Someone you know deserves the truth.
A sharp tongue may be both a weapon and a tool.Wisdom is the lamp, good thoughts the oil, sweet words the flame
spices the spoils of the British Empire, but still
salt is the only flavour your tongue can detect in this Christmas spread.Don’t you know that nothing good ever happens to the only Asian
in a hundred kilometre radius, on a country estate, in a town called Dungog?
How many times must you watch Get Out before you learn?Anywhere this far inland is too often too flat, too hot, too much of the same.
The old elm braces itself for their bulldozing questions
and is relieved at every second they do not come.Hold fast, stay true to yourself, and you will inherit a great fortune.
Eat their Chinese noodle salad and you bring dishonour upon all your ancestors.It is possible to be grateful for their hospitality
and critical of their cooking at the same time.
Confucius and Whitman both contained multitudes.Do not reduce yourself to only one thing.
Let that be their mistake to make.A discerning tongue may taste bitterness and know that
this is what it means to be only one-fifth alive.
Your tongue is a banyan tree more deeply rooted in your skull
than any of their bloodlines are in the soil of this country.Your ancestors would have been the first to discover the West
if not for their complete lack of interest in it.
He who is content in his own home does not covet his neighbour’s land.All things in their being are good for something
but every act of translation is an act of violence.
You can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs.This product contains eggs, wheat, and milk.
You contain multitudes.Now and then someone will ask you
Where are you from originally?
Tell them fortune cookies were invented in California in the 1890s.
Tell them, I was born in Australia
but I am a product of my own invention.Tell them how every day you are an act of violence,
a golden shell being cracked open
how you learned to recover the parts of yourself
that were lost in the act of translation, and how
in your own language
you recreate yourself.
In your own language
tell them how.Please store in a cool dry place.
- 115: SPACE
with A Sometimes
114: NO THEME 13
with J Toledo & C Tse
113: INVISIBLE WALLS
with A Walker & D Disney
112: TREAT
with T Dearborn
111: BABY
with S Deo & L Ferney
110: POP!
with Z Frost & B Jessen
109: NO THEME 12
with C Maling & N Rhook
108: DEDICATION
with L Patterson & L Garcia-Dolnik
107: LIMINAL
with B Li
106: OPEN
with C Lowe & J Langdon
105: NO THEME 11
with E Grills & E Stewart
104: KIN
with E Shiosaki
103: AMBLE
with E Gomez and S Gory
102: GAME
with R Green and J Maxwell
101: NO THEME 10
with J Kinsella and J Leanne
100: BROWNFACE
with W S Dunn
99: SINGAPORE
with J Ip and A Pang
97 & 98: PROPAGANDA
with M Breeze and S Groth
96: NO THEME IX
with M Gill and J Thayil
95: EARTH
with M Takolander
94: BAYT
with Z Hashem Beck
93: PEACH
with L Van, G Mouratidis, L Toong
92: NO THEME VIII
with C Gaskin
91: MONSTER
with N Curnow
90: AFRICAN DIASPORA
with S Umar
89: DOMESTIC
with N Harkin
88: TRANSQUEER
with S Barnes and Q Eades
87: DIFFICULT
with O Schwartz & H Isemonger
86: NO THEME VII
with L Gorton
85: PHILIPPINES
with Mookie L and S Lua
84: SUBURBIA
with L Brown and N O'Reilly
83: MATHEMATICS
with F Hile
82: LAND
with J Stuart and J Gibian
81: NEW CARIBBEAN
with V Lucien
80: NO THEME VI
with J Beveridge
57.1: EKPHRASTIC
with C Atherton and P Hetherington
57: CONFESSION
with K Glastonbury
56: EXPLODE
with D Disney
55.1: DALIT / INDIGENOUS
with M Chakraborty and K MacCarter
55: FUTURE MACHINES
with Bella Li
54: NO THEME V
with F Wright and O Sakr
53.0: THE END
with P Brown
52.0: TOIL
with C Jenkins
51.1: UMAMI
with L Davies and Lifted Brow
51.0: TRANSTASMAN
with B Cassidy
50.0: NO THEME IV
with J Tranter
49.1: A BRITISH / IRISH
with M Hall and S Seita
49.0: OBSOLETE
with T Ryan
48.1: CANADA
with K MacCarter and S Rhodes
48.0: CONSTRAINT
with C Wakeling
47.0: COLLABORATION
with L Armand and H Lambert
46.1: MELBOURNE
with M Farrell
46.0: NO THEME III
with F Plunkett
45.0: SILENCE
with J Owen
44.0: GONDWANALAND
with D Motion
43.1: PUMPKIN
with K MacCarter
43.0: MASQUE
with A Vickery
42.0: NO THEME II
with G Ryan
41.1: RATBAGGERY
with D Hose
41.0: TRANSPACIFIC
with J Rowe and M Nardone
40.1: INDONESIA
with K MacCarter
40.0: INTERLOCUTOR
with L Hart
39.1: GIBBERBIRD
with S Gory
39.0: JACKPOT!
with S Wagan Watson
38.0: SYDNEY
with A Lorange
37.1: NEBRASKA
with S Whalen
37.0: NO THEME!
with A Wearne
36.0: ELECTRONICA
with J Jones