The supportive best friend. The tragic sad girl. We’ve seen characters from marginalised communities delivered straight from the production line, neatly packaged within these stereotypes for moral convenience. But Annie Easton, heroine of Shrill, proves something different is possible: a character who is equally flawed and inspiring. Watching Annie grow at a rate of fits…
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The summer before my grandmother passed away, she visited me and my family in Australia. I sat with her one sunny afternoon as she told me about her life growing up in a Bangladeshi village and having an arranged marriage at the age of 12. I listened as she recounted how her father, my great-grandfather,…
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The Lip team is pleased to announce the shortlist of the 2020 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction. Plant Life – Tanya VavilovaArrow – Mia-Francesca McAuslanBaby Season – Vicky DaddoTouch Starve – Maude DaveySwampy – Emily WhiteEarth House – Hollen Singletonhere/after – Laura McCluskeyAnd All Our Yesterdays – Elizabeth FluxHazard Lights – Zoë BradleyWatching – Zowie…
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There are lively discussions going on about the gendered impacts of coronavirus and how so much policy tends to be male-centric. It might not be intentional, but the problem with unconscious bias is it doesn’t see what it doesn’t want to know. The current crisis has brought to the forefront the size and importance of…
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Over the next few weeks, we’ll introduce you to the incredible people who make up the judging panel of the 2020 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction. Today, meet author Jennifer Down. * The Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction calls for stories by women and non-binary writers. What’s your view on diverse representation in publishing? That…
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Over the next few weeks, we’ll introduce you to the incredible people who make up the judging panel of the 2020 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction. Today, meet author Eleni Hale. * The Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction calls for stories by women and non-binary writers. What’s your view on diverse representation in publishing? Without…
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Over the next few weeks, we’ll introduce you to the incredible people who make up the judging panel of the 2020 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction. Today, meet poet, writer and zinester, Rae White. * The Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction calls for stories by women and non-binary writers. What’s your view on diverse representation…
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Have you ever played around with power roles in the bedroom? Maybe you’ve tried some teacher/student role play? Maybe you’ve dabbled in restraints or spanking? Maybe you’ve had a partner ask you to choke them during sex? It can be a turn-on to be given total power over your partner’s body, or to give up…
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The Lip team is saddened to learn of the recent death of Australian YA author, Steph Bowe, from complications related to T-cell acute lymphoblastic lymphoma, which she was diagnosed with in April 2019. She was 25. Steph published her first novel, Boy Meets Girl, at just sixteen years old and went on to publish two…
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The room spun around me, blurring the faces that stared out at me from all directions. I reached for the wall to steady myself and realised too late I’d missed the mark. My body fell to the floor. Ashley laughed at me and continued her drunken dance to Arrested Development’s Mr Wendal. From my…
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Journalist-cum-author Azadeh Moaveni commands a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Middle Eastern politics and ideology, and it shines in her latest offering, Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS. This narrative non-fiction is written as a pastiche of sorts, vividly painting a picture of the journeys many Muslim women followed…
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Earlier this month, I was lucky enough to see the show Helping Hands. Held in the La Mama Courthouse black box space, it created a vivid picture of some aspects of living as an autistic person in an allistic—not autistic—society. Not only was it compelling and entertaining, but it was also incredibly informative on the…
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Jane O’Sullivan’s story, Limpet Teeth, won the 2019 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction. Here’s a Q&A with Jane, plus her award-winning story! * Congratulations on winning this year’s RFP for Fiction, Jane! Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you? I work as an art writer so I spend a lot of time interviewing…
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Rae White’s story, The Body Remembers, placed second in the 2019 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction. Here’s a Q&A with Rae, plus their award-winning story! Congratulations on placing 2nd in this year’s RFP for Fiction, Rae! Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you? I’m a non-binary writer (primarily a poet) and I edit…
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