The second issue of Meniscus for 2025 features writers from around the globe composing short fiction, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and experimental works exploring and expressing aspects of being human, being in society, and being in the world. Some pieces deploy humour, some are manifestly tragic, some are imagistic and highly evocative. A surprising number of the contributions hone in on what it is to live with, or care for, someone with a serious illness (cancer and dementia being at the front of the line). Others pick up on how we live in both natural and built environments; on families, meals, and memories; on how our collective and individual pasts inform our present; and—perhaps inevitably—on conflict, and the corrosive nature of contemporary politics. As a set of prose and poetry works, they show how deeply satisfying is writing that combines sharp observation, a grasp of writing techniques, and a deep sense of empathy. 

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Also in this issue are the winning works from this year’s prizes offered by the Australasian Association of Writing Programs in partnership with the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival including the winning entries of the Emerging Writers’ for Prose, Emerging Writers’ for Poetry, and the Translators’ Prize. Congratulations to all who were shortlisted too, whose writing is well worth the reading.

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Jen Webb, Deb Wain and Sarah Giles, editors​