
a New Series of work
Edited by Cher Tan
As fascist movements gain momentum on a global scale, political dynamics in Western democracies, in so-called Australia and elsewhere, are further entrenching racism, suppressing Indigenous and Black voices, and stifling dissent against the state. Governments frame this escalating violence as normal and necessary, making it more difficult to recognise that this repression endangers the freedom and well-being of our communities. That is where the spectacle comes into play, which Debord identified as '“at once unified and divided”. “But the contradiction,” Debord continues, “when it emerges in the spectacle, is in turn contradicted by a reversal of its meaning, so that the demonstrated division is unitary, while the demonstrated unity is divided.”
Interviews
“For me, sustainability is always beyond just fabric. It's about how I can sustain my business, my team, myself and my mental health so I can do this for the long run, especially being a mum as well.”
“I don’t have the nerve to go back through the novel to examine its sentences; it would feel too close to being confronted with past crimes.”
"If the empire crushes Palestine, no one wins—we’re all doomed. Which is why when we say ‘A free Palestine frees the world’, it is because a free Palestine frees the world. That’s why this fight is so important."
“Being who I am, namely Australian Chinese and female—two distinct drawbacks in mid-20th-century Australia, especially in the small apple isle of Tasmania—I grew up totally outside the norm in white assimilationist Australia, when those with non-Anglo-Celtic backgrounds were expected to merge with the majority and forget their own cultural backgrounds.”
“Writers seem to come into their literary prime, so to speak, later than other artists because it can take time and long years of lived experience to create something fresh and moving on the page.”
“Art is expressed in so many different ways and forms—you’re wearing a piece of art when you’re wearing my silk, but I see it as more of a design that’s made from pieces of art.”
“Working in telly, it’s astonishing how much writers’ rooms feel like the engine rooms of cultural production—whose stories we [decide to] tell determines whose humanity we value. I think the centrality of cis straight white characters in our major narratives facilitates a grave dearth of empathy in this colony.”
“So much of what we live is complicated or conflicted, and based in feeling, and not in words. Language allows us to get very close to saying what we mean, but to me it always falls just short.”
“This is why I always urge emerging writers to enter as many competitions as they can. I think competitions are a great entryway into the industry.”

“If it’s not my story to share, I won’t share it. I only share my lens, the impact on me, my take on the world. I hate trauma porn so I’m not going to exploit my people’s history in order to make a bunch of white audiences feel something.”
“Grief is the other side of love; we grieve because we love. I don’t think I would have it any other way.”
“Self-publishing makes it possible for anyone with an internet connection to hold a copy of their own book in their hands. It also makes it possible to disseminate that book throughout a community, a society, and the world.”
“I find it important to have a period of downtime in the studio between projects. To be kind of aimless and spend time reading or drawing—things that form a baseline for the bigger ideas to grow.”
“I’m unashamedly a political writer—some people (and writers) think writing shouldn’t be political or polemical, and I have no idea who came up with that rule. Who benefits from such a rule? Not minorities.”
“The main question I wanted to address in The Burrow was: how does a family who have suffered an unthinkable tragedy, go on?”

Notes
Playlist
“tiny shiny beautiful” is a six-song tapestry invoking the rare feeling of seeing earth in a new light by Melbourne-based pop artist, composer and producer Ivoris.
