Meanjin Vol 77 No 4

'Between 1970 and 2012, according to the World Wildlife Fund, the population of non-human vertebrate animals on earth dropped by 58%...? In her lead essay in the Spring edition of Meanjin, author Jane Rawson wonders at the unfolding tragedy of our moment- we are living through a mass extinction. By 2020 we will have lost 70% of animal life on the planet. 'There is only the tiniest whisper of wildness left on the landmasses of this planet and that tiny whisper is on the brink of going silent... Everything-all of it-will soon be us.? Author of Dark Emu, Bruce Pascoe, explores the disconnection between colonial perception and Indigenous reality. 'If we are to make a nation rather than a mere economy we have to absorb the history.? Fatima Measham explores the testing mysteries of her Catholic faith, Katharine Murphy finds reason to hope in the recent turnings of Australian politics, Jonno Revanche reflects on gender binaries and begs to differ, Gray Connolly plots a path to renewal for Australian conservatism, Robyn Williams makes the case for individual action in the face of global calamity and Sheila Ngoc Pham considers Australia in Three Books.There?s new fiction, including winners of the 2018 Peter Carey Award, Anne Casey and Ben Walter, fine fresh poetry, and the first installment of a new National Accounts column from Shaun Micallef.