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.”
Kate Cantrell teaches Creative Writing and English Literature at USQ. From 2015 to 2016, she was a Visiting Lecturer at City, University of London, as well as an Honorary Research Fellow in Widening Participation at King’s College London. Her short stories, poems, and essays have appeared in several magazines and journals, including Meanjin, Meniscus, Kill Your Darlings, and The Lifted Brow. Her research interests include Australian memoir and travel writing, and representations of wandering. You can follow her on Twitter as @kate_cantrell.
