I wrote an essay for The Monthly about going to my sister’s cruise ship-themed wedding, and finding out that my new brother-in-law votes One Nation in the aftermath of the bushfires that nearly claimed his farm. The piece is also about foster care, motherhood, Australia’s black summer and the human spirit’s ability to sustain love amidst enormous trauma.
You can read the article HERE.
Given the impending end of the decade, I wrote for Kill Your Darlings about high school coming-of-age rituals, and getting asked by my alma mater to make a speech at their 2019 formal, ten years since graduating. The piece is about success, failure, identity, friendship and my teenage dreams of being the Prime Minister of Australia.
You can read here: Ten Year Challenge
In August, I travelled 7000 km from the bubble of Brisbane to the bloodshed of the Mount Isa Rodeo, and back again via Cairns and the Daintree Rainforest. I was trying to find the roots of Scott Morrison’s mute revolution, and why blue-collar voters staged a mutiny against Bill Shorten. But also what it means to be a Queenslander in 2019, and why so many of them are pissed off with the political system.
The Monthly have published the roughly 9000 word essay – titled ‘How good is Queensland?’ – in the November magazine.
You can read the article here.
It includes hopefully enlightening conversations with Kevin Rudd in Brisbane and Kev Carmody in Warwick, plus a bunch of other Queenslanders, such as a plumber from Ipswich, a cattle farmer in Clermont, a diesel fitter working on a coal mine near Mackay, the Mayor
of Townsville, a Cairns schoolteacher and a Biloela social worker, along with an unexpected cameo appearance by David Malouf on Magnetic Island.
I wrote for The Monthly about the Indigenous rugby league players who staged a silent protest during the national anthem before State of Origin 1.
Read the article at The Monthly.
I wrote a piece for The Monthly dissecting the Australian election through the prism of the bitter political differences dividing my family.
You can buy a copy of the magazine at newsagents or read at The Monthly website:
I wrote a piece for The Guardian in memory of my wonderful mother.
For the election edition of The Monthly, I profiled rising Labor star Terri Butler, and asked her about getting trolled online by the faceless men of the alt-right.
Buy from from news agencies, or click below to read online:
The Monthly published a story by me about a polite pastor, a profane politician and Toowoomba’s scatological battle to not drink recycled water.
Click the link below to read.
The ABC are replaying my interview with Richard Fidler following the recent passing of my Mum. Last year, The Griffith Review published a piece of memoir based on the same material in the interview.
I’ve posted a link to the story below.
I was honored to be included in The Best Australian Essays 2017. My piece is called The Bystander, which is an excerpt from what will be my first book. It was originally published by The Griffith Review in 2017.
You can purchase a copy of the anthology here: The Best Australian Essays 2017
Lech Blaine 