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The Finest New Writing in Australia

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Smile, please

Fatima Sehbai

Spring 2014

TruthFoto is famous all over Punjab. People travel from Amritsar, Muree and even Karachi to have their photo taken here. It is a tiny inner-city studio, wedged between a watchmaker and a spice store. A ten minute walk from Lahori Gate. It has a plain-looking front door, with a dust-covered doorbell and a wooden bench by the front door that reads ‘Please leave children here’. Those who have had their truth photo taken have all kinds of advice:

‘Don’t go looking for the back of the car, you won’t find it—there’s only the front.’

Embrace Australia’s finest writers

Meanjin is open again for subscriptions! Thank you all for your patience as we’ve undertaken the transfer of the journal to its new home.

The next edition of Meanjin will be available from December 2026. Information on the purchase of single editions – in print or ePub formats – will be available closer to time.

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Gerald Murnane
The flight of birds
Huyen Hac Helen Tran
A Windmill in the West
Peter Carey
The Inquisitors
Thomas Keneally

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  • In Print
  • Online Only
    • Latest Pieces
    • Reading Trails
    • What I’m Reading
  • Read
    • The Meanjin Papers
    • Poetry
    • Essays
    • Fiction
    • Memoir
    • The Meanjin Interviews
    • Experiments
    • State of the Nation
    • The Year In…
  • Books
    • Reviews
    • Australia in Three Books
    • What I’m Reading
  • Writers
    • Interviews
  • Buy
    • Subscribe
    • Where to buy
  • News
    • Announcements
    • Events
  • About
    • About Meanjin
    • First Peoples First
    • People
    • Editorial Advisory Panel
    • Copyright and Payment
    • Partners
    • Get Involved
    • Contact
    • Privacy
  • Search