Suburban and National Anxiety single work   review  
Issue Details: First known date: 2018... 2018 Suburban and National Anxiety
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'Lau Siew Mei’s novel The Last Immigrant revolves around the residents of a small six-house cul-de-sac in Brisbane, Australia. The main protagonist is Ismael, an immigrant from Singapore, who works in the Brisbane office of the federal government department that deals with approving asylum seekers’ claims for protection and residency. Like many representations of suburban life in fiction, the pace of life in this Brisbane street seems calm and unruffled but, inside the homes, the inhabitants’ lives are not only dramatic but – in this case – also interlinked in unexpected ways. Stressed at work, Ismael’s home life is increasingly unsettling – as readers learn that his neighbour has committed suicide, his wife is diagnosed with a serious illness and his daughter plans to move overseas. Despite the rational way that these events and situations can be described and even explained, an eerie sense of creeping malevolence underpins this story as it unfolds. This escalates when Ismael’s cat, Imelda – a surprisingly key figure in this narrative – is nowhere to be found.' (Publication summary)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

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    y separately published work icon TEXT : Journal of Writing and Writing Courses vol. 22 no. 2 October 2018 15264558 2018 periodical issue

    'Scholarly contributions to the general edition of TEXT Vol 22, No 2 include the second part of a ground-breaking article by Paul Collis and Jen Crawford on approaches to indigenous storytelling in the Creative Writing teaching and learning space. ‘Six groundings for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander story in the Creative Writing classroom: Part 2’ furthers the authors’ case for the acknowledgement and presence of Australian indigenous storytelling in the Creative Writing discipline using an inclusive approach pioneered at the University of Canberra. Together with Part 1, this work provides Creative Writing teachers and academics across Australia with a method and a framework for inviting Australian indigenous story into the discussion and into the collective creative writing studio or workshop. Part 1 of Collis and Crawford’s article was published in TEXT Vol 21, No 2 (October 2017).' (From : Julienne van Loon and Ross Watkins, Editorial)

    2018
Last amended 29 Aug 2024 12:44:11
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