Welcome to GR Online, a series of short-form articles that take aim at the moving target of contemporary culture as it’s whisked along the guide rails of innovations in digital media, globalisation and late-stage capitalism.
The view from up here
SLIPPING OFF HER high heels, she sighs with relief – more out of habit than real affliction – and takes a...
Fossil Fuels
THE NIGHT BEFORE Jules went up to Townsville for his Nan’s eightieth, we cut each other’s hair. In all...
The Palais
WHEN RUBY FIRST moves to town she stays with the Miss Wrights on Prospect Road, on the recommendation of...
Bad breath
RUMBA WONDERED WHY his parents were taking so long. He was both elated and anxious because he could keep...
A local footnote
A WRITER HAS come to town. A reputation for greatness precedes him. His prize-winning books are plainly spoken, yet...
One short mile from land
HE FELT IT first when the horses shifted and cried. They had been muttering among themselves all day, but...
The honesty window
A SMALL PRINTED card offered extra towels, if they should need them. They hadn’t been provided in the first...
Muse
I’VE NEGLECTED HER. Her ceilings are soft with cobwebs. Her garden is choked with weeds. Her fence leans, like buckteeth,...
A fulcrum of infinities
SAUL TURNS OFF the bitumen onto the dirt road and drives due west. The ute rattles along over the...
Those boys from Jalaan
RACHEL THERE WAS A cement wall separating the compound from the desert. The wall was three metres high. Purple wildflowers grew...
The last taboo: A love story
HE INSISTS ON a hotel room. You want him to stay with your family – you, Graeme and daughters, Sal...
Datsunland
WILLIAM DUTTON WAS still walking towards school. Two decades after he’d finished, still. Carrying his guitar, head down, mumbling...
