Words by: Angel Tully Art by: Madeleine Galea
My mother thought she had her whole life ahead of her at 25. She had just married her high-school sweetheart of nearly ten years and was beginning to climb the ranks in the fashion industry while working for Nautica. Moving from a small town in Canada to the big city of Toronto, her life was playing out like a rom-com. But by the time she turned 26, her dream life was crumbling around her.
… Starting Afresh
Words by: Caitlin Cefai Art by: Madison Marshall
The sweat. The rush. The crowd. The bounce. The game. It’s full throttle: no protective gear, played in the dead of winter, and known for being a petri dish for vulgarity and violence in its crowd. Aussie Rules is the sport for Australians. It’s as tough as its namesake nation — the soul of a home with over 60,000 years of history. It’s a game for all Australians…
Well, up until only six years ago, it was actually a game just for men.
… She Is the Navy Blue
Words by: Gabriela Fannia Art by: Emilia Bajer
Innocent wishes and boundless imagination, with a touch of hopefulness — that is what childhood dreams are made of. Funny how we don’t remember most things from the past (let alone last Monday’s dinner), yet a childhood dream will always have its place in a precious storage box, tucked inside the mind.
… A Kid’s Dream
Words by: Eden Hopgood Art by: Lauren Gallina
Dear future me,
I hope you’re healthy; I hope you’re happy.
I hope you’ve said yes to every opportunity that fulfils you, and learnt to say no to the ones that don’t.
I hope you’re exactly where you need to be at this point in time.
… Letters of Hope: For My Own Sake
Words by: Laeticia Keiko Art by: Naiya Sornratanachai
To all my fellow hopeless romantics, love is full of expectations and disappointments. It can be a dream come true, but just remember that all fairytales come with constant ups and downs and plot twists. Are we really ready to experience realistic love?
… Fairytale Standards
Words by: Jackie Zhou Art by: Mon Ouk
Asian parents.
This pair of words, no matter what background you are from, may have elicited some sort of image or reaction from you; perhaps it’s a ‘helicopter mum’, or a pair of harsh and strict parents who disdain the arts and force their poor second-gen immigrant children to become doctors, lawyers or engineers. Maybe it’s the generational trauma passed down each line on the pedigree chart, a theme we have been seeing a lot in our media, depicting the stories of Asian immigrant families and the dynamic between traumatised parents and cultural freedom-seeking children.
… Disappointing the Family
Words & Photography by: Lauren Gallina
The warmer months are approaching; as we put away our puffer jackets and let our bodies breathe again, I want to present us with some ideas for hope and growth moving forward.
… Letters of Hope: For Our Sake
Poetry & Artwork by: Madeleine Galea
my breath fogs gently,
steaming up the icy glass,
… Through the Looking Glass
Words by: Felice Lok Art by: Lauren Gallina
I have two really good friends who I cherish very much. One will FaceTime me for five hours straight as we talk about the minor inconveniences we experienced that day in immaculate detail. The other calls me and we talk about career crises and trips to London over the summer holiday. I try to catch up with them often, but when life gets in the way and we don’t see each other for weeks, it feels like I have a gaping hole in my heart. For me, these two are my biggest soulmates. And this piece is dedicated to all the things I hope will come true for them.
… You’ve Got a Friend in Me
Words by: Ilanda Tran Art by: John Paul Macatol
December 2019. I’ve made plans with my friend, Tom, for a very late celebration of my 18th birthday. 18 doesn’t feel all that different from 17 — I am pleased with the prospect of being able to drink, but a little disappointed that I will no longer be able to scream the lyrics to ‘Dancing Queen’ with as much personal conviction.
… A Case for Spontaneity
Words by: Andie Perez Art by: Lauren Gallina
My dear friend,
The last time we saw each other, your feet were perched on the seat as you smoked a cigarette in my car. I tried to hide my grimace as the lights of passing cars played shadows on my face. The tobacco was bold and all-consuming. As I spoke about the turmoil of my schedule, I caught your bored gaze, wandering eyes and pursed lips. You wanted to keep talking about yourself. A heaviness latched inside me as I realised that I was not your friend, but merely a confidant. A sister. A therapist.
… Letters of Hope: For Your Sake
Words by: Clara Yew Art by: Lauren Easter
Unfortunately, we can’t all be forced into karaoke at a New Year’s Eve party with a stranger and have that person move to our school when the term starts. Alas, life is not an excellent musical film by Disney Channel, but anything can happen when you take a chance.
