Jeff Goldberg

“Basically, suicide is a self-indulgent, cowardly, and irresponsible reaction to outside emotional stimulation, a showy, melodramatic resort for arrogant and indifferent individuals, and that’s why it should come as no surprise to anyone, including myself, that I'm standing on the outermost ledge of my apartment building's rooftop pool holding a cigarette in one hand, a rapidly diminishing martini in the other, my left foot hovering over empty space, with the full intention of my right one joining it just as soon as I finish this final drink.”

Scott Larner

“December, January, February and most of March elapsed since White kissed me and today, finally, he asked if he could drive me home. We linger for a moment on his back porch. White sifts his pockets. Through the neighbor’s back yard I can see the small one bedroom house I rent. The neighbor, Jim Howard, is also my landlord. White finds his keys, opens the door, and, not being not invited in, I follow him.”

Quentin Poulsen

“Ed and I were at the pub one sultry evening, having a chinwag about the prospects of a bonza day to follow, when this stocky middle-aged bloke rocks up to the bar and plants himself on the stool beside us.

“Reckon you'd be wrong there, cobbers,” he butts in. “We're in for a spot of heavy rain tomorrow.””

Sarah Jane Shute

“They stood, four maroon suitcases of various sizes, medium to large, shoulder strap to single handle, two on one side and two on the other of a mother-daughter team that stood too, in their matching knee-length white cotton skirts and yellow cotton tops, mouths agape, at the base of a fifty-foot-tall white marble statue of Chairman Mao.”