Jen, Magda, That Photo and the Creep of Christianity
When a person is aware that their photo is being taken, posing invariably ensues. It might be duck lips or a jutted hip or the V-sign, but rarely does the observed camera capture something completely natural. The photo that was released following the PM’s signing of Prince Philip’s condolence book was staged. This wasn’t a paparazzi photo taken through a window or some surreptitious, staffer-taken snapshot. This image—that had his wife posed behind him, her hands clasped solemnly behind her back—was the image selected to tell the tale of Australia’s commiserations. Instead of focusing on why so many of us […]
What I’m Reading
For as long as I can remember, my reading material has formed a kind of orbit around me. Every time I read a new sentence, particularly when the book is good, and it’s good surprisingly often, it feels like a re-negotiation of the world. My reading matter tends to be multi-genred and multi-modal. I like to surround myself with different types of texts, so it would be normally an audiobook on the way to work, some poetry on the bedside table, and a novel or two by the sofa. I will immerse myself in both poetry and fiction most evenings […]
Upcoming Event: Unpacking the Cultural Cringe
Join us at the University of Melbourne on Monday 26th April for a one-hour panel discussion surrounding the idea of cultural cringe. The concept was brought to life in a 1950 Meanjin essay by A A Phillips, who despaired of Australian cultural genuflection towards the British. To what cultures does contemporary Australia cringe, and for what reasons? What is the role of a literary culture in emboldening the national conversation? Meanjin editor Jonathan Green will host a panel of writers, thinkers and commentators who will explore Meanjin’s part in an exploration of an Australian cultural identity. This is the second […]
What I’m Reading
I didn’t move to Mexico to fall in love. It happened, as love does, unexpectedly. Prior to meeting my partner, I knew that I would have to pick up my long-lost Spanish where I had left it more than 15 years ago: on bits of scrap paper, my homework written hastily in between classes and hangovers while I was studying at the University of Sydney. Learning Spanish all those years ago was a lesson in what not to do, I mumbled to myself when I took the mandatory entry exam to restart my learning. If I was going to live […]
Essays
The Red Herring Issue of a Head of State
Dang, sorry. This is only available to a Meanjin subscriber. But we can fix that. It’s just $100 for a print subscription, $5 for a monthly digital subscription, and $50 for an annual digital subscription. DIGITAL PRINT
Fiction
The Ninch
She is standing sentinel when I round the corner. A still figure in the early morning, dark parka pulled close. A girl-shape on the edge of the reef, cast in relief by the…
Memoir
Doctored Results
‘Tits. Out. For the boys. Tits out for the boys. Tits. Out. For the boys. Tits out for the boys.’ I started out softly but by the end I am screaming at the top of my lungs because I am 19 and everyone around me is doing the same…
Poetry
The Indian Palanquin Bearer
Lightly, O lightly we bear her along, She sways like a flower in the wind of our song, She skims like a bird on the foam of a stream, She floats like a laugh on the lips of a dream, Gaily O gaily we glide and we sing, We bear her along like a pearl on a string Soft, O softly we bear her along, She hangs like a star on the wind of our song She springs like a beam on the brow of the tide She falls like a tear from the eyes of the bride Lightly, […]
