Memoria

*The episode comes with a warning. Violence is portrayed in this story. Discretion is advised. Before I had been imprisoned, I never thought of the physical and psychological effects of constant hunger. Some prisoners talked about what food they missed, and how it tasted. Prisoners reminisced about food. One Woman's Struggle in Iran by Nazrin Parvaz I couldn't separate Iran from the rest of the world. We all are in the same boat that is running fast with the current towards a future...

everyone’s teeth are broken but people keep chewing rocks. everyone’s stomachs are empty but people keep drinking gasoline. Boy in a Closed Mill Town by Zackary Lavoie Rural Maine was once a hotbed for Mill Towns. Entire communities were built around mills, offering a promise of wealth and stability. Unfortunately, most of these mills were eventually closed and torn down, leaving the towns once centred around them helpless. Many families felt the destructive impact of the closings....

Alcohol is not a necessity when travelling…but it does help. It helps when the cold is so fierce your phone screen cracks. It helps when your housemates visit the local fish factory and realise, too late, that the stench of fish guts stays embedded in clothes for days. It helps when the avalanche sirens make you jump, when you step into a snowdrift and sink to your thighs, and when the lack of fresh fruit makes you google ‘what are the signs of scurvy?’ The Eyes of a Bird by Rijn Collins I...

In Paris, alone, five stories’ high, naked and taut, she perched like a still life gargoyle come to life. The Naked Woman in Paris by Simmon Wagner The Naked Woman in Paris has maturity only in hindsight. On this trip, I was very much in love with my wonderful husband, exploring Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, London and Paris, but in all our busyness, I had forgotten I need stillness too. Paris awoke in me my stillness. Melbourne Creative, Freelance Writer, working...

‘I have not run from the POLICE for over 40 YEARS. But I know HOW to’ Those are my FATHER’s words. It’s the 1ST of October 2017 He is ready to VOTE for a NON-BINDING referendum I am on the PHONE to him and I CAN’T breathe Why You Should Care About Catalonia by Silvia Brown On 1st October, before police used violence against voters in a non-binding referendum, I was on the phone to my father, when he said to me: 'I haven't run from the police in over 40 years but I know how to' My...

The voices were loud. They always were. Once more he had come home long after dinner. Drunk. Always drunk. *A warning that this episode contains scenes of domestic violence and may not be suitable for everyone. Discretion is advised. Freedom 1964 by Lyn Mitchell I have lived for 70 years and for 60 of those years, I have lived with the knowledge I was not wanted. In the post-war environment, it was not politically or religiously correct to be pregnant before marriage. My mother...

I knew I would survive if I lived under my parents’ roof until I was married, however, deep down I knew I wouldn’t thrive. I wanted the same experiences my friends were having. It wasn’t just about the alcohol and drugs, although there was plenty of them around and they were mostly good fun. It was about first times, first partners, first shared house, first cooked meal at home, first electricity bill, first bitching session about our flatmate who left the kitchen a mess. Choices of...

I only ever saw Dad go to church for weddings and funerals, and I asked him once, “but why do you believe in all that?” The Sacrament by Aprill Allen My father died of a brain tumour at 69 years old in the January of 2016. He was admitted to hospice on a Thursday and died the Friday of the following week. Nobody really talks about the process of dying and what those who will go on living can expect to see. This is one moment from those 8 days. Aprill is a freelance management consultant...

I read about Rapunzel syndrome, where sufferers ate the hair they wrenched free. The strands knotted inside them, plump and dark, deep within their belly like a swallowed secret. Rapunzel, Rapunzel by Rijn Collins For many years my fingers would creep into my hair to wrench it out by the root. The sweet relief of this was extraordinary, and addictive. If obsessive-compulsive disorders are difficult to explain, they're even more difficult to stop. My route back to health involved a...

First came the hair cut – off with the curly locks, never to return, even today. Then taking the scissors to the jeans. Slash, slash, slash. And, of course, boots, Doc Martens. Black, sixteen holes – what else? The Spirit of Punk by Nicolas Brasch Originally wrote this piece for an open mic event I host for emerging writers called The Spirit of Punk, in which writers are encouraged to read their work without fear of judgement or failure or criticism - in the spirit of punk. Nicolas...

