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.”
Keith Quayle is a Malyangapa/Barkindji gay man raised on Dharug country. He is currently on a Community Corrections Order, supervised by Community Corrections until August 2022. He is the founder of NSW Community Advocates for Prisoners and is currently on the Trans and Gender Diverse Criminal Justice System Advisory Council and the Prisoner Interagency Advocacy sub-committees. He is a member of Pride in Protest, SWOP and Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Members Committee.
