Colours tells the story of Luke, the son of a Christian minister in Maroubra, Sydney, struggling to make sense of his sexual and romantic attraction to the new boy at his high school, Jamie. Luke faces the implications of these feelings for his friendships, family and belonging; his Christian faith and the trajectory of his adult life.
Cathy Altmann is a poet, teacher and violinist from Melbourne, Australia. Her first collection, Circumnavigation (Poetica Christi Press, 2014), won the FAW Anne Elder Award and her second collection, things we know without naming (Poetica Christi Press) was published in December 2018. Her poetry has appeared in journals, anthologies, The Disappearing website and on Melbourne’s trains as part of the Moving Galleries project. She holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne and currently teaches English and Latin. TGCA: Last year you released your second book of poetry things we know without naming—a follow-up to your first anthology, Circumnavigation....
I first heard about the SBS television show ‘Christians Like Us’ after being contacted by a friend from Sydney Anglican Media, Russell Powell. Russell himself had been contacted by the producers of the show, looking for an evangelical adult convert to Christ from a multicultural background. They wanted this person to spend a week in front of cameras with a bunch of other Christians from all sorts of perspectives, discussing a range of hot button issues. I suggested a lady from my congregation named Assumpta Venkatachalam. Assumpta is a smart, articulate former Hindu with a now deep trust in the...
Back around March last year, I noticed that when I asked my Google Home about Jesus, it responded like an overly polite person at a party who had just been asked about some controversial issue of theology: “Religion can be complicated and I’m still learning.” Yeah, right Google! Don’t give us that fake humility. You’re just afraid to nail your colours to the mast! Who Do You Say I Am? Well, to give Google a break, there are many different views about Jesus amongst Google’s customers. Muslims believe Jesus is a prophet but not divine. Jews believe he is a teacher...
It’s an awkward time of year. Christmas and New Year are fading into the distance and two important holidays are here. There was Australia Day on 26 January and then there is Lunar New Year usually around the early weeks of February. Caught Between Festivals Admittedly, Australia Day in my migrant family has always been just another public holiday. My parents became citizens long ago and do not join the “almost 80% of new migrants and refugees [who] believe Australia Day is important for the nation”. It was only in my adolescent years that I realised the cultural thing to do was to have a barbecue. I undoubtedly considered myself Australian: born and raised, through and through. Yet the pride I felt for being Aussie was at times tainted by the...
