Surely we are better than this?

The seeking of asylum in Australia has beenpoliticised in recent decades. Our national conversation hasvilified people fleeing persecution and desensitised the Australianpolity to human suffering. We are further marginalising the mostvulnerable groups in the world and at greater expense than accommodatingrefugees in the community. What impact does this have uponour collective ethics and national identity? And if our publicconversation is steering us into murky moral territory, where may adissenting voice be heard?

Writing to the Wire is a collection ofpoems by Australians and people who would like to be Australians. It is abook about the idea of being Australian. It is about who we are and whowe would rather be. Writing to the Wire offers new ways to understandinjustice, to speak out and tell stories. Poetry can show us what we'rethinking and feeling in a way our politics has failed to do.