Peril magazine

Spirit Worlds Editorial – Prose

Lian Low — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 10:31:10 +0000

Every now and then, I wonder about the year of my birth, the year that my grandfather died. His A4 framed black and white portrait looked on benignly in our family hallway, and while there was nothing scary about his appearance, as a kid, I’d be scampering from one end of the hallway to another

Spirit Worlds Editorial – Poetry

Eleanor Jackson — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 10:29:54 +0000

Despite having been raised Catholic, my brother’s fascination with gaming means that the phrase “Spirit World” conjures up the 28th level of Doom II, so it was interesting for me to see the range of submissions received in response to this edition’s theme: Spirit Worlds. Among the fifty or so submissions, were a range of

Spirit Worlds Editorial – Visual Arts

Owen Leong — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 10:29:19 +0000

As a child, I remember our annual family trip to Rookwood Cemetery in western Sydney, where we would go to honour our ancestors during Ching Ming, the Clear Brightness Festival. We joined the crowds of people sweating in the sun, jostling to clean and sweep gravestones, offering flowers, food, tea and wine by the graves,

Tuesdays with my Mother

Komi Sellathurai — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 10:10:23 +0000

Tuesdays with my mother were akin to Morrie’s life lessons. I was in my late teens and every Tuesday, after school, we’d begin our ritual. Slice five limes in half, scoop out the pulp and you’re left with lime shells – the perfect tealight contraptions. Besides the waste of a perfectly good lime, I learned

In the spirit of your name

Rosey Chang — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 10:09:36 +0000

Dear Emi, As I write this, you’re merely 7 weeks old. It’s hard for me to believe that eight weeks ago you were an aquanaut, swooshing in my belly. I’m writing because your Dad and I are planning a naming ceremony for you. You know, that’s a secular ceremony that’s held instead of a baptism.

The seed of enlightenment

Hoa Pham — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 10:06:48 +0000

After I recovered from a psychotic episode I was bitterly disappointed. Common mythology had it that the psychic and the psychotic lay close together and that some psychoses were spiritual emergencies in which the sufferer would experience an epiphany. There was no epiphany for me. Instead there were puzzles and questions. My sanity was now

Shadow

Ouyang Yu — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 10:05:02 +0000

They always greet me with this: ‘Come here alone, have you?’ But wherever I go I bring my shadow …forever and forever, it is the shadows that have helped me By lighting up the surroundings When there is no light, I fold it Inside my body It is not till I rise and move around

See how the leaf people run

Michele Lee — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 10:02:49 +0000

The following text is an extract from Michele Lee‘s radio play See how the leaf people run which was broadcasted on Radio National in late August. The playscript will be published in full by The Australian Script Centre. The script looks at the early settlement of Hmong people in Melbourne and explores the multi-layered realities

Interview with Shoufay Derz

Owen Leong — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 09:57:02 +0000

Shoufay Derz is an emerging artist based in Sydney of both German and Taiwanese ancestry. She is a lecturer and multi-disciplinary artist working with photography, video and sculpture. In 2011, she completed her Master of Fine Arts by research in Media Arts at the College of Fine Arts UNSW. Her standout graduation exhibition Depart Without

Stars over Kai Tak

Siobhan Hodge — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 10:18:21 +0000

I still look for your altar; what is left lies dreaming of forgotten stars, teaching constellations to silence. You hunger. My sabaism is a vane that measures your upward gaze, dysphoric I’ll feed you, fill your veins with paper planes but when you are full, I’ll forget you too. Readers who read this also read: