By João Cerqueira

When I first went to Cuba the last thing on my mind was finding a character for a novel there. For writers, meeting beautiful women on tropical islands often results in a blend of Nora Roberts, Henry Miller and E.L. James. Passion, sex and, sometimes, a few whiplashes. And, during the few moments in which the flesh is allowed to rest, dips in warm waters, toasts with mojitos, grilled lobster and salsa also feature – after all, they are the only things left that can unite revolutionaries and opponents of Fidel Castro.

Continue reading “My Man in Havana” →

by Adam Ouston

Over the past year I’ve struck on a new landscape. It is dark. Its features do not change. You are careful. You walk through it with your hands out. And you are in a constant state of déjà vu. Until recently I could fall asleep on a handrail. Anywhere. Anytime. And deeply like a distant cousin of the dead. There was the odd hiccup—those nights we all have from time to time—but on the whole insomnia was no more than a horror movie trope.

Continue reading “Nightvoices” →

by Sean Preston

There’s something quite sinister to me about the Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers duet. Dolly, here, taking on the role of a Jolene, or at least providing the requisite doctrine for Jolenes. The song sort of qualifies romantic elopers in their abandonment of the wife and kids for the Portuguese cleaner, forging a fairytale aesthetic for do-badders. A story of cruelty becomes one of following your heart.

Continue reading “Islands in the Stream” →

By Vanessa St Clair

In 1952, the day after having been presented to the Queen and coming out as a debutante, my aunt Flora left her fourteen bedroom home in Gloucestershire, with its stabling for six horses and its Rolls Royce parked in the driveway, for a trip round the world, culminating in Tasmania.

Continue reading “Coming Out” →

By Matthew Lamb

I edit two literary magazines in Australia.

The first is the Review of Australian Fiction, which is nearly two-years old, and
is entirely digital; we publish two short stories every two weeks, delivered on an
epub format.

The second is Island, which is nearly 35 years old (although I’ve only been
editor since the beginning of 2013), and it is one of the heritage literary
magazines in Australia, published quarterly; traditionally print-based, but over
the last few years trying to adapt to the digital publishing space.

Working closely with these lit mags has given me a perspective to better
consider the other; what is unique to both, what is in common to each.

Continue reading “New Ventures in Perspective” →

by Georgia Mason-Cox

When I was growing up in Hobart, people used to talk about making Bass Strait a national highway. This gave me small shivers of excitement; surely ‘holidays’ on Bruny Island would become a thing of the past if we could easily drive to Sydney? A bridge to the mainland! It was ambitious, I allowed, visionary even. But why not? If the Tasman Bridge was a like prehistoric creature frozen on spindly legs, then the Bass Strait Bridge was a lost relic of Gondwana, biding its time on the sea floor. In my imagination it would slowly emerge, water streaming from its spine as it connected the little island to the big island and corrected Tasmania’s isolation.

Continue reading “Bridge of Dreams” →

by Ben Walter (Tasmania).

 The conceit of shoreline: language is biased towards the island, but applicable as something less than metaphor to urban fringes. The horizon between two worlds modified by slow tides as we tick off decades passing, months crammed in to one new dwelling or a layer of sand shaved from a headland. Uneven, crystal outlines; bluffs, beaches and palmed rock pools, staggered land parcels we number with foreign codes.

Continue reading “Shorelines: Notes” →

A theme song for Transportation Islands and Cities.

‘Transportation’ – Julia Kent – Character (2013)

Further info : http://www.juliakent.com/

By Tom Badyna New Orleans. 

WE WERE VISITING one of my new gal’s better friends at her home in the hills above Asolo, a town an hour north of Venice, in the first rise of the Dolomites.

Continue reading “Playing Centerfield in Venice, Italy.” →

If you’re looking for a literary project of relevance to sink your teeth into, sink them into this: Transportation: Islands and Cities, will be a collection of fiction from established and aspiring authors from London and Tasmania, celebrating the rich history between this island’s city and the island over there.

The first meeting to discuss Transportation will occur on Tuesday, February 18th, 2014, in which London editor Sean Preston will be on hand to discuss the direction the book intends to take, and how you might be able to get involved. A venue will be announced shortly.

For further information, contact: transportation1803@yahoo.com or check us out on Facebook.