Strong Words #2 showcases the long-listed entries for the 2019 and
2020 Landfall essay
competitions.
The contents, often poetic and psychologically insightful, gave editor Emma Neale a ‘hell of an intriguingly hard time’ deciding which sparkling explorations would knock off the others for the top three places in each year. !is anthology gives readers a chance to sample the high quality work entered, without the agony of having to choose the winners.
Including well-known names and promising newcomers, the contents roam far and
wide
over a number of subjects, such as Sarah Harpur’s irreverent, laugh-aloud
essay about death;
Siobhan Harvey’s potent essay about the memories of an abusive childhood
stirred up by
current house renovations; and Tan Tuck Ming’s essay about technology and how
it mediates,
enables and impacts intimate relationships.
Strong Words #2 also includes the joint winners of the 2018 essay prize:
Tobias Buck’s ‘Exit.
Stage Left’, which explores issues of prejudice and bias through the
experience of someone ‘the
colour of cotton candy or pink marshmallows’, and Nina Mingya Powles’ work
‘Tender Gardens’,
exploring Chinese cultural and poetic heritage and how to maintain a sense of
home in a
foreign land.