Backstory Author

Jess Roscioli

Originally from Queensland, Jess is currently studying the Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing at Swinburne University. Jess enjoys...

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Bradlee Jennings

Bradlee Jennings is a songwriter and memoirist from Melbourne who is studying Professional Writing & Editing at Swinburne. Since...

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Book Review: Elizabeth, Elizabeth by Sue Williams

by Angela Wauchop   ‘Behind the ragged grey people and their own shabby infantry officers— … the houses are little more than...

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Interview with Hakim Bellamy

Interview by Brad Jennings   Hakim Bellamy is a poet, author, musician, playwright, actor, and community organiser. In 2012, he became...

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Merciless

By Jess Roscioli   The beginning was bliss. A desire, with a depth –  more forceful than the ocean we met along.  Purity,...

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Take Me Home

by Lyssa Stevens    The gun shots are relentless. Men cry in pain as blood oozes from their wounds, dripping down the walls of the...

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Shave Your Legs For Summer

by Bethany Cody   Fat tears won’t flood the lake. A head full of summer memories. She stayed at yours, you stayed up late. Cut your...

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Six Mothers I Had

By Bradlee Jennings   Talaleu was the fearless goddess who wrangled flesh and air, Willing me into existence. Healthy yet homeless, I...

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Anna By Lamplight

by Alison Knight   The streetlamp is a thing of beauty. Tall and slender, its neck bows over the footpath in an elegant curlicue....

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The Rats of The Rocks, Sydney 1900

by Rob McKinnon   Surreptitious stowaways  to the flourishing city  hiding in groaning ships  from contaminated ports.  Finding...

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Taffy

by Bethany Cody   Born of the beach, a young man from Taffs Well, gateway to the valleys, an immigrant living along the flat shores of...

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When the History of the Future Burned

by Amy Bertacco   A building is only a building until it means something to someone. I was nothing until the people of Alexandria,...

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Stray Dog

by Miles Boyle-Bryant   ‘A fucking woman? I ask for help, and they send a fucking woman?’ ‘Mr. Watkins, I promise you I-’ ‘I...

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Charlotte Millanayage

by Dilini Fredrick   My grandmother on my mum’s side, Charlotte Nona (Nona is a Sinhalese word for ‘madam’ or ‘lady’), had...

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COVID, Cement and CCR

by Melissa King   It’s mid-morning on a temperate autumn day in 2020, during the early stages of Victoria’s first COVID-19...

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Lost and Found

by Sam Johnston   My hands descend into the abyss of shredded bags and rotting food, digging around for the toy. I haven’t even...

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Book Review: The Road to Woop Woop and other stories by Eugen Bacon

by Angela Wauchop   ‘But there is a lot Keledi does not know. You haven’t told her about the big plane that took Baba up in the...

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Josh Kee

Josh is a student at the Swinburne University of Technology, and studying for a Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing. He enjoys...

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Course of Time

by Peter Loveday   In the afternoon we go down to the vegetable patch to dig up the cat we buried there. No matter how far down we...

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Book Review: Black Moon – Graphic Speculative Flash Fiction by Eugen Bacon. Illustrated by Elena Betti

Reviewed by Angela Wauchop   ‘Was it the malevolence of bitch girls and the opulence ranking of their homes? The spite of...

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Impermanence

by Jessica Roscioli   There’s something about the night sky that sparks deep nostalgia within me. It’s abundant in hues of deep...

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Transformers, The Haiku

by Josh Kee   Era of Plastic. When Raegan Passed new toy laws, Hasbro wanted stake.   Seeking new concepts, Hasbro went to the...

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Book Review: Ein Stein by Joe Reich

by Vincent Kakkos    Ein Stein surprised the absolute shit out of me. As someone who hadn’t read a novel to completion in almost a...

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Interview with Joe Reich

Interview by Vincent Kakkos   Joe Reich is an author, painter and practicing ophthalmologist based here in Melbourne Australia. In 2009,...

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Sneak Peek

Let me to introduce you to a few of the fabulous pieces from the upcoming issue of Backstory. From gangster grannies to broken soldiers,...

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10 Historical Events You Have Probably Not Heard Of

History can be fun, disastrous, atrocious, exciting and enlightening. So it’s such a shame that the typical curriculum is often...

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Top 10 History Books You Should Read – Now!

  Reading about history is important. It helps us to better understand the complex and nuanced world we traverse today. That, in turn...

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Joshua Kepreotis

Joshua Kepreotis is a writer born in Australia and of Greek heritage. He has published essays in 3AM Magazine and HuffingtonPost Greece,...

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Janeen O’Connell

It was Janeen O’Connell’s grandmother’s stories, told with love and pride about her Scottish family and their political will...

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Alison Knight

Alison has written two novels, Peter Stone and The Close, and an anthology of stories. Her stories have also appeared in Pendulum Papers,...

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