JAAM 26

JAAM 26 edited by Tim Jones

JAAM 26 goes between the cracks

(November 2008)

JAAM 26 is a little bit different.

Guest editor Tim Jones is both a poet and prose writer, and is well-known for his science fiction. When he called for submissions to JAAM 26 he said ‘speculative fiction and poetry (science fiction, fantasy and horror) is particularly welcomed, and will be considered on an equal footing to literary fiction and poetry’. Not surprisingly, Tim received many submissions from writers of speculative fiction, who often shy away from literary magazines.

Many of the stories in JAAM 26 could be termed ‘interstitial fiction’ – fiction that fits in the cracks between genres, or moves between one genre and another.

One such story is ‘Last chance to see’ by Tracie McBride. A woman wakes up after having died in a car accident. Her personality has been transferred into an avatar for 24 hours, so she can farewell her family and friends. In Esther Dean’s story, ‘Breathing in another language’, the protagonist, a Westerner who lives in Korea, but can’t quite fit in, grows enormous, like Alice in Wonderland, until she fills an entire temple.

Alongside the interstitial fiction, lovers of literary fiction and poetry will find plenty in JAAM 26 to satisfy them. JAAM has always encouraged new and young writers, and this issue contains the magazine’s customary mix of fresh new voices and established names. JAAM 26 includes fiction by Helen Lowe, Lyn McConchie and Beryl Fletcher, and poetry by Elizabeth Smither, Rhian Gallagher, Iain Britton and L E Scott.

Tim says ‘Although no theme was imposed on this issue, themes emerged. The eternal triumvirate – love, sex and death – all make strong showings, and there are a number of pieces that deal with aging, with landscape, and with one considered through the prism of the other.’

Contents

Tim Jones                       Editorial: the pleasures of editing

Jo Thorpe                       An ABC of Allegiance

Janis Freegard             Three poems

Amy Brown                    Two poems

Emma Barnes                Two poems

Dean Ballinger               Two poems

Helen Heath                    Two poems

Anne Harré                     Two poems

Kerry Popplewell         Three poems

Tracie McBride              Last Chance to See

Keith Westwater           Two poems

Michele Powles             A body of land

Sugu Pillay                      Three poems

Renee Liang                    Voodoo

Esther Deans                   Breathing in another language

Keith Lyons                     Understanding Bird Flu

Barry Southam               Two poems

David Gregory                Two poems

John O’Connor                Two poems

Trevor Reeves                 Sequences 90 (1-4)

Ciaran Fox                         In the End our Apathy will Desert Us

Eric Dodson                      One Star General

Suzanne Hardy                 Park/Walk

Mark Pirie                           Two poems

Fionnaigh McKenzie       Two poems

Harvey Molloy                 Two poems

Iain Britton                        Two poems

Anna Rugis                         Photoshop

Robin Fry                           Two poems

Beryl Fletcher                   I remember Didi

Darian Smith                      Banshee

Laurice Gilbert                 Two poems

Jennifer Compton            Two poems

Jessica Le Bas                    Two poems

Jenny Powell                     Two poems

Barbara Strang                  Two poems

Jeanne Bernhardt            Wood

Davide Trame                    Two poems

Theresa Fa’auma              Nobody Cares Unless it’s a Soap Opera, Hun

Gary Forrester                 Two poems

Helen Lowe                        Two poems

Helen Lowe                        Ithaca

Michael Botur                   Historic Breakfasts

Robert James Berry      Two poems

Robert McLean              Two poems

L E Scott                           When an older brother dies

L E Scott                           Life dance

Lyn McConchie             Just a poor old lady

Mary Cresswell              ‘Explaining Poetry to My Father’(a panel discussion)

Rhian Gallagher             Three poems

Miriam Barr                     Two poems

Sue Reidy                          Two poems

Elizabeth Smither          Two poems

Eden Carter Wood         The Résumé

Contributor notes