Big Girlboss Energy: On the Commodification of Feminism
By Eda Gunaydin I can’t seem to call myself a feminist anymore, although it used to be a hill I was willing to die on. But it is a hill. Having failed to develop a political consciousness until I entered university, it seemed correct to organise around what I observed...
What’s the Point of Performativity?
By Roj Amedi There are two conversations being had in response to our current moment of global pandemics, entrenched racial injustice and ecological collapse. On one side is a growing push to change the way our societies function ― a call to interrogate the...
Redemptive Endings
By Lee Kofman By nature, I am a confessional writer. The more difficult, dramatic, my life is – the better I actually fare. Artistically that is. And yet, it has taken me twenty years to dare to tell one of my most transformative stories, the one which prompted me to...
Parenting in a Pandemic
By CB Mako (Content warning: domestic violence) When March 2020 arrived, we realised that we had survived another summer. We got our first sigh of relief after the scorching start to a new decade, when Naarm was covered in a dense blanket...
A Journal of Solitude: Living Alone During COVID-19
By Vanessa Giron When I first read The Waves by Virginia Woolf, I found myself clinging to one idyllic moment: 'How much better is silence; the coffee cup, the table. How much better to sit by myself like the solitary sea-bird that opens its wings on...
Freelancing With a Disability During COVID-19
By Carly Findlay From loss of income and delaying the publication of Growing Up Disabled in Australia, to grieving for the arts sector and connecting with friends, to fear about access and care for disabled people, my time in isolation has been full of anxiety, but...
As Feminist As It Gets: Mothers Who Advocate For Their Children
By Gisela Ervin-Ward Turn to the mother next to you and ask her if her view of feminism and the practicalities of living a feminist life changed after she had children. Go on. I’ll give you a minute. So, how did that go? Whether the mother you spoke to gave you a mute...
‘It’s Already Here’: On Women Writing The Future
By Alice Robinson In recent times, it seems increasingly challenging to parse what used to be more distinct: 'literature' and 'the real world'. As a result, I won’t dwell too profoundly on the specificities of current events—neither the catastrophic bushfires of this...
Seeing Violence in Multiple Shades: Sophie Hardcastle’s Below Deck
By Catherine Noske Sophie Hardcastle’s debut novel has attracted significant attention, with international rights already taken up and celebrated by Allen & Unwin UK, the same publishers releasing it here in Australia. The novel has also been endorsed by several...
The Domestic and the Domestic: Violence in Australian fiction
By Laura Jean McKay Domesticity is supposed to be cosy, isn’t it? A tea on the couch and a cuddle in the dark. But, linguistically at least, it quickly turns. Add an ‘a’ to the start and you get a row. Add ‘violence’ to the end and you get what, according to a 2019...
Our favourite books of 2019
Believe it or not, another year has come to an end. In the midst of political unrest, we've taken solace once more in books, and there have been some damn good ones in 2019. We asked our team, and some of FWF's friends, to give their recommendations for the best books...
Behind the scenes: Emily Maguire’s This Is What A Feminist Looks Like
By Emily Maguire When NLA Publishing approached me with the idea of a book recounting the big moments of Australian feminist history, I was excited. I knew a lot about where we’re at and what still needed to be done, but almost nothing about how we got here. I...