Melissa Fagan
@liss-liss.bsky.social
Writer, reader, surfer, swimmer | on unceded Bundjalung country | author 'What Will Be Worn' 👗 | Co-pilot, stepmum, dogmum, auntie | gardener-in-training | PhD survivor | Sessional academic - creative writing
http://melissafagan.com/
http://melissafagan.com/
Pinned
Melissa Fagan
@liss-liss.bsky.social
· Jan 20
Sat by the river yesterday, tide dropping, watching five pelicans feasting on fish in the shallows, marvelling at their beaks: strange, slightly ridiculous and oh-so-majestic. Note to self: spend more time watching pelicans.
I wrote about Erin Hortle's feminist surf novel A Catalogue of Love for Sydney Review of Books sydneyreviewofbooks.com/reviews/an-o...
An Ocean of Her Own | Sydney Review of Books
Surf culture, and surf writing, has always been something of a sausage-fest. Reading A Catalogue of Love as a fellow surfer and writer, Melissa Fagan finds much to appreciate about Erin Hortle’s liter...
sydneyreviewofbooks.com
September 16, 2026 at 12:59 AM
I wrote about Erin Hortle's feminist surf novel A Catalogue of Love for Sydney Review of Books sydneyreviewofbooks.com/reviews/an-o...
A woman at the dog park told me it was International Dog Day, then added, maybe it should be Dolly Day? We had a brief chat about the fact that Dolly was 80 and I said - that's pretty young! I didn't register what she meant, didn't believe it was possible, till I popped in here 😥 #dogday #dollyday
August 26, 2026 at 12:50 AM
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
This is excellent. Farnsy flashmob in Brisbane in response to new Queensland hate speech laws which outlaw the phrase ‘From the river to the sea’.
April 18, 2026 at 9:49 AM
This is excellent. Farnsy flashmob in Brisbane in response to new Queensland hate speech laws which outlaw the phrase ‘From the river to the sea’.
Tate and Trump cozying up together - and Gold Coast ratepayers paying for the flights - is not AT ALL surprising. But it's also worth blaring from the rooftops. I've lived in and around southern Gold Coast since 2018, as one by one the last affordable low-rise flats got demolished. HOW DARE HE.
Declarations confirm gifts to Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate from the Trump Organization. Two days Mar-a-lago hospitality/accommodation & vehicle transfers to/from Miami International Airport. Ratepayers funded flights but the amount is still unknown. #qldpol www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...
Trump Organization paid for Tom Tate's meals and more during visit
The Gold Coast mayor visited the luxurious estate days before an Australian developer signed a deal to build a Trump-branded tower at Surfers Paradise.
www.abc.net.au
March 25, 2026 at 5:54 AM
Tate and Trump cozying up together - and Gold Coast ratepayers paying for the flights - is not AT ALL surprising. But it's also worth blaring from the rooftops. I've lived in and around southern Gold Coast since 2018, as one by one the last affordable low-rise flats got demolished. HOW DARE HE.
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
Press pack journos with access to the PM, you need to be asking him about Lebanon, otherwise you look complicit and stupid. A million Lebanese displaced by the IDF. There are a quarter million Lebanese Aussies. What are @albomp.bsky.social's thoughts on the Zionist carpet bombing of Beirut??
March 18, 2026 at 2:29 AM
Press pack journos with access to the PM, you need to be asking him about Lebanon, otherwise you look complicit and stupid. A million Lebanese displaced by the IDF. There are a quarter million Lebanese Aussies. What are @albomp.bsky.social's thoughts on the Zionist carpet bombing of Beirut??
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
At least two people have been arrested in Queensland for saying "from the river to the sea" today at a protest. I think we all knew this day was coming. A dark milestone in our homegrown authoritarian decline.
March 11, 2026 at 11:37 AM
At least two people have been arrested in Queensland for saying "from the river to the sea" today at a protest. I think we all knew this day was coming. A dark milestone in our homegrown authoritarian decline.
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
I guess we just don’t find war criminals all that comforting.
February 9, 2026 at 7:34 AM
I guess we just don’t find war criminals all that comforting.
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
Hi Australia. Now we are having a national Day of Mourning today for the victims of the Bondi attack can we, the Aboriginal people, have our day of mourning on Jan 26 back please.
We have mourned on Jan 26 since the first day of Mourning on Jan 26 1938 and we would like it back.
We have mourned on Jan 26 since the first day of Mourning on Jan 26 1938 and we would like it back.
January 21, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Hi Australia. Now we are having a national Day of Mourning today for the victims of the Bondi attack can we, the Aboriginal people, have our day of mourning on Jan 26 back please.
We have mourned on Jan 26 since the first day of Mourning on Jan 26 1938 and we would like it back.
We have mourned on Jan 26 since the first day of Mourning on Jan 26 1938 and we would like it back.
I wrote an essay for Griffith Review about the current swathe of peri/meno-memoirs. In it I ponder what happens when we outsource health advice and advocacy to celebrities, why it’s worth paying attention to who is blurbing whom, and where the footnotes lead. www.griffithreview.com/articles/men...
