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Tincture Journal, Issue Three, Spring 2013
Tincture Journal is a quarterly literary journal based in Sydney, Australia and collecting interesting new works of fiction, poetry and non-fiction from Australia and the world.
120 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 28, 2013
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Daniel Young
21 books17 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 3, 2013
Standard Tincture disclaimer: I have a personal connection to the editor and publisher of this journal. I don’t “get” free verse, so I don’t review it.
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Tincture feels a bit different this time around; dominated as it is by a novella-length piece in its midst (Suzanne Moore’s “The Station”). Beside it, you get 14 other stories, 10 free-verse poems, and a non-fiction piece. There’s also a mix of voices from outside the Anglophone world: Philippino, Hungarian, and Greek.
As in previous issues, the stories are mostly slice-of-life vignettes, showcasing the authors’ talents. Of these, the keen observation of Tara Cartland’s “The Utilitarian” and the beautiful and vivid imagery of Joanna Wolthuizen’s “Blink” stood out prominently to me.
Two other stories won me over by the incredible warmth of their characters; both stories told as affectionate youthful memories, recalling elders loved and looked-up-to. Gexter Ocampo Lacambra’s “The Teacher from Calvary” describes a young man’s coming to a deep love of literature through a wise and uncompromising teacher. The main theme is of the difference between an intellectual understanding of a text and of truly internalising and appreciating it, and it is made with specific references to Philippino writers entirely unfamiliar to me. However, the story does not rely on any specific cultural knowledge; it is the reactions of the young student and his mentor to the various texts that is important and which tell the reader everything they need to know.
In Konstantina Sozou-Kyrkou’s “My Papous and his G43”, the subject is a Greek grandfather who obsesses over a German G43 rifle he captured during the Second World War. Of course, the rifle has a secret, but this is almost beside the point in a story so filled with such obvious fondness for the old man, idiosyncracies and all.
But it’s two other stories that crown this issue of Tincture for me; two stories that will make me think of issue 3 as the “public transport issue” for their magical realist treatments of urban mass transit— Suzanne Moore’s “The Station” and Jodi Cleghorn’s “555”. Both are dreamlike and both disquieting.
I was completely pulled into the world of “The Station” and its length gave me time to become very involved with the characters and their predicaments. It’s a surreal piece that doesn’t answer any of the many questions it raises, but—like a dream—relies on its own internal logic. It’s a dark and moody piece and I wanted it to keep going long after it ended. “555” (a reference to the timing chip?) is only a few hundred words long, and yet its imagery of buses in the dream lands created an impression so vivid for me that it was out of all proportion to its length. Both Moore and Cleghorn are writers I want to read more from!
Finally, I just have to mention this quarter’s only non-fiction piece, Dave Drayton’s “Has Elton John Ever Performed at Macquarie Shopping Centre? Or, a Tiny Dancer Beneath the Ice Rink”—one man’s quest to verify family oral tradition that Elton John once performed at a suburban Sydney shopping centre in the early 1980s. Maybe I love this because I also get obsessed with stuff like this, but I felt a real connection with Drayton and wanted him to succeed in his epic journey! This is by far my favourite Tincture non-fiction piece so far.
So once again, Tincture delivers variety and quality and some stories that appealed to me greatly. Highly recommended.
----
Tincture feels a bit different this time around; dominated as it is by a novella-length piece in its midst (Suzanne Moore’s “The Station”). Beside it, you get 14 other stories, 10 free-verse poems, and a non-fiction piece. There’s also a mix of voices from outside the Anglophone world: Philippino, Hungarian, and Greek.
As in previous issues, the stories are mostly slice-of-life vignettes, showcasing the authors’ talents. Of these, the keen observation of Tara Cartland’s “The Utilitarian” and the beautiful and vivid imagery of Joanna Wolthuizen’s “Blink” stood out prominently to me.
