetry written by women from Indigenous, migrant and refugee backgrounds. In this second volume, Australia’s most urgent new voices return to reclaim their stories of culture, sovereignty and diaspora.

'Featuring: Christine Afoa, Sydnye Allen, Maryam Azam, Ferdous Bahar, Flordeliz Bonifacio, Shankari Chandran, Janette Chen, Cindy El Sayed, Phoebe Grainer, Aseel Harb, Amani Haydar, Sheree Joseph, Meyrnah Khodr, Shirley Le, Abeny Mayol, Jessicca Wendy Mensah, Gayatri Nair, Lieu-Chi Nguyen, Sara Saleh, Christine Shamista, Mary Anne Taouk, Divya Venkataraman and Diane Wanasawek.' (Publication summary)

'Merlinda Bobis is a poet first and foremost but her extensive body of work has transpired across novels, plays, performances, essays, and works for radio. A single dialogue between us can in no way capture her incredible writing, which is able to transcend borders in all their myriad and sometimes devastating forms. Yet, what I have aimed for in this interview is to showcase the mind of one of Australia’s most brilliant writers to date writing through her Filipino-Australian heritage in a time where the Filipino-Australian community has been vastly ignored and undervalued. As we live, love, and strive to survive together in a time of a global pandemic, I hope this dialogue reminds us how poetry moves through us and can be used as a tool to keep us together.' (Introduction)

'Sweatshop Women is an exciting and contemporary collection of prose and poetry written by women from Indigenous, migrant and refugee backgrounds. In the first volume of this urgent new series, the diverse women of Western Sydney reclaim their stories of love, faith, home and history.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The lebs, filos, bogans and fobs of 2770 surround me. i can hear them, yelling out yullah, kuya, maaaaate and toks as they pack out Starbucks. They’re not angry—everyone here is just ethnic or povo or both. it’s 8 pm on a Tuesday night. Starbucks is the spot, cause after Westfield closes there’s nowhere else to go. (Publication summary)