Hatch

Volume 2 of Hatch is an anthology of creative and critical works by Western Sydney University undergraduates who have proven through their studies that they are not just critical thinkers, but also storytellers of an exceptional kind. The five authors of this anthology write with immediacy and social relevance, despite their diverse literary backgrounds and writing styles. The four fiction authors sing of circumstances that are familiar to all readers-an elderly widow at the mercy of...
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Volume 2 of Hatch is an anthology of creative and critical works by Western Sydney University undergraduates who have proven through their studies that they are not just critical thinkers, but also storytellers of an exceptional kind. The five authors of this anthology write with immediacy and social relevance, despite their diverse literary backgrounds and writing styles. The four fiction authors sing of circumstances that are familiar to all readers-an elderly widow at the mercy of her doctor and son; a mortal protagonist desperate to save her cursed Faerie-friend (the story is a revision of the Disney fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast); a young narrator who temporarily mislays his moral compass in pursuit of the truth (about himself), and of a girl; and a dialogue-driven narrative that centres on a female protagonist who has a phrase stuck in her head, but who does not realise the power that that phrase has over her until it is too late. One of the works in this anthology is a critical essay that explores in some detail the how translators have used a gendered language to describe Grendel's Mother in the Old English poem, Beowulf. As mothers go, this one is depicted as a demon. She is sexualised and denied an honourable death. The author argues that over the centuries male translators have been partly to blame for this image of Grendel's Mother, who disrupts ideas of male heroism. The essay is featured among the fiction. Some of the creative pieces in this anthology deal with issues of suicide, disability, ageism, and death. Most of the fiction in this anthology offsets the darkness of these topics with humour. The anthology has been edited by Dr. Helen Koukoutsis, and co-edited by Ashley Duke and Anastasia King. It is designed to be used by aspiring WSU undergraduate writers who are seeking for writing they can refer to as exemplars. Hatch offers a lens into a community and culture of writers who have shown that it is possible to emerge out of one's shell, unscathed.