MEANJIN BACK ISSUE

Meanjin On PNG
Vol. 62, no. 3, 2003

FOCUS ON PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Guest edited by acclaimed historian and memoirist Drusilla Modjeska.

This issue contains a large section on Papua New Guinea and related themes. Drusilla Modjeska was appointed commissioning editor for this section and she introduces a varied array of essays, poetry and fiction relating to our important near-northern neighbour. Meanjin last had a special issue on PNG in 1975, the year that this region gained its political independence. We felt it was about time for a fresh look. Rather than concentrating on political and economic issues, this selection will focus on the writing inspired by PNG, the stories there are to tell, the ways they have been told and the confrontations between past and present, tradition and modernity that they evoke. Australian writers Trevor Shearston, David Brooks, Inez Baranay, Donald Denoon, Hank Nelson, and film makers Bob Connolly and Les McLaren join PNG writers Steve Winduo, Regis Stella, Russell Soaba, Tommy Yep, William Takaku and a group of Tok Pisin poets.

Not everything in this issue concentrates on PNG. Among the other items are a conversation between David Marr and Peter Mares on the ramifications of the refugee crisis, the Tampa incident and the 'children overboard' affair, an essay by Helen Innes on various items in the famous photographic collection at the National Library of Australia, and an Indonesian diary by prize-winning poet John Mateer.