Cirrus@Austlit

'What is the point of reading and writing? What I hope is that imagination – nourished and tempered by attention and practice – helps us conceptualise different futures. Faced with a rapidly worsening climate, with the horrors inflicted in Palestine, perhaps imagination can be the antidote to ‘there’s no point trying to change anything; I’m powerless; this is the way it’s always been’. Tasmania and Australia are in a time of great change. We can wish things were how they used to be, we can be dragged along into whatever larger forces want for us, or we can come up with our own plans. Literature and arts help us say the things we’re not hearing, stretch and shift our minds, find companionship and care. But they can also be exclusionary – for people who struggle with reading or who don’t see a place for themselves among writers. Our graphic narratives project was a step towards being more inclusive; in this issue we immerse ourselves in different languages, different experiences of reading, and a fruitful blurriness between image and text. And on Island Online, we are dipping our toes into audio. I hope you find something to expand your mind and your world.' (Jane Rawson : Editorial)