Cirrus@Austlit

'A literary journal only slowly establishes itself, finding out what it is, and for whom it exists. Each journal has its own accent, its own diction, and though the audiences of both contributors and readers overlap significantly, each journal nonetheless will find its own community. Meniscus is now reaching the age where it is pretty sure about who and what it is, thanks to the generosity of our contributors, the input of our guest editors, and the range of communities in which it is finding its feet. In this, as in previous years, there are both familiar names and voices, and writers we’d not met before. As in previous years, the contributors come from across the world, from a range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds, from both the emerging and the very established, and from both the very young and the very mature. As always, we are delighted to include in this issue a number of writers whose work explores difference – be that of voice, of perspective, of form, of culture, or any other differences. Each work has its own discrete qualities, and in each case the editors were impressed with a freshness in the voice, the quality of image, the narrative traction, and the capacity of the work to make us look at the world from a different point of view.' (Editorial introduction)