Marginalia — Naomi Becker
Beverley McWilliams uncovers animals in history to help kids learn: featuring ‘Bandoola’, the heroic elephant who loved pranks
Lauren Pratt Bandoola Beverley McWilliams Interview Naomi Becker
Beverley McWilliams expresses her passion for helping children learn about history and empathy for animals through the lens of adventure and animal perspectives. In this interview, UWA Publishing Intern Naomi Becker chats to author Beverley McWilliams about her research during a stay in a rural Karen community in Thailand, and the surprisingly mischievous personality of elephants.
Helena Pantsis on ‘Mother Salad’ and the horrors of the mundane: using surrealism to confront societal pressures on women
Lauren Pratt Helena Pantsis Interview Mother Salad Naomi Becker
Helena Pantsis (she/they) explains how their surrealist writing in Mother Salad exposes and embodies the crushing pressure on women to ‘mother’. UWA Publishing intern Naomi Becker interviews Helena about her use of horror to capture life's fears, such as mortality, aging, and purpose. Helena also responds by sharing vulnerable insights into how the short-fiction collection was partly inspired by her witnessing initially non-conforming women give in to societal pressures. This discussion addresses her masterful use of absurdism to explore the stigmatised struggles women experience.