MEANJIN BACK ISSUE

AUSTRALASIAN
Vol. 63, no. 2, 2004

GUEST CONSULTANT EDITORS: NATASHA CHO, CHRIS RAJA

FEATURING: MICHELLE DE KRETSER, LOUIS NOWRA, SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM, WILLIAM YANG, ANNETTE SHUN WAH, TONY AYRES, HELENE CHUNG MARTIN, JOHN MATEER, CHANDANI LOKUGE, ANDY QUAN, PETER STEELE, AND 16 PAGES OF EXQUISITE ART WORK IN COLOUR

This issue focuses mainly (though not exclusively) on Asian-Australian cultural engagements. It includes fiction, poetry, essays, memoirs and graphics by a number of Australia's best-known writers, artists and journalists of Asian descent. Younger artists working in experimental forms and crossover genres are also featured. And some Australian writers of non-Asian descent chart our fascination with Asian cultures.

Features:

Interview with Michelle de Kretser, Sri Lankan-born author of The Hamilton Case, finalist in the Commonwealth Writers Prize and winner of the Encore award (U.K.) for the best second novel

All About Our Mothers: portraits by photographer William Yang; memoir by film-maker Tony Ayres; a new story by Louis Nowra

… and a Father: 'Caves of Infinite Buddhas' a story by Chandani Lokuge

The Stained Glass Ceiling: Television presenter and journalist Annette Shun Wah, reflecting on her own family history, examines a new book on the challenges and opportunities for Chinese women in Australia

Secret History of the Magic Carpet: Azhar Ali Abidi takes us for a ride

Found in Translation: Andy Quan on his racial and sexual identities

Mad in India: Sophie Cunningham, author of Geography, on her favourite country

Japanese Stories: Brian McFarlane on Australian cinema's delayed interest in Japan

War of the Worlds: Eurasian-Australian Adrian Carton reflects on the identity clashes we all embody

Asian Games: Dean Chan examines three contemporary video games and the differing ways in which they project and market 'Asianness'

The Reception is Over: Helene Chung Martin, on assignment in Peking during the early 1980s, evokes this now vanished world through her letters home at the time

Beyond the Pale: Glenn D'Cruz seeks to understand his Anglo-Indian identity

Catching Butterflies with a Sledgehammer: Zines resist easy capturing by reviewers, Craig Garrett discovers as he appraises three recent issues.

Chinese Voices: Tseen Khoo, Jen Tsen Kwok and Chek Ling reflect on the political culture of the Asian-Australian community

Communications Breakdown: Two sessional university tutors Jennifer Lee and Winnie Salamon offer a personal perspective on the everyday dilemmas of international students at Australia's tertiary institutions

New Lanterns for Old: How far can Australian engagement with Asia transcend old shibboleths? How new are the perspectives offered by the 'New Asian Galleries' at the Art Gallery of New South Wales? Chaitanya Sambrani investigates.

Careless Translations: Tim Gaze explicates a new literary technique, with examples by himself and Nihta Liando

Hereditary Fiction: Tze Ming Mok records a conversation between an Australasian interviewer of indeterminate age or gender and an elderly Malaysian male

How to Write a Chinese Poem: Old stereotypes of Asian culture and sensibility can still surface in contemporary poetry, according to poet Tim Yu..

Reviews:

Sunil Badami: Shantaram by GREGORY DAVID ROBERTS
Chong Weng-ho: On Not Speaking Chinese by IEN ANG

Fiction:

Paddy O'Reilly, Natasha Cho, Chandani Lokuge, Chris Raja, Tim Richards, Shalani Akhil, Keith Butler

Poetry:

D.J. Huppatz, Ouyang Yu, Jane Gibian, Edward Burger, Alison Wong, Miriam Lo, Alamgir Hashmi, John Mateer, three East Timorese poets translated by Javant Biarujia

Art Work:

Sangeeta Sandrasegar, Zeno Sworder, Nusra Qureshi, Naeem Rana, Paul Baxter