Menopause™ – Melissa Fagan
Melissa Fagan explores the commodification of menopause and the exploitation of women experiencing it. The big M is big business!
www.griffithreview.com
January 21, 2026 at 5:58 AM
I wrote an essay for Griffith Review about the current swathe of peri/meno-memoirs. In it I ponder what happens when we outsource health advice and advocacy to celebrities, why it’s worth paying attention to who is blurbing whom, and where the footnotes lead. www.griffithreview.com/articles/men...
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
As the age assurance policies roll in I'm still thinking about this article from AFR: www.afr.com/politics/fed...
It's been two and a half years since the Murphy Report was released, and instead of regulating online gambling advertising, the Albanese govt may use the social media ban as a cover.
It's been two and a half years since the Murphy Report was released, and instead of regulating online gambling advertising, the Albanese govt may use the social media ban as a cover.
Labor tipped to drop proposal for online gambling ad ban
Political and industry sources expect Communications Minister Anika Wells to crack-down on illegal offshore gambling websites.
www.afr.com
December 9, 2025 at 1:22 AM
As the age assurance policies roll in I'm still thinking about this article from AFR: www.afr.com/politics/fed...
It's been two and a half years since the Murphy Report was released, and instead of regulating online gambling advertising, the Albanese govt may use the social media ban as a cover.
It's been two and a half years since the Murphy Report was released, and instead of regulating online gambling advertising, the Albanese govt may use the social media ban as a cover.
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
Australia is home to many endangered reptiles and frogs. This snapshot shows their numbers have dropped sharply. But it’s possible to reverse this trend.
👉 theconversation.com/new-dat...
👉 theconversation.com/new-dat...
November 25, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Australia is home to many endangered reptiles and frogs. This snapshot shows their numbers have dropped sharply. But it’s possible to reverse this trend.
👉 theconversation.com/new-dat...
👉 theconversation.com/new-dat...
Please read this living-breathing essay in SRB by Tegan Bennett Daylight - on re-reading Ruth Park and not writing her biography, motherhood, writerly aspirations versus reality, among other things. It is very very good. sydneyreviewofbooks.com/essays/life-...
Life at Its Most Free | Sydney Review of Books
What happens when a project that could make one’s career doesn’t eventuate? In the wake of the biography of Ruth Park she never wrote, Tegan Bennett Daylight considers what it means to write for a liv...
sydneyreviewofbooks.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Please read this living-breathing essay in SRB by Tegan Bennett Daylight - on re-reading Ruth Park and not writing her biography, motherhood, writerly aspirations versus reality, among other things. It is very very good. sydneyreviewofbooks.com/essays/life-...
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
It's funny how hard we have to work to convince the world that uncontrolle data centre expansion is a climate risk when there's a fossil gas power station called the EXXONMOBIL POWER PLANT being built explicitly to power a data centre
Not enough people know about Homer City. The single largest fossil fuel plant that's being built *explicitly* to power a data centre.
This isn't a future projection, or some hollow marketing. This is physical stuff happening right now.
bsky.app/profile/keta...
This isn't a future projection, or some hollow marketing. This is physical stuff happening right now.
bsky.app/profile/keta...
November 10, 2025 at 8:17 PM
It's funny how hard we have to work to convince the world that uncontrolle data centre expansion is a climate risk when there's a fossil gas power station called the EXXONMOBIL POWER PLANT being built explicitly to power a data centre
“Labor sources have told ABC Investigations the prime minister's office has been putting pressure on advocates for gambling reform within the parliamentary Labor party to prevent them from speaking up.” Nice way to use your mandate guys 👏🏽
“Over a dozen Labor MPs, including senior figures in the party, have told ABC Investigations they want action on gambling reform.”
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
'Broad, unspoken consensus': silent Labor MPs want action on gambling
Andrew Wilkie has asked the PM to allow a free vote on banning gambling advertising and it appears many Labor MPs would support it.
www.abc.net.au
November 7, 2025 at 8:39 PM
“Labor sources have told ABC Investigations the prime minister's office has been putting pressure on advocates for gambling reform within the parliamentary Labor party to prevent them from speaking up.” Nice way to use your mandate guys 👏🏽
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
Things keep going from bad to worse for horses in the racing industry yet the media, politicians and their mates in toxic gambling companies continue to pretend everything is okay. This is a stain on our nation.
November 3, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Things keep going from bad to worse for horses in the racing industry yet the media, politicians and their mates in toxic gambling companies continue to pretend everything is okay. This is a stain on our nation.
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
What’s this? Yet more research concluding that robust public investment in the arts yields economic benefits?
A great outcome for Ireland, and a rebuke to all those tired cliches about freeloading artists sapping the resources of the state.
But also, art enriches us all, economic benefits or no.
A great outcome for Ireland, and a rebuke to all those tired cliches about freeloading artists sapping the resources of the state.
But also, art enriches us all, economic benefits or no.
Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...
October 7, 2025 at 4:14 AM
What’s this? Yet more research concluding that robust public investment in the arts yields economic benefits?
