Volume 67 Number 3, 2008

Editorial

Welcome to the new look Meanjin. You’ll notice a lot of changes. No contents page, for starters – that now sits on the back cover. Once I got over the shock of the idea, I agreed with my wonderful new designers, Stuart Geddes and Jeremy Wortsman, that it was, in fact, more practical that way. * Meanjin will now be two-colour through out with a four-colour section for the essays that demand it. Work will be divided into several distinct sections. Up front is a reprise of Clem Christesen’s ‘News Reel’ section for more current affairs and newsy pieces. That will be followed by a colour section in which Meanjin’s emeritus designer, W.H. Chong (Meanjin farewells him this edition and thanks him for six years of wonderful work), talks to us about books and book design, while David Nichols (in words) and Mia Schoen (in painting) defend the suburbs against more than a century of unwarranted snobbery. Our essay section ranges from lighter personal pieces, such as Andrea McNamara’s discussion of growing up with footy (there’s only one kind) as her second language – an essay I love despite the author’s misguided passion for Collingwood, to Joseph Pearson consideration of Don Watson’s American Journeys* in light of the American primaries. Mel Campbell analyses the meaning of buying (and botching said purchase of) a leather jacket. Anthony Macris has allowed us to extract from his clear-eyed and moving memoir ‘When Horse became Saw’, which describes his young son’s descent into severe autism. Lynne Spender states the case for the Copyleft movement, Andrea Goldsmith considers the intimacies of letter writing, John Van Tigglen hangs with the twitchers up in Cooktown and Carole Chan describes the lurch of calling both Melbourne and Singapore home. We continue our serialization of the graphic history, ‘Their Hooks Find Hold Deep in Our Flesh’.

There is lots of fiction to be excited about, including the extraordinary young newcomer Abigail Ulman. Expect to hear a lot more from her in coming months and years. We’ve included previously unpublished writer UK Sandra White with her story ‘Faith’, and an extract from Luke Stickels novel, ‘Guerillas in Your Midst’ – who says young writers aren’t tackling political subjects? Mark Dapin, better known for his journalism, inhabits another skin in his story ‘The Face of 1970’ and we have a story from the master: Alex Miller’s ‘Salem Lodge’.

I particularly want to introduce you to Caroline Lee. In the June edition of Meanjin we ran the prologue of her novel, ‘Stripped’ and we continue with our serialization of that work. You’ll notice her section has its own design and pagination – for readers wanting to attend to the novel’s unfolding over the months to come. ‘Stripped’ is the novel of a true virtuoso and I want to thank Caroline for taking a punt with this unusual approach to publication. We’re privileged to have her.

In our regular interview section I talk to Georgia Blain about the personal and professional complexities of life-writing, in the wake of the publication of her wonderful collection of essays Births Deaths Marriages and we showcase, as we always have, Australia’s best poets. These include – to risk mentioning only five of fifteen fine poems – the beautiful ‘Lotuses’ by Diana Bridge, ‘What is broken’ by Melbourne’ own speechwriter/poet Joel Deane and two impressive longer poems, from Claire Potter and Mark Tredinnick.

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Contents

Editorial by Sophie Cunningham

Newsreel

• With Laura Carroll, Cory Doctorow and Ben Harper

• Illustrations by Oslo Davis

Meanjin in Colour

• The Post-Gutenberg Prophecy by W.H. Chong

• The Uncultured Herd and Us: Suburbia, Again by David Nichols with Mia Schoen

Essays

• Even in Kansas by Joseph Pearson

• Copyright Free Riders by Lynne Spender

• Speaking a Second Language by Andrea McNamara

• My Failure As A Leather Jacket Person by Mel Campbell

• Clandestine Communications by Andrea Goldsmith

• Cooktown’s Second Coming by John Van Tigglen

• Motion Sickness by Carol Chan

• When Horse Became Saw by Anthony Macris

• Their hooks find hold deep in our flesh: Part Two by Kate Fielding, Elizabeth McDowell and Mandy Ord

Interview

• Before Getting Dressed: Sophie Cunningham speaks to Georgia Blain

Fiction

• Chagall’s Wife by Abigail Ulman

• The Face of 1970 by Mark Dapin

• Faith by Sandra White

• Salem Lodge by Alex Miller

• Guerillas in Your Midst by Luke Stickels

• Stripped: Part Two by Caroline Lee

Poetry

• Eucalypt; Lotuses by Diana Bridge

• Three Testaments to Apollonius by Louis Armand

• What is Broken by Joel Deane

• Canto of the Moths by John Kinsella

• Inarticulate; Voyager by Stephen Edgar

• Sugar by Maria Freij

• On the Undoing of Buttons by Elizabeth Lawson

• Untitled by Claire Potter

• Rain Loop by David Prater

• Hunger by Ron Pretty

• Facebook by James Bradley

• Striped Marsh Frogs by Pam Schindler

• The Economics of Spring by Mark Tredinnick