I am in the closing stages of preparing a limited edition zine that will be distributed freely around the Inner West of Sydney this November. The zine package will contain a 48-page chapbook and a DVD-R. It will be called Sydney Samizdat, in tribute to the courageous underground presses of the Soviet bloc.
Pronunciation: \ˈsä-mēz-ˌdät\
Function: noun
Etymology: Russian, from sam- self- + izdatel’stvo publishing house
Date: 1967
: a system in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and countries within its orbit by which government-suppressed literature was clandestinely printed and distributed; also : such literature
In the tradition of samizdat publications, the reader is expected to pass on the package after 72 hours. The theme of issue #1 is ‘The Pleasures of Transgression’.
The issue will contain a new long story by myself set in Madrid and Marrakech called Red Hills of Africa, part of a larger story cycle in progress. The DVD-R will feature a jazz clip and a short film. The jazz is from Trio Apoplectic‘s recent album Sofia (Rufus, 2009). The 28-minute short film is called Michael and Michelle (2009) and was written and directed by Matt Dibbayawan. I worked as a camera operator on the project earlier this year. It stars Stephen Peacocke and Bianca Bradey. Matt has already put the movie online via Vimeo and Youtube, so here it is:
