AustLit

'Pumpkin spice is not extracted from pumpkins. I thought about this for a long time before I googled it. A pumpkin is a bland thing-how do you get spice out of it? This question might make a few things clear. It's Halloween. I am in America. I am not American. Being a foreigner manifests acutely at the level of consumption. The money is different and so are the things you buy with it. Many interactions are framed through purchases. You feel better about yourself in a place you don't know when you discover what you like to buy and how to buy it.' (Introduction)

'At a certain point in life, it becomes very hard to work in theatre and remain impartial to aesthetics. The Critic watched Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. at the Malthouse feeling very personally aggrieved by its failures. Janice Mueller’s direction drew deliberately and consciously from the arsenal of directorial gestures that were specific to central and northern-western European postdramatic theatre between 2000 and 2007, to the point where it could have been a painstaking historical reproduction, had it been intentionally referenced.' (Introduction)

'My great-grandmother's favourite type of animal was pigs. She moved to Australia from Torquay, England, following her husband, a soldier settler, across the world after World War I. They bought a farm and worked the land, raising sheep, cows, chickens and, of course, pigs. At first, she raised pigs as livestock but couldn't bear to part with them. Instead, she kept them as pets. The pigs would follow her and suck on her legs, pressing their snouts to the silk of her stockings.' 

(Introduction)

 'Not many people will tell you, but a few years ago I was struck by lightning as I crossed a bridge with my son, Harvey. I was holding Harvey at the time, so I guess you could say he was struck by lightning too.' (Introduction)