AustLit

'The ocean smells of a layer of wet sand that has dried in the night, that cracks and buckles under bare feet. It smells of blood that’s drawn from walking too close to a sharp coastal grass. The ocean smells of a blast of cold air that tightens the skin, of salt-caked lips, of the slap of tarmac on the drive home.'  (Introduction)

'Outside my kitchen window, beyond the chicken-wire fence, two ravens hopped about under a lightning-struck eucalyptus tree, circling one another with blackened twigs jutting out of their beaks like they were children playing at swords. In Norse mythology, Odin, king of the gods, would send a pair of ravens to Earth, their names Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory), here to spy on us humans and report back. A classic odd-couple archetype, Huginn was diligent in his duties, and Muninn was always getting lost. I was standing at the sink, waiting for my kettle to boil, watching the pair parry and slash, when Huginn suddenly dropped his weapon and looked at me.'  (Introduction)

'I start researching chaos theory the way I imagine Ashton Kutcher would: on Wikipedia: ‘In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state.’' (Introduction)

'The local town council constructed the red soil road to prevent vehicles from getting bogged in the heavy sand leading up to the Charleville Aboriginal reserve. The reserve was known as the ‘Yumba’ (meaning camp) among its residents and it was situated on the outskirts of town, approximately three kilometres from the town centre. It was home to about 15 families, including mine. How generous the council was to build this road for us … after herding us off our land! Later, the strategically placed toilet blocks and water taps, also built by the council, made the living conditions on the camp slightly more bearable.'  (Introduction)

'It has always been post-9/11 for me. I was born on a Thursday in 2005.

'I called Western Sydney my first home. I have navigated this nation, albeit for a short time, in a body with identities that are already politicised. Emerging into young adulthood as a brown, Muslim girl has required me to understand and analyse how I am perceived by individuals and larger societal institutions.' (Introduction)