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.”
Rachael Hambleton has a long-standing commitment to supporting community initiatives concerned with challenging systems of oppression. She has worked at, volunteered with and/or served on the board of a range of civil society organisations, including: Victorian Women’s Trust, Reichstein Foundation, the Human Rights Law Centre, Justice Connect, Refugee Legal, Eastern Health Foundation, GiveOUT, Lawyers For Animals, the Victorian Gay & Lesbian Rights Lobby (now known as Victorian Pride Lobby) and Reprieve Australia (now known as Capital Punishment Justice Project). She is currently working on a project that aims to strengthen advocacy for criminal justice reform in Australia, known as The Justice Map, and is also a board member of Flat Out.
