Local geography
By DS Maolalai
to the south there are hills
we call mountains. to the north
a collection of plantpots-turned-ashtrays
which we title condescendingly
commuter towns. they are named
like diseases: balbriggan. lusk. skerries.
a treatment of cream on your leg.
in the centre of all of this, dublin
like unhealthy grey fungus
which breeds in a shadow,
in damp and a hollow of rot.
Grace Bentley, The Anangu, 2025, gouache on paper 6" x 4".
Something happening
like opening a zip,
the sound of encircling
helicopters shuffling
their blades. a crease
in the calm city
skysound. somewhere
distant, somewhere
close, some
thing happening. the blinking
of rabbits on roadsides. some person
in terrible distress.
Juno Cooper, Untitled 3, 2025, silver gelatin print, 10" x 8".
DS Maolalai has been described by one editor as “a cosmopolitan poet” and another as “prolific, bordering on incontinent.” His work has been nominated fourteen times for BOTN, ten for the Pushcart and once for the Forward Prize, and released in three collections; “Love is Breaking Plates in the Garden” (Encircle Press, 2016), “Sad Havoc Among the Birds” (Turas Press, 2019) and “Noble Rot” (Turas Press, 2022).
Grace Bentley is a multimedia artist and painter living on the Sunshine Coast, Australia. With a background in filmmaking (BFA), her creative practice has long moved between visual art and screen-based storytelling. She has worked both nationally & internationally, contributing to several award-winning short films and web-series. In 2018, Grace shifted her focus toward painting, seeking a slower, more intuitive form of expression. Her work explores the resilience, quiet splendour and vibrant colours of the vast Australian landscape and our connection to it — visitors on sacred land. Grace’s paintings have been exhibited across the Sunshine Coast and Melbourne. Alongside painting, she regularly teaches classes and workshops. Whether through film or paint, her work reflects a sensitivity to the natural world and the stories held within it.
Juno Cooper is a Denver based industrial designer who wishes she could just wander around with her camera all day. She takes a lot of pictures of urban environments and loves Brutalism and concrete. Armed with a Nikon F100 she bought off an old man on Craigslist and a Nikkor 50mm F1.4, she can be found peeking down alleyways and wandering around downtown areas.