Cirrus@Austlit

'To mark the thirtieth issue of fourW we have given it the title Pearl, both because of the traditional anniversary jewel-signifier and as a notional literary link to the medieval allegory of the same name by the Gawain poet. While it may be drawing a long bow to claim that fourW thirty allegorises the relationship between humanity and the cosmos in a series of dream conversations, it seems to me that the  poetry, fiction and script we have selected do indeed articulate, play with and apostrophise the writer's ideas of self, society and relationships in ways that emblematise existence and what might be termed 'truth'. We hope you'll see it as a pearler!' (David Gilbey, Editorial introduction)