Writer and past Going Down Swinging editor Jessica Friedmann reflects on birth, language, and the wavering world. I’ve lost words....
Words
Writing from Going Down Swinging’s vaults and new writing available exclusively online.
in a silent way+
when he finished work he saw how lovely it was to deal with the end of autumn, to walk out...
A Small Boy: Don’t be scared to be scared+
I am thinking of a small boy in the early 1960s, living in an outer suburb of Melbourne. The boy...
A Real Good Catch+
He real nice this one. Want you to meet him. This one he real good to me. I’m happy. Real...
Dress Young+
Here’s a poem from the archives of David Prater’s brilliant blog, Davey Dreamnation. DRESS YOUNG you dress young but then...
How to get teenagers interested in poetry+
“Today,” I announce enthusiastically to a school hall full of fidgeting Year 8s, 9s and 10s, “we are going to...
Excerpt from ‘The Old Woman’s Tale’+
This is a sneak preview from our up-coming Going Down Swinging #33 from the story The Old Woman’s Tale by...
Excerpt from ‘Badass’+
This is a sneak preview from our up-coming Going Down Swinging #33 from the story Badass by Michael Trudeau. We...
Excerpt from ‘The Novel Teacher’+
This is a sneak preview from our up-coming Going Down Swinging #33 from Eric Yoshiaki Dando’s short story The Novel...
Excerpt from ‘Little Monsters’+
This is a sneak preview from our up-coming Going Down Swinging #33 from Briohny Doyle’s essay, Little Monsters. We will...
Excerpt from ‘Atlas Dharma’+
This is a sneak preview from our up-coming Going Down Swinging #33 from a collaboration between Cate Kennedy and Simon...
Braille+
It’s a father and daughter tour and we stop for some famous cliffs. A mountain valley running to the west,...
On the Attractions of Innocence+
We can never go back, never return. You smile as you scoop sangria from the bowl, finger my albums’ battered...
On the Radar…+
The Night’s Insomnia ‘When the angels are panting and scratching the door to come in …’ Leonard Cohen, 2012 If...
Horses+
Today there are horses bolting out of the sun, towards us in a snort of black heat. Close your eyes...
Do Not Shake The Bridge+
A long bridge of books and paper spans the gorge. You have gone ahead and vertigo is a hand clasped...
One Hundred Random Cows+
1. Start They came to him at night to begin with and that’s how it started. That’s how the whole...
Other Adventures…+
When I was Born When I was born I saw the beginning of things. I saw the tide roll in...
A Shortage of Santas+
A friend of a friend is recruiting Santas for shopping centres and says that they are having trouble finding them. ...
Sometimes Poems…+
Cold Was the Ground dark was the night Blind Willie Johnson huffs in my ears weeping into God. How easy...
The Bedroom Philosopher Tour Diary #1+
1. Excerpt from The Bedroom Philosopher Diaries — the new book from Justin Heazlewood Friday August 13. Launceston. Hotel New...
Janis Ian remembers+
photographs - watercolours of the past, but I remember cigarettes, the coffee rings of old regrets And the smell and...
The Bedroom Philosopher Tour Diary #2+
2. Excerpt from The Bedroom Philosopher Diaries — the new book from Justin Heazlewood Saturday August 14. Hobart. Brisbane Hotel....
Wit-Bix Psychological Analysis+
Excerpt from The Bedroom Philosopher Diaries — the new book from Justin Heazlewood. It’s a casual, slightly dead-shit Wednesday in...
The Bedroom Philosopher Tour Diary #3+
3. Excerpt from The Bedroom Philosopher Diaries — the new book from Justin Heazlewood Saturday 14th. Hobart. Brisbane Hotel. All-Ages...
You are you speaking for when you speak not-man?+
I came to Lena Dunham, Judd Apatow and HBO’s new sitcom Girls through the controversy that surrounded it and not...
Dark Matter+
A few years ago my good friends and colleagues Alicia Sometimes, Sean M Whelan and Paul Mitchell formed Science in The Dark...
The Bedroom Philosopher Tour Diary #4+
4. Excerpt from The Bedroom Philosopher Diaries — the new book from Justin Heazlewood Sunday August 14. Burnie. Burnie Arts...