Light, air and the autumn wind. Good drying weather. Ethics and history and peace and war and the laundry. Taking stock. Abandoned cities, lost children, political legacies emptied of all honour. 孝弟也其为仁之本. How we commemorate, and what we forget. The cost of education, the cost of living, the costs of doing nothing. Insects, birds, bulls, deer, saplings, forests, the Great Barrier Reef. Ruin porn and inspiration porn. Ethical beekeeping, hydrogeology, the second person.

An editor always comes in mid-conversation. The writer has crafted the piece, but the work is not yet complete; exchanges begin, text and comments, agreement and disagreement. Submissions spark new conversations, and commissioning is its own long-term discussion. Months can pass—years, perhaps—before the work is ready for us to read. It’s with deep gratitude to Jonathan Green, Meanjin’s former Editor, and Tess Smurthwaite, Deputy Editor, that I can develop these conversations onto the pages in your hands.