Issue One

Editorial: Backstory

This journal provides Swinburne writers with a global publication outlet that brings their talents to the world. These stories, review,...

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Keeping House on Murder Mile

By Rachael Palmer Cyprus 1958 March Tilly stepped off the plane into bright sunshine at Nicosia Airport. She bumped baby Beth higher on her...

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A maji maji chronicle

By Eugen Bacon   Maji! Maji! Myth or legend Or a scheme of fads, ideas embedded One battle, one struggle. Freedom! Freedom! Painted...

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Strangers on the mountain

By Kirsty Seebeck The boy rested against a sun-warmed rock, watching the sheep browse through the scrubby grass, as early summer insects...

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In Memory of Mary Miller

By Helen F Miller   The year is 1902 and Australian women now have the right to vote and be elected, but that has little if any impact...

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Luna Lune

By MA Fox   White columns reach towards the heavens under the moon’s rays.   The gods are now home sitting in judgement...

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Flora

By MA Fox   Spring looms. Flora, Rome’s goddess, flowers as her crown, heralds the cycle of rebirth.   Image by Roksolana...

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Farewell Maid

By Wendy J Dunn   My lover brought me a poesy yesterday morn alone in the meadow alive with spring Ragged robin, vetch, golden...

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Diana

By MA Fox   Hail to thee, Diana, Goddess over all that is steeped in darkness, Sacred keeper of the moon.   By the silver light...

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Brief History of Hate

By Wendy J Dunn   A child bleeds. Head broken Wound open Torso pocked by gunfire. He cries Terrified “Where’s my father?...

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The hand that pulled the trigger

By Duncan Richardson   The officer in charge of the firing squad knows he was the one who killed the Ceausescu’s because his...

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Genghis

By Duncan Richardson   When the great Khan died legend tells   they buried him on the plain and gathered a swarm of horses  ...

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Sylvia: the movie

By Duncan Richardson   England – February 1963   The worst winter in memory pipes and birds were freezing heaters gave up...

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Empires of mist

By Duncan Richardson   Suleyman the Magnificent* twice bereaved found solace in poetry for a while then war dying in the field on his...

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The Philosopher’s Stone

By Duncan Richardson   Eager pilgrims seek out the Great Philosopher 1898   Let us go and see Herr Nietzsche sitting by the...

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Witch, Nun, Scholar

By Eloise Faichney   i. Witch   Am I to spend my days locked in the longing of my namesake?   I am a ghost of knife and...

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Baba Yaga

By Eloise Faichney   Your walking-hut1, witchmother, hides in the forest of the Tsar. You; ambiguity personified with bony legs and...

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Diábolos

By Eloise Faichney   You still do not understand what I have seen, Padre. These rosaries will not save us now, nor these prayers; we...

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Untitled Poem

By Christina Aitken Spots of crimson dance in the breeze Below, the swollen, shuddering sea bears hopeful young men to war Standing in rows...

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Review: Inside Tokyo’s Shadows ‘People Who Eat Darkness’ by Richard Lloyd Parry

By Teuila Krause People Who Eat Darkness is the true story of British woman Lucie Blackman, who was reported missing back in July 2000 from...

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Review: Malcolm X: The Voice That Feared None ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ as told to Alex Haley

By Teuila Krause February 21st 1965, New York City – Minister El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, more commonly known as Malcolm X, is...

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Review: The Flame Eater by Barbara Gaskell Denvil

By Senaj Alijevski The Flame Eater by Barbara Gaskell Denvil is a historical fiction novel set in Medieval London that offers the reader a...

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Review: On the Trail of the Yorks

By Tina Tsironis   In her previous book, The World of Richard III, author Kristie Dean focused squarely on the controversial last king...

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Review: In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII by Sarah Morris and Natalie Grueninger

By Andy Goss Henry VIII must be England’s most examined monarch. But although his was a pivotal reign, his celebrity has little to do...

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Alex Miller

Backstory’s Issue Two will feature an interview with award winning author, Alex Miller. Alex Miller’s eleventh novel, Coal...

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Booktown’s Boulton Ghosts

By Louise Wilson © Louise Wilson, 6 May 2016. The small Victorian town of Clunes has become famous in recent years as Australia’s...

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The Atlantic U-boat campaign of World War I

By Andy Goss “There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the...

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