On a bitter Sunday in November, in the middle of the second world war, my great-grandfather shut the kitchen door...
Words
Writing from Going Down Swinging’s vaults and new writing available exclusively online.
Finding the words (post-birth)+
Writer and past Going Down Swinging editor Jessica Friedmann reflects on birth, language, and the wavering world. I’ve lost words....
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...