Coming of Age by Anna Sublet Teenage years were interesting for me, as the only girl in a neighbourhood full of boys. But when the boys from the other side of the tracks crossed the line, I had a rude awakening to the threats existing beyond the home zone. 'Smile!' Anna Sublet is a curious reader and an undercover scribbler. She is slowly coming out from behind the fences. You can find Anna on her blog, Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram. Acknowledgements: Memoria is written,...

In that moment I knew I loved you. The bitter months that led up to that night were nonexistant. Wiped clean. A different kind of love overwhelmed me. To Wait by Zara Marimuthu We have this picture of what love should look like. We see “perfect couples” and want to embody their relationship. But for me, I had to relearn what that image was. It wasn’t prince charming. It was looking at my partner in his rawest form and still choosing to stand by him. Zara Marimuthu lives through words...

He tries to appear calm and explain to the doctor that she is dying. Why am I the one to do this, he wonders? Melting Moments by John Bartlett (part two) Melting Moments' is a reflection on remembering my mother from my childhood and then when she became older and dependent on my care for her like adult to child, all now 'melting moments'. This episode is part two of a two-part story. John Bartlett ‘s non-fiction has been published in The Age, The Canberra Times, The Australian, Good...

The kitchen is a warm comfortable womb on these afternoons. From the shelf the old brown Bakelite radio announces in its strident voice —'Portia faces life — for those who are in love and for all those who can remember.' He wonders if this Portia is like his mother? Melting Moments by John Bartlett (Part One) Melting Moments' is a reflection on remembering my mother from my childhood and then when she became older and dependent on my care for her like adult to child, all now 'melting...

What is it about lanes? What stories did you conjure up when your curious eye peered through the cracks of rusted corrugated back fences? What feet did you imagine trampled on bluestone surfaces? Lanes by Helena Spyrou Lanes is a remembrance of my teenage hood where I spent a lot of time walking through the lanes of Carlton in the early 1970s. I wrote the first draft of this piece in 1999 in a workshop with Arnold Zable that explored our relationships to cities. I was so pleased when it...

In the end, she only remembered that husband and son-in-law. Until the last days she’d score them with her wasp tongue. Wasp Tongues by Chaille Bos This story is in response to the death of my grandmother. It was my way of working through the reality that I never knew the real her and never had a chance to, and yet I found myself in a part of her nonetheless. - Chaille Bos. Chaille Bos has published microfiction, narrative nonfiction and pop culture articles. As well as writing her own...

The Rock Dove keeps to himself, head down, pecking aimlessly at refuse lining the pillars of the bridge. Rock Dove Under Ditmars by Zackary Lavoie This poem explores the seemingly ignored issue of abuse towards men in today's world. In this moment, a man (a Rock Dove) is verbally abused by his girlfriend (the Falcon) and leaves him to "die" in an apartment in Queens. This poem attempts to overlay the images of birds fighting and that of a struggling relationship. - Zachary...

Each time I entered the room I felt a shift in my body, as if accepting the uncomfortable things I was about to feel. As if knowing, that I was going to grow there. Acceptance, a short memoir by Tah Jimenez While I was writing this piece I felt a shift in my thinking as I walked into the mindset I used to have about mental health. I fit awkwardly in the skin of my younger self, the self that in this piece learns what it is to accept your emotions - Tah Jimenez. Tah Jimenez is a...

Memorial, a short memoir by Jo Penney My father passed 18 years ago, as I was divorcing and becoming the full-time carer of my two-year-old daughter. I've had panic disorder since I was six and it seemed money talked in our family. I had little to offer. My mother chose to put it all down the slots, two years later Dad got a headstone. - Jo Penney Jo Penney has been published in various zines and anthologies. She has a BA and MA from Deakin University in writing and literature. She is...

Memories, for me, range from Polaroid-like snapshots to short video clips in my head. I know, it's weird when you think about it. These scenes, short and long, remain buried in the fatty tissue of my brain until a sound, smell or photo reignites my memory of the event. The images dance around as I try to piece together the what I am actually remembering. Sometimes the image fades, and sometimes it hangs around, leaving behind feelings of longing, regret, and nostalgia. I was in my...