… The Start of Something New
Words by: Ruby Ellam Art by: Hayley Maree
Dear Valiant and Noble Leader,
I write to you today in a flurry of tears. It is with my deepest regret, that I must abandon my post, and respectfully and woefully step down from the minimum wage retail job that you kindly gifted me so long ago.
… Please Accept This Letter As Notice of My Resignation
Words by: Caitlin Cefai
A review of Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh
Trigger warning: violent and graphic imagery.
It’s icky, unkind and downright disturbing, but as Moshfegh herself describes, it’s a tale of hope, and a brilliant one at that.
… Heinous, Horrible, Hellish and Hopeful?
Words by: Kiera Eardley Art by: Naiya Sornratanachai
“…as heads is tails / just call me Lucifer / ’cause I’m in need of some restraint”
‘Sympathy for the Devil’ (1968), The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones have courted controversy for their entire 60-year career. The British rock & roll band was marketed as the anti-establishment antidote to the saccharine Beatles — and they didn’t shy away from living up to that bad-boy image.
… Just Call Me Lucifer
Words by: Soraya Rezal Art by: Lauren Easter
Looks and appearances are everything, apparently. The clothes we wear, the colour of our hair, the amount of piercings and tattoos we have — these are all things that are often judged by other people. In 2022, you’d think we should be able to present ourselves however we want. However, my personal experience proves otherwise.
… Tattoos and Dyed Hair and Piercings, Oh My!
Words by: Juliette Capomolla Art by: Carla J. Romana
Whether or not you believe in cancel culture; whether or not you think people, places or things should be ‘cancelled’; whether or not you are yet to find someone who’s actually been ‘cancelled’ — it’s undeniable that there are some meteorically popular sensations that are simply too big to be cancelled. Before you tell me I’m being hyperbolic, hear me out.
… Too Big To Be Cancelled
Words by: Felice Lok Art by: Natalie Tran
“You see, more often than not, the people who shame women the most are actually women themselves.”
I remember first grappling with the notion of internalised misogyny while preparing for my Year 12 oral exam. My topic was about why all men play a role in eliminating violence against women, and the way I wrote it fixated heavily on how men were always the main perpetrators. While I was rehearsing in my English teacher’s office after school one afternoon, she said something that I didn’t really understand at the time, but has stuck with me ever since. She said: “you see, more often than not, the people who shame women the most are actually women themselves.”
… Reverse-engineering My Thoughts on Plastic Surgery
Words by: Sarah Louise Art by: Lauren Easter
You spot him seated at a small table in the corner. Thank God, he looks like his Hinge profile. The restaurant is dimly lit, so hopefully he won’t notice the pimple that rudely decided to pop up this morning. He stands up to greet you, pulls your chair out and fills your glass with water. Tick.
… Table Manners
The intersectionality of politics & the significance thereof
Words and photography by: Zayan Ismail
The term ‘intersectionality’ was first coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, an African American woman, in her 1989 paper, ‘Demarginalising the Intersection of Race and Sex’. Intersectionality is a concept in social studies that refers to how different factors such as age, race, ability and class all interact with each other to bring about inequalities. The term still holds true today in a world that has begun to shift under the tides of drastic social change. It is not surprising that Kimberlé came up with the word based upon her own experience, nor is it surprising that the term has been misused, misconstrued and not properly credited over the years since. Her experiences are the sad reality for a woman and person of colour in academia, and it’s the same behaviour we witness in our communities which is built upon discriminatory views formed by our own biases. It is still exactly what Kimberlé warned us about and the marginalisation that she faced when she was immediately sidelined for being too critical and playing into ‘identity politics’. But don’t we all speak from our own experiences and knowledge? This question is where it all began, and how I first came across the conceptual understanding of intersectionality in my sociology classes.
… How Are You Any Different?
Words by: Caitlin Cefai
In a world intoxicated by a desire for instantaneous knowledge, social media has become everyone’s favourite vice. The speed at which you can find information on anything no longer relies on flicking through an encyclopaedia. Now, just type a word or two into a search bar and decades of largely unfiltered and unverified websites spew forth from the ghastly underbelly of the internet beast, complete with comments that ensure you’re aware of everybody and anybody’s opinion on what you’re searching.
… News, Revolutionised: The Daily Aus
Esperanto Magazine 