"Escalator," a 1970 work by Photorealist painter Richard Estes

Vija Celmins, To Fix the Image in Memory, 1977-82 https://botfrens.com/collections/14377/contents/1137042

This is one of Sydney's most popular arts events but still lost govt funding

"Writing, music or art can be relegated to a hobby, like bushwalking, reading, or knitting. For some families, this is the only practical solution, and it’s not a bad one. But should it be the only possible model?"

This is such an excellent point. Arts policy almost assumes an infinite supply of artists, but expertise takes time to develop and must be safeguarded

My review of Yuriyal Bridgeman's impressive monograph yubilong(mi)bilongyu is now up online at Art Guide. Always grateful for the chance to think deeply about art books Full review here: artguide.com.au/shelf-portra...

The Superb Lyrebird males have been quiet for the past three weeks as most have commenced tail moult.There are now many males in the forest with stumpy tails but they regrow with surprising rapidity and within the next couple of weeks they will be back to their former glory! #birds #nature #birding

Update, this oopsie baby is now 4000 words and I have started pitching

Listening to Eda Gunaydin, Lucy Van and Max Easton talk about criticism while I sneak a little weekend sewing time ➰ pca.st/episode/1701...

💔

Cecilia Paul, Painter and Model, 2012 www.victoria-miro.com/news/849/

Um. Almost?

The deputy editor speaks overland.org.au/2025/09/no-g...

Marlene Dumas, Nemesis, 2024 Oil on canvas Frith St www.frithstreetgallery.com/artists/37-m...

My latest newsletter is all about how to be a resilient writer in the face of career setbacks, ego death and creeping fascism. I offer 17 handy tips on how to hang onto yourself and keep going when the challenging times just don't seem to stop. buttondown.com/charliejane/...

Sympathy https://www.wikiart.org/en/remedios-varo/sympathy-1955

"When she was young, her brother got rabies and took a bite out of her wrist. He stayed with us for Christmas last year. He showed up with a giant baguette and she slammed the door in his face and left him on the porch." ➰ quite something from Sydney writer Sagar Nair in @smokelong.bsky.social

✨ first ocean swim of the season ✨

making a real effort to - read more - listen to whole albums - write for pleasure - make silly things (currently a scrap yarn poncho) - gym + swim and just realised I'm basically trying to reset my brain to the 2000s??

"I have a responsibility, as I see it, not to put garbage in the world. I’m not going to do that. If you start trying to figure out what it is that people want, you are doing what AI does."

Katthy Cavaliere, nest, 2010, super 8 film Collection: www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/w... Can't get this out of my head this morning, maybe no surprise given the state of everything

"It's been put to me that literary magazines are ephemeral, and when established ones close, their absence creates a space for new magazines to thrive... And yet in Australia in 2025, the space left when a cultural organisation closes is hardly fertile terrain. It's more like a vacuum"

‘In This Labyrinth’ by Najwan Darwish is poem of the day: I said these words weren’t needed as I was sitting there, where the road veered sharply, without thinking for a moment that it might only be a gentle winding. poets.org/poem/labyrin...

Year 4 kid's word of the day at school was apocalypse "it's very confusing, it's not about zombies at all"

Really looking forward to this chat with Evelyn Araluen about the swift death of Meanjin. Tune into @3rrrfm.bsky.social at 7pm.

Mini marsupial bounces back from the brink! Once listed as Endangered, the crest-tailed mulgara expanded its range by more than 48,000 km² between 2015 and 2021, lifting its status to Least Concern. Biocontrol contributed to the heartwarming bounce-back. https://f.mtr.cool/afllseseeb

Thank you for the outpouring of support over the past few days, and for the memories being shared. The complete Meanjin archive will be put online and made available for free from February 2026. In the meantime, current print and digital subscribers continue to have full access to it. (1 of 2)

So many unanswered questions posed in this excellent piece on the Meanjin closure. eg. -Why the sudden irreversible decision? -Why didn't they try to save it (community, donor drives etc)? -Why the secrecy? -Why use the financial viability argument now? As if the v wealthy UniMelb can't afford it.

This is a very good point. We're all used to seeing fundraising campaigns, subscriber drives, EOFY donate now emails etc etc

"And yet, it is on the basis of economic contribution that arguments in support of Australian culture are most often made...That is both a philosophical and a strategic mistake."

Late to this, but what an essay (and all the more pertinent following Meanjin's demise)

Snow wombat ❤️

to me this three sentence micro by Elena Zhang @ezhang77.bsky.social describes modern life so potently...like, it reveals this...big...mysterious force that we're caught in... ...or maybe it's just good writing ? read it for yrself, it's wonderful xraylitmag.com/baby-phones-...

The "financial reasons" behind mothballing one of Australia's oldest and most significant literary journals? Seems to amount to barely more than $100K. More to this story, methinks... (thanks Chris for this key info)

Meanjin has (had 😭) two - TWO - part time staff members. I'd be willing to bet my dinner that the cost of supporting Meanjin is less than what a single top 15 executive at Uni Melb makes in a year

The loss of Meanjin is devastating news for Australian writers and readers. Always meant so much to see my work there. Some of my best experiences of being edited. An entirely avoidable disaster.

I'm shattered at the loss of Meanjin. I've been a regular writer for years - one of few places you can publish serious long form writing that isn't tied directly to celebrity or the news cycle. This, along with the death of indie presses - what on earth is the point in trying to be a writer here?

WHAT

hello! we want to speak to authors who have hated their own book covers. you will be anonymous (unless you are feeling brave) - please DM me!

found myself a second hand copy 💛

Oh god, someone on a thread invoked “Light of the World” aka the Piss Christ and I am really tired and just got off a plane but my impassioned screed on it was on Twitter and as some of you know, I have FEELINGS ON THIS TOPIC.

I have a new story set in a dinosaur theme park up at @flashfrog.bsky.social today. Thanks to @ericscottryon.bsky.social for giving this one such an awesome home. And I love Jayne Frisina's art. Check it out if you wanna. 🦕 🦖 flash-frog.com/2025/09/01/d...

Wikipedia editors trying to fend off the onslaught of AI crap have crowdsourced some telltale signs of LLM-generated writing; it might be handy for editors and proofreaders generally. Thanks to @ellenrykers.com for pointing me to it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...

and spring is everywhere

James Ensor, Skeletons Warming Themselves, 1889

trying to figure out a call I heard today and can't get over the sorting of this list: The Whistlers, The Cacklers, The Hooters, The Sorrows www.birdsinbackyards.net/birds/featur...

My essay on AI and writing is up on Island Mag online islandmag.com/read/extinct...

I know it's not Wrensday Wednesday, but this shot is always popular. This is a white-winged fairywren. An odd name, really. I think they should be called electric-blue fairywrens 😄 And a bee. And an ant. Taken at the Arid Lands Botanic Garden at Port Augusta.

Editing day, sometimes it feels like home stretch, sometimes it feels like someone put a hill right at the end of the fun run