Two other stories won me over by the incredible warmth of their characters; both stories told as affectionate youthful memories, recalling elders loved and looked-up-to. Gexter Ocampo Lacambra’s “The Teacher from Calvary” describes a young man’s coming to a deep love of literature through a wise and uncompromising teacher. The main theme is of the difference between an intellectual understanding of a text and of truly internalising and appreciating it, and it is made with specific references to Philippino writers entirely unfamiliar to me. However, the story does not rely on any specific cultural knowledge; it is the reactions of the young student and his mentor to the various texts that is important and which tell the reader everything they need to know.
In Konstantina Sozou-Kyrkou’s “My Papous and his G43”, the subject is a Greek grandfather who obsesses over a German G43 rifle he captured during the Second World War. Of course, the rifle has a secret, but this is almost beside the point in a story so filled with such obvious fondness for the old man, idiosyncracies and all.
But it’s two other stories that crown this issue of Tincture for me; two stories that will make me think of issue 3 as the “public transport issue” for their magical realist treatments of urban mass transit— Suzanne Moore’s “The Station” and Jodi Cleghorn’s “555”. Both are dreamlike and both disquieting.
I was completely pulled into the world of “The Station” and its length gave me time to become very involved with the characters and their predicaments. It’s a surreal piece that doesn’t answer any of the many questions it raises, but—like a dream—relies on its own internal logic. It’s a dark and moody piece and I wanted it to keep going long after it ended. “555” (a reference to the timing chip?) is only a few hundred words long, and yet its imagery of buses in the dream lands created an impression so vivid for me that it was out of all proportion to its length. Both Moore and Cleghorn are writers I want to read more from!
Finally, I just have to mention this quarter’s only non-fiction piece, Dave Drayton’s “Has Elton John Ever Performed at Macquarie Shopping Centre? Or, a Tiny Dancer Beneath the Ice Rink”—one man’s quest to verify family oral tradition that Elton John once performed at a suburban Sydney shopping centre in the early 1980s. Maybe I love this because I also get obsessed with stuff like this, but I felt a real connection with Drayton and wanted him to succeed in his epic journey! This is by far my favourite Tincture non-fiction piece so far.
So once again, Tincture delivers variety and quality and some stories that appealed to me greatly. Highly recommended.
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September 24, 2017Among the poems are two by Nathanael O'Reilly: A Glance, A Sigh and Lost, these are the best poems of the whole journal. Another good poem is Valley by Pam Riley.
Most stories didn't appeal to me, except from those four:
1) In Enjoy the Silence by Matt Smith a monk who lives alone on a mountain is visited by a stranger and they talk, this part is the best:
"... what do you think of western civilisation?" The Monk considered this. "I believe it would be an excellent idea. I think they should try it." LOL
2) In Living Room Scene by Gerard Elson a mother and a child discuss dinosaurs. The final question shocked me.
3) and 4) are about memories related to a family history of concert going: "Has Elton John Ever Performed at Macquarie Shopping ?" by Dave Drayton and "The Only Boss I Listen to Is Bruce Springsteen" by Jessica McLean. Though I'm no fan of those two musicians I can relate to these stories because I am a concert goer myself and cherish such memories.
Most stories didn't appeal to me, except from those four:
1) In Enjoy the Silence by Matt Smith a monk who lives alone on a mountain is visited by a stranger and they talk, this part is the best:
"... what do you think of western civilisation?" The Monk considered this. "I believe it would be an excellent idea. I think they should try it." LOL
2) In Living Room Scene by Gerard Elson a mother and a child discuss dinosaurs. The final question shocked me.
3) and 4) are about memories related to a family history of concert going: "Has Elton John Ever Performed at Macquarie Shopping ?" by Dave Drayton and "The Only Boss I Listen to Is Bruce Springsteen" by Jessica McLean. Though I'm no fan of those two musicians I can relate to these stories because I am a concert goer myself and cherish such memories.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews