EDITORS' LETTER

Dear readers,

Summarising everything noteworthy that has occurred in the two months since we published Vol. 1 is like trying to describe a work of arthouse cinema to your artsy Melbourne-chic friends. It doesn’t matter how big your vocabulary is, eventually you just have to accept that you don’t know what you’re talking about. Fortunately, I love a good arthouse film and, by virtue of editing a uni magazine, have no shortage of artsy Melbourne-chic friends, so here goes nothing: friendship,

In the time since you last picked up a print issue, Sydney exploded into a monthlong celebration of parties, Pride marches and pink-washing; NSW painted the last mainland state red; and Australia watched on as Trans-rights activists confronted a flock of nameless, faceless neo-nazis outside Victoria’s Parliament House.

Yet, in a nonchalant demonstration of ruthless omnipotence, time ushered us onward. Despite the world around us, regardless of the insanity and drastic circumstances, we all continued to settle into the new semester: working, procrastinating, praying and pub-crawling. Come late Autumn and we each find ourselves on a different page. Some are keen to plough through to the mid-year break, while others would be content to call it a year.

Likewise, 2023: Vol. 2 is tied to opposite poles, oscillating between light-hearted relief and hard-hitting calls to arms. From Siena Zadro’s dinosaur questionnaire to Claire Matthew’s harrowing analysis of an extinction in progress; from Tiana Plywaski’s trial-and-error critique of the star signs in bed to Bronte Skinner’s coverage of BDSM experts at UTS. Read Tyberius Seeto’s exposition on life as an international student, Aston Brown’s exposé on the Narrabri Gas Project, and Rose Tate’s guide to queer allyship after World Pride. Maintain the activist stance with Rodger Liang’s photos from the Trans Day of Visibility, or embrace a different kind of visual content with Liam Davies’ and Wennie Fu’s showcase works. If that wasn’t enough to pick from, Gianluca Pecora and Mia Davies fulfil your literary desires in the Creative Writing section, giving you a choice between feminist poetry and a short story about an incel spider (no, seriously).

Regardless of where you find yourself, I sincerely hope we provide the comfort, consolation, persistence or rage that you require – to keep going or to curl into a ball and cry, whatever feels right to you. Welcome back.