Issue Three

Welcome to Issue Three of Backstory.

I am incredibly proud of being the Co-Senior Editor of Other Terrain and Backstory. Backstory is particularly special to me. I cannot...

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Overboard

By Judy Rigby They threw my children overboard. That’s what the doctor tells me, but I know it isn’t true. They are here with me in the...

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The Grandmothers

By Amanda Pearson   Midday, Wednesday 2 February 1994. We gather. An unlikely group, our papery skins nearly transparent, eyes watery,...

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Excerpts from ‘The Parcels’

By Amanda Pearson November 1914 Harold enlisted last week. He made the three-hour journey up to Adelaide by train and joined the army. I...

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Bound to be safe

By Louise Hopewell   Edie had only just made it along the driveway and out onto the footpath, but already her bunions were rubbing...

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The Cousins

By Chris Childs   Werribee Park, Victoria, Australia 25 June 1887   ‘Careful, Constable that might be important evidence!’  ...

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Resurrection – a triptych

By Jan Price                                 Panel l. The Inspiration London – East End; a barefoot lad slips into...

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I am Caroline

By Chris Childs   I am Caroline, Madame Carole, Carrie. I wonder how history will remember me?   Will anyone remember Miss...

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Mother and Child

By Bill Cotter   Suffer little children to come unto me: for such is the kingdom of heaven.   The sky sickens And fuses darkness,...

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Sky Burial

By Jan Price   Down the arch-groan monastery road coursing these treeless bitten mountains a sharp dismissive wind snatches from the...

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Father

By Jan Price   Once, when I was four you carried me home on your shoulders over a long bridge.   Once, you and I sang The...

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Stars

By Jan Price   Each chosen child destined to live in its own desert one night will look up; the trees will be breathless and the pain...

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Robert Dudley

By Wendy J. Dunn   From a postcard He glares at me With an eagle stare Accusingly And handsome No doubt of that His very stance...

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Claudette Colvin

By Fiona Lynch   When she was four, white boys asked to touch her hand, to compare; her mother slapped her face, not her place.  ...

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At the Assassin’s Hands

By Melinda Jane Your sea soft, melancholy blue eyes Your long, slender Celtic hands Your long, curled locked hair   You, at 19 years...

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Sunday 11th July 1875 – ‘Just before 8ish!’

By Melinda Jane   How many heard your mooted screams that Sunday evening At Mrs. Mitchell’s paddock between the house and the hay...

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Helen Mitchell Photography 1873

By Melinda Jane   Floor-grazing gown cinched at the waist silhouette black crepe crisp and crimped who would imagine three years on...

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Iron Above the Hills

By Bill Cotter   The storm rambles and tramps, hammering pine trees, Strafing crops and, from the tangled clouds, spilling jags Of...

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Interview with Sandra Gulland

By Sophie Myers   Sandra Gulland is the internationally celebrated author of number of historical novels, such as the Josephine B....

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Interview with Rachel Nightingale

By Sophie Meyers What motivated you to start writing? I decided to become a writer at the age of 8. I can’t really remember why now, but...

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Interview with Christopher Raja

By Senaj Alijevski   What challenges and experiences inspired your novels? I love when someone tells me a story. I think this love for...

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Review of Harlequins Riddle by Rachel Nightingale

Review by Joe Bosa “There is a moment, just before the dreamer stirs, when the mysteries of the world offer up their meanings. There is...

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Review of Jack of Spades by Sophie Masson

Review by Jessica Forth It is not often that a book opens is narrative with the call to action on it’s first page. It is also unusual...

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Taking the children away: what have we learnt from past Australian practices when children were removed from their families?

By Janice Simpson Introduction As a nation, we have taken lessons from what occurred in the past. We have outlawed baby farming, a practice...

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