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Single mother, and all that

Unmarried parents now account for one in three births, compared with about 10 per cent of births in 1980 and just 5 per cent in 1960.

‘Families tend to blend as single-parent households now the most common.’

The other day a friend was bringing me up to speed on a mutual friend, an older woman who has recently taken on a ‘foster-teen’. The boy needed support because, well, you know, single mother and all that.

Single mother. And all that.

All that … neglect? Bad parenting? Rotten example? Drug abuse? Loose or poor morals? Alcoholism? Violence? Psychological abuse? Now we all know that if she’d said ‘well, you know, dual parents,’ none of those things could possibly apply. ... read more

Written by Clare Strahan on 9-07-2010, 8 user comments

On the NLF, ASIO and the Vietnam War

Michael Hyde’s excerpt from his memoir All Along the Watchtower (Vulgar Press) in Overland 199 is a tale fraught with intrigue, radical student politics and the tension surrounding the Vietnam War in Australia. But don’t take our word for it; see for yourself:

Headquarters ASIO HQT 67/972
Michael Dudley HYDE
Enquiries conducted by this Office have revealed that the Michael HYDE who resides at 7 Jasmine Street Caulfield and who is an active member of the Monash University Labour Club and the Monash Committee for Aid to the National Liberation Front is probably identical with

Michael Dudley HYDE
Born: 20th November, 1945
At: Waverley, New South Wales ... read more

Written by Editorial team on 8-07-2010, 1 user comment

Meanland extract – At the mercy of our instruments

A writer needs their tools.

Chisel
Quill
Ink
Parchment
Chalk
Pencil
Paper
Crayon
Biro
Fountain pen
Notepad
Typewriter
Word Processor
ThinkPad
Personal Computer
Macbook
iPhone
iPad
Tablet

What do all these tools have in common? They help us make permanent that thing that makes us human: language. Language marshalled into journals, books, literary fiction, non-fiction, blog posts, lists – but how do all these tools change the way we write and think?

‘Our writing tools are also working on our thoughts.’

In Nicolas Carr’s now [in]famous Atlantic essay, ‘Is Google making us stupid?

Written by Jacinda Woodhead on 8-07-2010, No comments

On Carey’s version of literacy and democracy

I recently watched Peter Carey’s closing address to the Sydney Writers’ Festival. In the video, he lectures earnestly about people once reading in the ‘shearing sheds, lending libraries, mechanics institutes’ and ‘the trenches’ (he even uses Gallipoli, and Burke and Wills to stress his point), imploring everyone to teach children Shakespeare because it will even work in the ‘ghetto’. It doesn’t matter what colour the child is, nor their life experience, because reading is about exploring people other than you. After all, he argues, who would want to be Madame Bovary or Nabokov's Humbert Humbert?

This howl against illiteracy (and the definition of literacy) left me feeling stuck in a time warp. I initially watched the Carey video because the age-old debate of literary versus popular fiction had resurfaced (like art house vs Hollywood blockbusters, cats vs dogs, Python vs Perl) and was being publicly fought by Bryce Courtney and Peter Carey. ... read more

Written by Benjamin Laird on 7-07-2010, 13 user comments

The routing of the Left

'Grown ups are what's left when skool is finished.'
- Nigel Molesworth

Whatever battles the Left have fought over the last hundred years, and they have been many, there is one area where it has been utterly routed, abandoned the field an

Written by Stephen Wright on 6-07-2010, 50 user comments

An autonomous collective

Some ‘lovely filth’ for the Overlanders:

... read more

Written by Clare Strahan on 5-07-2010, 4 user comments

Legislating against discomfort (or ‘Everybody get naked!’)

Talk of banning the burqa is twisting some civil rights knickers again. This time in South Australia. What I find interesting is that people (on all sides of this debate) seem to think legislating against something that makes large groups of society uncomfortable is outrageously novel. But it happens all the time.

