Heather Taylor-Johnson

Oct 4, 2023 | overland.org.au | Ouyang Yu |Heather Taylor-Johnson

Let me plunge into the story-essay straight away without any preambles. I’ll make it easy, in fact so easy that any perpetual linguistic ignoramuses will understand it immediately without having to pay a single cent, for a free lesson to be had. 1. 兵. 2. This is a Chinese character, pronounced ‘bing’, meaning ‘soldier’ or ‘soldiers’. 3. It consists of two parts: 丘and八, which is why soldiers are commonly known in the past, derogatorily, as丘八, pronounced ‘qiuba.’4.

Sep 7, 2023 | overland.org.au | Heather Taylor-Johnson |Jill Jones

Days pinch and lately I’ve noticed every time I look in the mirrorI’m squinting—maybe it’s a grimace. Without tryingI’ve mastered the façade of a Besser block threatened by a mallet,by which I mean maybe the world won’t kill me but it’ll definitely hurtand I’ve got to be ready. I’m afraid of routine. Give me something easylike a boardgame and I’ll show you anxiety. When I was a kid I playedboardgames all the time because I’m competitive but not sporty.

Aug 31, 2023 | overland.org.au | Heather Taylor-Johnson

We were not skydivers in the 1990s, I did not wear a cream crocheted bikini top, I was not inlove for the first time, we didn’t talk quietly amongst ourselves in large crowds about sex andits dramas, we did not drink piss-weak beer, we did not pay $16 a jump and there was never aDC-3 or a perfect sunset through its window, we never fell through snow.