In this highly anticipated new issue, we encounter brilliant examples of what writing can do in a hypernormal time – whether that's Benjamin Gready on the absurdity of fieldwork on land under active occupation or Zahid Gamieldien's short story about a dancing rat who finds itself enmeshed in systems too shadowy to be true. But, as with the emotional cycles of resistance, hope and snark are features too. Dan Hogan considers the lawn as a class obsession, and π.ο. asks a question: why people hate poetry? We also read about a rakhasa family who passes on wisdom to their young kin, a story by Shefali Mathew. And you’ll find new poetry by Eli McLean, Fiona Hile and Sol Chan, among others, as well as a comic by Safdar Ahmed, plus heaps more. Co-editors Evelyn Araluen and Jonathan Dunk write in the editorial, "Writing always matters, but it matters most directly in the face of this kind of thuggish assault on language, our first and last commons. We can’t let the bastards have it.”
Elizabeth Riddell was a journalist and poet. During World War Two, she opened and ran the Daily Mirror’s New York bureau. In 1946 Elizabeth returned to Australia and had three volumes of poetry published: The Untrammelled, Poems and Forbears. Elizabeth had several books of poetry published, including Elizabeth Riddell: Selected Poems, From the Midnight Courtyard, Occasions of Birds and The Difficult Island. In 1992 she won the Kennoth Slessor Prize for Poetry.
