A half-finished crochet blanket lays on the floor, its frayed ends fully submerged in last night’s pasta alfredo. My dead pointe shoes (three months overdue for replacement) are haphazardly strewn against the cheap faux-leather ottoman I bought on Amazon with a gift card from last Christmas. My friend, Alec, surveys the mess and laughs. ‘You…
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Australian women have been most effective, politically, when they have harnessed their collective rage and turned it into action. They need to do it again now. Like many Australians, I was delighted when activist Grace Tame was named the 2021 Australian of the Year. Tame is a powerful advocate for survivors of child sexual abuse,…
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Masturbation is part of many women’s self-care routine to relieve stress, sexual tension and even ease menstrual pain. But many of us don’t feel comfortable talking about it. What is stopping us from casually speaking about self-pleasure? ‘It’s a very awkward topic, because of the reactions of modern society…I would just keep it to myself.’ …
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Trigger warning: rape, suicide Yesterday, I left the movies, validated and heard. I had just seen a movie that I never even imagined could be told. Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman, starring the perfectly cast Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham and Alison Brie, immediately felt important. We find Cassandra (Carey Mulligan) on a quest to teach…
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This year, our streets have been unusually empty. We spent most of 2020 in some form or other of lockdown, only leaving the house when necessary. But even with pedestrian traffic dramatically reduced, street harassment hasn’t necessarily stopped or even slowed down. Rather, it has persisted, as harmful and as dehumanising as ever, and affected…
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‘It’s a surprise,’ I say to my mother, ‘just wait outside with your phone.’ She agrees and takes her phone outside with the camera ready to shoot as I walk into my studio to get ready. When I emerge a few minutes later she struggles to control her laughter while I navigate the garden path…
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In a word: Wow. Just…wow. What a beautiful, heartbreaking book. For what is at first glance a small and unassuming tale, it certainly packs a punch. That being said, it’s done in a really gentle way, with the writing used to carve out the story rather than build it. The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida…
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We’re bouncing between baking sourdough bread and practising Yoga with Adrienne. We’ve fiercely committed to comfy pants and rejected jeans. We’re bemoaning our expanding waistlines and the media have responded: just google Covid/quarantine kilos. We’re months into the global Covid-19 pandemic and weight worries still manage to be a concern. We’re lucky that in Melbourne,…
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Do you remember the first time you felt free? The first time that you realised that while external factors, like your parents, teachers, money, the fact that you’re a 10-year-old child and don’t have a license to do, well, anything, doesn’t mean you have no control? I do. I remember distinctly and I relish the…
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When COVID-19 hit, some commentators hailed it as an opportunity to revolutionise gender roles in heterosexual couples. But as public life froze overnight and homes became schools, daycare centres and offices, mothers have been placed under more pressure, not less. Our new study on workers in the United States shows that in the first months…
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Emily White’s story, Swampy won the 2020 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction. Here’s a Q&A with Emily, plus their award-winning story! * Congratulations on winning this year’s RFP for Fiction, Emily! Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you? I am Emily White, advocate for ecofeminism and a high fibre diet, and I am…
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Vicky Daddo’s story, Baby Season, placed second in the 2020 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction. Here’s a Q&A with Vicky, plus her award-winning story! * Congratulations on placing 2nd in this year’s RFP for Fiction, Vicky! Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you? I’m a writer based in Gippsland, Victoria, originally from the…
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Maude Davey’s story, Touch Starve, placed third in the 2020 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction. Here’s a Q&A with Maude, plus her award-winning story! * Congratulations on placing 3rd in this year’s RFP for Fiction, Maude! Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you? I am one of twins, born in the early sixties…
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We are thrilled to announce that the winner of the 2020 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction is Emily White for their story Swampy. Emily receives a $1000 cash prize, a 12-month membership to Writers Victoria, a 12-month digital membership to Kill Your Darlings, and a collection of books courtesy of our sponsors. The 2020 Rachel…
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