A great outcome for Ireland, and a rebuke to all those tired cliches about freeloading artists sapping the resources of the state.
But also, art enriches us all, economic benefits or no.
A great outcome for Ireland, and a rebuke to all those tired cliches about freeloading artists sapping the resources of the state.
But also, art enriches us all, economic benefits or no.
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
Classic Blair. He is now proposing himself as the Empire's Regent of Gaza. A war criminal himself, he demands a five year appointment to run the site of Israel's genocide on behalf of Donald Trump in the finest tradition of White Settler Colonial projects www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Tony Blair in discussions to run transitional Gaza authority
The former prime minister has been in high-level planning talks over the territory's future, the BBC understands.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 29, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Classic Blair. He is now proposing himself as the Empire's Regent of Gaza. A war criminal himself, he demands a five year appointment to run the site of Israel's genocide on behalf of Donald Trump in the finest tradition of White Settler Colonial projects www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Age yourself with a movie you saw in a theater as a kid.
September 28, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Age yourself with a movie you saw in a theater as a kid.
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
You can't be a centrist under a fascist regime. You're either fighting, or facilitating. There's no secret third thing. Except dead, I suppose.
September 19, 2025 at 12:42 AM
You can't be a centrist under a fascist regime. You're either fighting, or facilitating. There's no secret third thing. Except dead, I suppose.
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
Sadly “AI is the future” is true in the same way as “gas is a transition fuel”; not because of any science-fictive ability to predict the future, but it can be made true by the billions spent on marketing and the capture of governments.
I’m all for bursting the bubble but how do you recon with the massive momentum (governments see AI as "instrumental in economic competitiveness”. in fact, most governments have become big tech mouthpieces. most academics and media are AI evangelists. funders favour anything and everything AI)
2/
2/
August 20, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Sadly “AI is the future” is true in the same way as “gas is a transition fuel”; not because of any science-fictive ability to predict the future, but it can be made true by the billions spent on marketing and the capture of governments.
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
We reiterate our stance: freedom of expression is a fundamental right.
Read the full statement from @asauthors.bsky.social on Bendigo Writers Festival and the issue of code of conduct overreach.
www.asauthors.org.au/news/bendigo...
Read the full statement from @asauthors.bsky.social on Bendigo Writers Festival and the issue of code of conduct overreach.
www.asauthors.org.au/news/bendigo...
Bendigo Writers Festival Code of Conduct Issue - Australian Society of Authors
The ASA is deeply concerned about a Code of Conduct provided to authors presenting at the Bendigo Writers Festival.
www.asauthors.org.au
August 19, 2025 at 1:02 AM
We reiterate our stance: freedom of expression is a fundamental right.
Read the full statement from @asauthors.bsky.social on Bendigo Writers Festival and the issue of code of conduct overreach.
www.asauthors.org.au/news/bendigo...
Read the full statement from @asauthors.bsky.social on Bendigo Writers Festival and the issue of code of conduct overreach.
www.asauthors.org.au/news/bendigo...
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
No TISM, Clouds, Falling Joys, Frente, Models, Kate Miller-Heidke, Lucksmiths, Deadstar, Jebediah, Fauves, Hummingbirds, Tumbleweed, Underground Lovers, Died Pretty, Rocket Science, Radio Birdman, Saints, Custard, Cordrazine, Triffids, Sunnyboys, Drones, Eddy Current Suppression Ring… #hottest100
July 26, 2025 at 9:32 AM
No TISM, Clouds, Falling Joys, Frente, Models, Kate Miller-Heidke, Lucksmiths, Deadstar, Jebediah, Fauves, Hummingbirds, Tumbleweed, Underground Lovers, Died Pretty, Rocket Science, Radio Birdman, Saints, Custard, Cordrazine, Triffids, Sunnyboys, Drones, Eddy Current Suppression Ring… #hottest100
Reposted by Melissa Fagan
Yes, it's called genocide.
Minister says Israel racing ahead to wipe out Gaza, will make it Jewish
* * *
www.timesofisrael.com
July 26, 2025 at 6:19 AM
Yes, it's called genocide.
This is not just a strategic undermining of cultural authority, it is also a clear and harmful violation of the sovereignty, self-determination and integrity of black&write!’s fellowship processes which have been successfully delivered every year since the inception of the black&write! fellowships.
An open letter from First Nations storytellers to the Queensland State Library and the Queensland Education and Arts Minister, in solidarity with our Martu sibling, Ren Wyld, and with our siblings at black&write!
Open letter from First Nations storytellers to the Queensland State Library and the Queensland Education and Arts Minister - Overland literary journal
To the State Library of Queensland and the Queensland Education and Arts Minister, We write as a community of First Nations authors, publishers, literary scholars, arts workers and Storytellers. We sp...
overland.org.au
May 26, 2025 at 12:04 AM
This is not just a strategic undermining of cultural authority, it is also a clear and harmful violation of the sovereignty, self-determination and integrity of black&write!’s fellowship processes which have been successfully delivered every year since the inception of the black&write! fellowships.