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
J A A M 
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