Illustration: Guy Shield
Welcome to the 29th issue of Kill Your Darlings – and our final edition in print.
Here at KYD, the publication of this edition is a bittersweet celebration. Our print publication has long been the darling of our organisation, and so the decision to go entirely online has not been made lightly.
The magazine has evolved considerably since it was first planned on a Northcote dining table more than seven years ago. We now publish more writers than ever before, we have expanded our online presence across our website and social media platforms, and we engage in other activities including writers’ workshops, writing awards, book clubs, events and our monthly podcast. Most significantly, KYD remains a place for writers to begin their writing career, often with their first publication, and we will continue to foster these voices as much as possible.
As a small independent magazine with so much passion and so much energy, we recognise that we can best service our readers, and our writers, by continuing the expansion of these online activities. This way we can continue to bring you the best in new, emerging and established writers, increase the number of writing opportunities for local artists, and increase remuneration across the board for all our contributors to the magazine.
From April, we’ll continue sending members a curated selection of new writing each week from some of Australia’s brightest talents to read at your leisure. This will represent an almost doubling of reading for members – meaning you get the best value for money and continue to support Australian independent publishing. And our illustrator, Guy Shield, will continue producing gorgeous new artwork for the website to accompany select features.
If you have any further questions about this transition, please drop us a line on [email protected], or visit our website.
And now on to our Autumn issue, which features Melinda Soós’ insightful and troubling commentary on Australia’s mental health system. Why, she asks, after undertaking a recent nursing placement, is our country’s vision for this rehabilitation so shy of the international benchmark?
Elsewhere in Commentary, Liam Pieper explores how Pusheen The Cat can be an antidote to this era of fake news and culture wars, while Josh Jennings goes dumpster diving to investigate the extent to which we value – and devalue – food.
In First Person, Carolyn Fraser takes us to San Francisco in the 1990s, where she lived in a grand old mansion with a most memorable housemate. Michelle Roger shares her experience living with a debilitating illness that has no name, while Josh Pomare travels to India and reflects on the philosophy of good fortune.
In Dispatches, Claire Varley travels to Iran on a research trip, and discovers the country to be vastly different from her expectations, a timely reminder that people are not always their governments.
We have New Fiction from Allee Richards and Silvia Kwon, and KYD is in Conversation this month with the magazine’s founders, Hannah Kent and myself, where we talk about the origins of the publication, our working relationship, as well as what is in store for KYD in the future.
And in Culture Files, Sam Twyford-Moore reflects on some recent Australian photography from Jim Berg and Warwick Baker and queries the limits of bearing witness to the darkest chapters in our history, while Nick Gadd has an unexpected encounter with his literary hero, Rebecca Solnit, which alters his perspective of his trip to San Francisco.
Lastly, KYD would like to congratulate our online editor Alan Vaarwerk, who has been promoted to editor of the magazine.
Happy reading!
