#19 November, 2022
Issue #19 of The Quarry grappled with impossible monsters, reason and fantasy in order to tell stories and write poems that look beyond easy definitions of monsters, whether imaginary or real.
#18 November, 2021
Issue #18 of The Quarry gives writers in lockdown the freedom to write quality work of any topic of their choosing. The undergraduate Creative Writing students have produced a range of incredible pieces, including poetry, fiction and non-fiction.
#17 The World as We Know It Now
The theme ‘The World as We Know It Now’ simply asked writers to respond to contemporary events around them in any form they desired. Issue #17 deals with themes of isolation, change, disruption to normalcy – and there may even be a mention to a virus or two. Consider this issue a time capsule of the later half of 2020, of a world crippled by aftershocks.
#16 This Moment in Time
‘This Moment In Time’ was inspired by the devastating events of 2020—the Australian bushfires and the worldwide pandemic, Covid-19, that has spread rapidly across the globe. Since submissions closed, there has subsequently been the #blacklivesmatter movement escalating after George Floyd’s murder by a policeman in Minneapolis, and protests in Australia about the more than 450 deaths in custody since the 1991 Royal Commission into Black Deaths in Custody. In no other time in our lives has there been such turmoil in the world, and for this reason the editors of this issue, coming out in mid-June 2020, was compelled to invite writers to engage with this moment in time.
#15 Zoographia
Inspired by a recent exhibition at the Macquarie University Art Gallery, ‘Zoographia’ is a theme that is as playful and light-hearted, as it is serious. From Arachne to Spiderman, from Animal Farm to Zootopia, imagining the animal has been a rich source for storytellers and writers across the millennia. Yet so many of the stories humans tell themselves about animals are complicit with the era of mass extinction that we find ourselves in now. ‘Zoographia’ was an invitation for writers to see the world through a different lens.
#14 Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is the essence of experience.
Metamorphosis in folklore and literature transforms humans into animals, objects, or in the case of Kafka, a giant venomous bug.
Issue #14 considers metamorphosis at individual and social levels: from queer lit. and the rejection of binaries; to changing political structures and disruptions to the status quo; from the real to the fantastic. It invites readers to consider the meaning of transformation and how it shapes our perspectives of the world.
#13 Borderlines
Where would we be, without the edges that define us?
Our walls and fences; chain link, barbed wire, white picket, brick or dynamite. Our national identities, the colour of our sporting jerseys, the time on our watches, our private habits and public behaviours. Our fears, and prejudices.
Issue #13 explores the physical, psychological and political barriers with which we surround ourselves. Check out the work of the amazing writers for The Quarry Issue 13: Borderlines by following the link.
#12 White Noise
The sound known as ‘white noise’ is a 
combination of 20,000 simultaneous tones, all audible sounds. It is named after white light, which is light comprised of all different frequencies. As a class comprised of so many distinct voices and styles, it made sense to pick a theme that represented all of us. It is the combination of all of our styles, connected by theme. With our writing, we hoped to bring details from the background into the foreground and present subtext that bubbles to the surface. But White Noise also has a masking property, able to drown out voices in a torrent of others. It can be easy to hide in the background when you’re one voice among many. Or when you’re quiet and the world is loud.
#11 Polygraph
What would happen if all the lies suddenly disappeared? For starters, 99% percent of the internet would be gone, and the remaining 1% would just be cat videos.
Government heads could no longer fudge their approval ratings; the media would have to be far more discerning about who they call a “troubled loner” and who they call a “terrorist;” companies would lose the ability to act like your personal friend privy to all your secrets. Social media sites would immediately lose their appeal because suddenly you’d have to tell the world how your life really is.
#10 (Un)Natural Selection
Natural selection evokes images of evolution, of progress and of change. But what of the (un)natural. Not just unnatural, but (un)natural. Natural, with a twist. Drama, action, romance, horror, science-fiction and fantasy have all found their place in the world that is The Quarry‘s tenth issue. What we have is a range of writing best suited to survive amongst the theme of (Un)Natural Selection.
