For issue 9, we asked artists to be inspired by what has happened before and the submissions blew us away. It was difficult to come down to a final list, especially when there were so many different interpretations of the theme. But we fought it out and we think the 17 pieces in this issue represent the wide-ranging and creative perspectives that we found in our inbox.
In ’80’ by Karissa Riffel we meet a man tortured by his personal history even as he loses his grip on it. Elaine Gallagher’s short film, Reel Irish Women, challenges us to question received history. Who tells history? What is truth? Who is it true for? Isabel Spiegel takes us back to a very personal moment in her history, while Christina Petrides, Frederick Highland and Shelley Benaroya explore shared experiences.
We set a specific challenge for poets to try their hand at a ‘centena‘ and we are delighted to present a plague-themed centena from Stephen Barnaby.
Below, you’ll find a list of our included artists so you can explore this issue in any way that you choose. Alternatively, you can click the ‘Try this’ button at the bottom of each page to follow the path we’ve designed through the art. We recommend you start with Jan Ball’s ‘Undertakers at Lightning Ridge’.
Enjoy.
Lisa & Sinéad
Blessing – Gale Acuff
Glory – Chloe Balcomb
Undertakers at Lightning Ridge – Jan Ball
A Visit from Dr. Rae, Lawnmarket 1645 – Stephen Barnaby
The Gods Invite Us to Glory and Fortune – Shelley Benaroya
80 – Karissa Fisher
Reel Irish Women – Elaine Gallagher
Darwin’s Guest – Frederick Highland
Returning – Laura Johnson
Self-reflection – DS Maolalai
Witch Trial – Christina Petrides
Ghazal for Sukha – Gita Ralleigh
executive function – Sarah Rosenthal
3 – Juan Cruz Sainiuk
Handmaid’s Tale – Gerard Sarnat
1968 Summer Olympics – Fabio Sassi
The First Time I Went to the Gynecologist, My Mother Said to Bring John Lennon – Isabel Spiegel
all the sins 