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.”
Shaun Charles is a produced and published playwright. His play Rio Saki and Other Falling Debris won the George Landen Dann Award for Queensland playwrights, and is published by Playlab Press. Other works include Paradise the Musical (published by Playlab Press) and the stage adaptations of two Andrew McGahan novels, including the Miles Franklin Award winning The White Earth and Last Drinks (both adaptations are available from Playlab Press). He has also written a libretto for Opera Queensland, Dirty Apple. In the past, he has written various arts articles for The Courier Mail and The Australian and has taught playwriting and theatre studies at Griffith University for a number of years.