#9 Endangered & Dangerous
The theme, ‘Endangered and Dangerous’, galvanises the dark and the tragic. Rich and genuine, each piece is boldly crafted with imagination, wit and fiery intelligence. The result is a curation of immersive works across fiction, non-fiction, poetry and script; a diverse mix of fantasy, drama, science-fiction and dystopia, the mythological and the environmental.
#8 Digital Writing
Issue #8 is a micro edition of The Quarry. This issue of the journal is a little different to previous issues in that contributors were asked to submit works written specifically for the digital sphere. Produced as part of the postgraduate unit ENGL875 Literature and Writing in Professional Contexts, the issue features contributions from both undergraduate and postgraduate Creative Writing students, as well as Creative Writing graduates.
#7 Pockets
Congratulations to every writer who made a contribution to this issue and congratulations to the editorial team for their work. This issue focuses around the theme of pockets, with writing spanning across fiction, non-fiction and poetry. The lovely artwork was created specifically for the theme by our own writer Hannah Baker, the final design being created by editor and writer Alec Mallia.
If you like what you read, be sure to keep an eye out for the writers’ next endeavours!
#6 Discovery
Welcome to another postgraduate publication showcasing our students’ writing from the Master of Arts in Creative Writing and the Master of Research. A colossal congratulations to our Editorial team, Ally Bodnaruk, Willo Drummond, and Tamara Pratt for their exceptional diligence, to the Web Designers, Tenzin Bereny and Josh McInnes for their tireless work updating the journal, and to our Illustrator, Maxine Sundic for her TWO Covers for Issue 6! And a huge thank you to Claire Catacouzinos, the new Editor-in-Chief of The Quarry Issue 6 for her guidance and management and direction of this postgraduate issue.
#5 Seed
It was a big year for The Quarry in 2014. We’ve completely redesigned our website and launched the fifth and most ambitious issue of our journal to date. Congratulations to our Editorial team, who have worked tirelessly these past few months to create a platform worthy of the pieces our authors, scriptwriters, and poets have produced. Keep an eye on some of your favourite writers from this Issue; follow them on Twitter, like their Facebook pages, read their blogs and years from now remember that we published them before they were cool.
Head on over Issue 5 Seed, and check out our gorgeous cover by Maxine Sundic, explore some of the amazing works featured this year. We hope you enjoy reading Issue 5 as much as we have enjoyed producing it.
#4 The Unfamiliar
The pieces submitted for Issue #4 contain a common thread: the unfamiliar. Works in this issue include short stories, poems, creative non-fiction pieces, sci-fi and speculative fiction, and chapters from novels-in-progress. All works relate in some way to the concept of distance, journey, escape from the known, and encountering ‘foreignness.’
So enjoy this issue, and get reading – let these stories and poems take you away on a journey…
#3 Fault Lines
The third issue of The Quarry examines the FAULT LINES that run through our bones and minds, that wrenches apart families, or divides the ground beneath our feet. These stories, poems, short scripts, and creative nonfiction essays explore what it means to live with a fault line within yourself, in your family, or culture.
Take a look, but tread carefully — watch out for the fault lines.
#2 Connection
One thing the pieces of Issue 2 seem to have in common is their exploration of connections between people, place and time, and their study of emotional turmoil; a mother who grieves for a child born too early, a daughter who grieves her mother’s mental deterioration, a sister who explores the fragmented world through the eyes of her Autistic brother, people who live within a common environment yet lead vastly different lives. Some of the characters within these pieces reach out seeking human connection, others seek to understand the connections they already have.
#1 Chaos & Creation
Chaos and creation was the initial springboard theme that was to be used in any way, to develop a piece of work.
The act of writing or developing something creatively always has elements of chaos and creation. There are times when you may hate the story or the characters, or are stuck on finding the right word. There are other times that characters come to life and breathe truth into a moment. You may begin without knowing where a story will go, or you may have it all mapped out in your head. Every work and every writer is different, which means every story is too.