Cirrus@Austlit

'Malti Fortune is uneasy. She has turned away from her birthplace of Fiji to make a new life in Melbourne. But all that she thought was certain is now in danger of being swept away. Her husband, Benjamin, a linguist, is a conundrum. He has changed. Or has she? The stories and superstitions of her childhood are telling her something she knows but doesn't want to hear - about being a trespasser, about not belonging.

'In the years to come, Malti and Benjamin's daughters are also to learn some hard truths. For Ellery, the hands-on father of her memories vanishes for months on end and the remembered fragments of good times aren't enough to sustain her anymore. Verona, on the verge of adulthood, can't imagine a world without her beloved Dad. He is her rock and hero. But Malti and Ellery both know that you can't depend on Benjamin.

'What makes a family? What does home look like? All three women are seeking answers. Each is haunted by her own ghosts. And by Benjamin. To find what they are looking for, they need to be honest with themselves and make peace with their own unreliable memories.' (Publication summary)

'Ethical Futures and Global Science Fiction explores the ethical concerns and dimensions of representations of the future of global science fiction, focusing on the issues that dominate utopian, dystopian and science fiction literature. The essays examine recent visions of the future in science fiction and re-examine earlier texts through contemporary lenses. Across fourteen chapters, the collection considers authors from Algeria, Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Macedonia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the UK and USA. The volume delves into a range of ethical questions of immediate contemporary relevance, including environmental ethics, postcolonial ethics, social justice, animal ethics and the ethics of alterity.'

Source: publisher's blurb

This special double issue of Colloquy: Text, Theory, Critique arises from the (Un)Ethical Futures: Utopia, Dystopia and Science Fiction conference, held 15–17 December 2017 at the Monash University Law Chambers in Melbourne. The conference was organised by an interdisciplinary team of postgraduate students from Monash University and the University of Warwick, including Colloquy editors. Participants explored a wide range of topical issues in science fiction and utopian studies, with a strong emphasis on the ethical dimensions of these genres. Andrew Milner, Jacqueline Dutton and Nick Lawrence gave keynote speeches and participated in an introductory panel, with Meg Mundell, Sascha Morrell and Evie Kendal coming on board to run interactive workshops. In addition to these, the conference hosted 59 research papers and six creative writing presentations, given by postgraduate students, early career researchers, established academics, and independent researchers. The conference saw almost 100 attendees from around the world and feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with strong social media engagement on Twitter under the hashtag #utopias2017. (Zachary Kendal and Aisling Smith : Editorial introduction)

'The thirteenth edition of Monash University’s creative writing annual collects work inspired by this year’s theme: Chimera. 

'Chimera is something desired but always out of reach. The faceless figures of dreams, the disappearing fountain of an unrelenting desert: for those willing to make the journey, chimera exists as hope unrealised. 

'This edition of Verge includes a range of original works from established and emerging writers. ' (Publication summary)

 

'What happens when a collection of writers are given a picture, a word limit and the freedom to see where an image can take them? Playing on an old adage, Picture 1000 Words is a unique pictorial short story anthology that experiments with the process of writing while simultaneously celebrating an enigmatic collection of photographs by Cam Cope. Thirteen writers have produced original, highly personalised 1000 word compositions that the reader explores together with the creative processes the authors have been through to write them. Does the reader see what the writer sees? Or do they find something else hidden in the visuals? Intriguingly the authors were not told the real-world origins of the images before penning them. So where do they come from? To satisfy curiosity, Cope provides an index with the real world captions behind the photos so readers can see how far from the truth the pens did fall. ' (Publication summary)