By law, I am ‘banned’ from walking the streets naked. Why? I work out at the gym, I have a healthy, moderate amount of body hair, owing to my Mediterranean background, and I promise I won’t do star jumps or anything.

But seriously, does nudity hurt anyone? Not really, but it does make a lot of people uncomfortable. The justification for the ‘nudey ban’ is predicated on the notion that most people don’t like people walking around naked. If I was what is known as a ‘naturist’, I should feel discriminated against (by the law) for not being allowed to express myself. The law says that in not wearing clothes, I would be committing ‘indecent exposure’ even if my reasons for nuding up were not indecent in any way. ... read more

Written by Matthew Sini on 5-07-2010, 4 user comments

Non-fiction review – What’s wrong with Anzac?

What’s Wrong With Anzac: The Militarisation of Australian History
Marilyn Lake and Henry Reynolds with Mark McKenna and Joy Damousi
University of New South Press

'What's wrong with ANZAC?' coverWhen Marilyn Lake, Henry Reynolds and others published this courageous demolition of the Anzac tradition, hostile replies came quickly. The Sunday Age published a critique by senior journalist Tom Hyland, while the Australian featured Geoffrey Blainey’s scathing review, ‘We Weren’t That Dumb’.1 The book seems to have struck a nerve with its challenge to the war culture permeating society. ... read more

Written by Tom OLincoln on 2-07-2010, 12 user comments

Non-fiction review –
Screw Light Bulbs

Screw Light Bulbs
Donna Green & Liz Minchin
UWA Publishing

Screw Light Bulbs coverScrew Light Bulbs was written when its authors got to the point of having written or read one too many articles suggesting that the best thing individuals could do towards fighting climate change was change their light bulbs. Recognising that this was at best a bandaid solution for an ulcerous wound, the book – and the attitude – was born.

The book aims to give advice as to what people can actually do towards fighting climate change in their daily lives – and for those who can’t be bothered to read the book, there’s a summary in chapter 7. A lot of these are things we’ve heard before, like limit your consumption, and buy better appliances, and why offsetting carbon emissions doesn’t really work. While the advice may not be new, the reasons for doing so are outlined explicitly and the mathematics involved is described at least superficially. I personally am searching for a specific calculation to use that can tell me, for example, whether it’s more environmentally friendly to buy cans or bottles of soft drink, or drive a ten-year-old car or buy a new, more efficient one, with all the inbuilt emissions. Screw Light Bulbs doesn’t do that, but it does give a good idea of what kind of things need to be involved in your calculations and where you can start looking for the information to complete that kind of assessment. There’s a very nice reference section at the back which I am sure I will have nerdy, nerdy fun with. ... read more

Written by Georgia Claire on 2-07-2010, 5 user comments

Journal review – harvest, issue 5

‘Mummy, what's this?’
‘Oh, that's a book.’
‘What's a book?’
‘A book is what people once used to keep stories and information in,before they had iPads.’
‘Oh. What's this?’
‘Stone the crows! That's a literary journal! I haven't seen one of those since I was a girl!’

At the recent Sydney Writers’ Festival, Simon & Schuster publisher Carolyn Reidy said, ‘There’s a good chance the physical book market will become more designed and beautiful for people who really love books as an object. But I can’t say that we’ll still have books in 50 years time.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘Carolyn Reidy? As in Read-ee? Great name for a publisher!’ The second thing was, ‘Golly me, in that case – what will happen to journals?’ ... read more

Written by Claire Zorn on 1-07-2010, 16 user comments

Meanland extract – On Wholphin, and other things McSweeney

I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but journals are no longer confined to the printed periodical. Shocking, yet true. Even in traditional publishing spheres, content production is being approached in pioneering ways.

The publishing house that immediately comes to mind – and I swear I’m not a McSweeney’s fanatic – is, well, McSweeney’s.

McSweeeny’s publish books, translated texts, the Voice of Witness series (a series of oral histories focusing on social justice), McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, The Believer and Wholphin. ... read more

Written by Jacinda Woodhead on 1-07-2010, No comments