It was a privilege to be invited to be a contributor to this anthology which is providing a platform for writers who are of diverse backgrounds to share their stories for a young adult audience. I loved the concept of the anthology, a meeting at the intersection of race, gender, and disability, and reading it was an absolute pleasure. The stories in this collection represent diverse genres memoir, poetry and fiction by writers who are First Nations, People of Colour, LGBTIQA and living with a disability.
In Night Feet Ellen van Neerven writes about Bella, a young girl of Aboriginal background who is using her talent as a soccer player to seek a better life. Graham Akhurst writes a series of haunting poems about the experiences of colonisation on the Indigenous people. Dear Mate by Kyle Lynch is a week in the life of a young job seeker in Kalgoorlie demonstrating the hurdles to finding work.
Embers by Ezekiel Kwaymullina is a poem about the experience of being a dyslexic student. In Harry Potter and the Disappearing Pages Olivia Muscat shares the difficulties in being a visually impaired person and the challenges faced on a day to day basis. Fragments by Mimi Lee is about a young woman's experience of loss and acceptance and the challenges of migration from China. Stars in our Eyes by Jessica Walton is about living with disability and the desperate yearning we all feel to see our differences in TV and media, and about being sensitive to gender norms.
In her story Trouble Kelly Gardiner explores the experiences of being LGBTQA in the 1950s and the attitudes that those who were same sex attracted faced. Sheer Fortune by Jordi Kerr is a metaphorical story that explores our relationships with our bodies. In Telephone Yvette Walker explores the phone call that she would have loved to have been able to make in 1987 when she was taking her first tentative steps toward exploring her sexuality as a lesbian. DNA by Melanie Rodriga explores a young person questioning her gender and sexuality.
Almitra Amongst Ghosts by Rafeif Ismail writes about the metaphorical ghosts that haunt her character as she grapples with her coming out to her mother. In The Other Son Omar Sakr explores the concept of families and loss.
My memoir piece School of Hard Knocks (by Amra Pajalic) is about being a new kid to a school after living in Bosnia for four years and suffering huge culture shock. Autumn Leaves by Wendy Chen is set during 1902 against the backdrop of Australia's Federation and explores the impact of the White Australia policy on the Chinese community. How to Be Different by Michelle Aung Thin is about a multicultural family grappling with racial stereotypes. In The Last Stop by Alice Pung a young man challenges his racial stereotypes after a trip of a lifetime.Border Crossings by Rebecca Lim is a essay explores privilege and systematic injustices that those who are from the intersection face.
This is a great read and a wonderful resources for teachers and educators.
Book Description
Meet Me at the Intersection is an anthology of short fiction, memoir and poetry by authors who are First Nations, People of Colour, LGBTIQA+ or living with disability. The focus of the anthology is on Australian life as seen through each author's unique, and seldom heard, perspective.
Product Description
Meet Me at the Intersection is an anthology of short fiction, memoir andpoetry by authors who are First Nations, People of Colour, LGBTIQA+ orliving with disability. The focus of the anthology is on Australian life asseen through each author's unique, and seldom heard, perspective.With works by Ellen van Neerven, Graham Akhurst, Kyle Lynch, EzekielKwaymullina, Olivia Muscat, Mimi Lee, Jessica Walton, Kelly Gardiner,Rafeif Ismail, Yvette Walker, Amra Pajalic, Melanie Rodriga, Omar Sakr,Wendy Chen, Jordi Kerr, Rebecca Lim, Michelle Aung Thin and AlicePung, this anthology is designed to challenge the dominant, homogenousstory of privilege and power that rarely admits ‘outsider' voices.