AustLit

'The final issue for 2023 contains work by seven writers using fragmentary forms to convey the fleeting nature of thoughts, memories and dreams. Paddy O’Reilly shares a darkly funny short story about a mid-career academic dealing with grief in the workplace: my unfinished article rearing up from its paper nest like a desperate baby bird each time I pass the desk… Jordi Infeld considers the art of dressmaking and the meanings attached to tailoring, while Bella Li and Esther Cross (trans. Alice Whitmore) conduct vivid dissections of art, literature and the body, both ancient and mythical. Nam Le and Maryam Nazarian (trans. Arash Khoshsafa) contribute poetic sequences, the first playfully ornate, the second arrestingly minimal. And Stephanie Radok rounds out the issue with ‘Inventory 2020’, a gently inquisitive journal of everyday living. On 2 April 2020 she writes: Prepare to die – what needs to be done? Pea soup, herrings, roast potatoes.' (Publication summary)