AustLit
Latest Issues
Contents
- Fox Dreamingi"One morning, delivering Quest", single work poetry
- The Philosophy of Mangoesi"Mangoes do not fully domesticate. They are lush, a little louche; no amount of slicing or", single work poetry
- What Is the Apricot Saying?i"Brimming over the tarmac, winding with the bends", single work poetry
- Cwsi"Thunderbolt & lightning: a Roman deity bites the dust", single work poetry
- The Turningi"How the dawn does not end but travels", single work poetry
- The View from Chhampi (Nepal)i"The air has been sung so many times the cicadas,", single work poetry
- In the Time It Takes to Finish a Sandwich, We Could Build Worlds, single work short story
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[Extract] The Lebs,
extract
novel
'When Abu and X return, all six of us sit in a circle in the centre of the rehearsal studio, surrounded by the graffiti quotes on the walls. I try to forget that the quote about Muhammad is up there too, but to me it sticks out and throbs like a cold sore. Jo stands and slips her hands into her pockets. She’s put her casual voice back on, the one that makes her sound like a Black boy from Redfern, and she says, ‘So, yeah, um, hope you enjoyed lunch. Here’s what we’ve got planned for the afternoon . . .’ She instructs each of us to take one of the cameras she’s lined up and go out onto the plaza pretending to be a character from a movie or book or a story we’ve made up. She’d like us to film our character’s interactions with the community. I want to know what’s the point of this but it seems that every time I ask a question I reveal my ignorance and simply get a scoff or a wince or a sarcastic remark in return. I blame Punchbowl Boys – how uncivilised that place made me. If only I’d gone to a school in Newtown or in North Sydney, then I’d understand art. Maybe Jo wants video footage that explains how mundane interactions escalate into violence, which always seems to happen on the streets of Bankstown.' (Introduction)
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Of Michael Sala, The Restorer,
single work
review
— Review of The Restorer 2017 single work novel ;'Michael Sala’s The Restorer weaves together the experiences of a family attempting to restore its balance following a year of separation from Roy: the husband, father, and threatening patriarch of the household. The novel is full of doublings – layers of attempted restorations and new beginnings, patterns of relationships and the potential for repeated violence and tremors.' (Introduction)
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Of Jennifer Mills, Dyschronia,
single work
review
— Review of Dyschronia 2018 single work novel ;'Reading this book transported me to the days when I read fiction before studying it, under tables at school, in the library, on the porch smoking cigarettes while my parents were sleeping, wondering how surreal yet possible all these fictional worlds seemed. I thought about this moment in my life while reading Dyschronia (2018) simply because devoting one’s life to learning how to write inevitably jeopardises the sense of mystery that one initially found alluring.' (Introduction)
