AustLit

'When those in the literary scene talk about what may be wrong with modern Australian literature, we start and end at diversity. There's talk about how hard it is to change the space, a recognition of the lack of prominent representative bodies. There is no conversation around access, and who has access to this space. Instead, we suggest it's simply the addition of those bodies that will counter the reasons they weren't able to exist in the literary space to begin with.' (Publication abstract)

'My phone’s lock screen is a photo of Ah Ma in her late teens at the beach, leaning against a fishing boat dragged on shore. She wears a short-sleeved white shirt tucked into high-waisted shorts. Her smile is enigmatic, framed by a puff of curls. I study the lighting, her careful grip on the boat’s rim, her elegantly bent leg. Shoulders back and chin tilted ever so slightly, Ah Ma glows with quiet self-assurance. When I first saw the photo, I had teased Mum, “Who’s this sexy lady?” I was shocked to learn she was my grandmother and wondered if glamour had skipped a generation.' (Introduction)

'The Korean boy band Seo Taiji and the Boys appeared in a talent show on one of Korea’s major television networks in April 1992. They made history by incorporating rap, hip-hop and other American music trends in their music. Their appearance is regarded as a watershed moment, beginning Korean pop as we know it today.' (Introduction)

'For most of my adult life, I have believed that tenderness is a virtue. That if you can move through the world in touch with your emotions, you will be able to resist the some of the uglier shapes capitalism presses us into. No one had told me you could walk around being openly sensitive – not only having a lot of feelings, but telling your friends and family about them. I thought it was weird, and then I started practising my own beta-version of radical vulnerability, mostly pieced together from things I read on social media without much engagement with the serious intellectual works underpinning it. The results were still surprising: I felt better, then okay, and then sometimes even good. So I adopted it as personal philosophy, failing to ask any of the hard questions I should have.' (Introduction)

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