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Feature
Santa Claus Coffee in Joyful Minowa
The street bustles with a steady stream of visitors. Every now and again, one individual will pause, examining a store’s goods. Amongst this, Papa Noel stands outside too, his thin long-sleeve top protecting him from the chilly wind that moves through the shopping arcade. In one hand, he clutches a thermos; his other holds a…
7 minRead time
Nahum in the snow in Hakuba: taken on a weekend trip during an Astray writing workshop in Japan.
Japan Story
Failure to Launch
The legacy of one William Shakespeare specifically outlined the various separate qualities of a tragedy and a comedy: two stories destined never to interlink, telling tales of diverse passions, whether joyful or dour. On the other hand, the legacy of me, you ask? Well, I managed to break down any visible barrier between the two-story…
8 minRead time
Feature
Colonisation, The Greatest Imposter
Growing up, I always felt small. I’m half-Vietnamese, half-Chinese, and I live in New Zealand – so of course I didn’t feel like I belonged. For a long time, I worshipped blonde wavy hair, white bread sandwiches over rice and, most, dish-washers – because my family’s was used to store plastic take away boxes. Like…
6 minRead time
Story
An Orwellian Bus Tour from Shanghai to Beijing
The savannah has been drained of life. Its blooming grasslands have shrivelled and are bleached. The great beast pants, searching for the blanketing comforts of an acacia tree, but is rewarded only with the monolithic ceiling looming above. Where once beams of light would filter through emerald shrubbery, now three singular strands wiggle their way…
10 minRead time
Japan Story
The Real Tokyo Blues
The black coffee reflects the vague shape of a little boy who thinks he's a man. It's rather off-putting, to be honest. Like the transition stage between looking too young to be considered old, but looking too old to be considered young. He scrutinises this a bit more; his nose is swollen and kinda twisted.…
7 minRead time
Story
Travel: On Separation and Connection
A river mirrors the sky and a strip of life sits in between the middle of the blues I was reminded that my internal world was never really private because my external life has always reflected it back to me and I’ve been in the middle the whole time. Before I step out of the plane, mimicking its mechanics, and kick into my own auto-pilot function.…
9 minRead time

Astray is a storytelling project centred on travel, place, culture and identity.

We’re run by a team of writers who mostly live, work and play in nipaluna / Hobart. With reverence, we acknowledge the Tasmanian Aboriginal people as the traditional and ongoing custodians of trouwunna / lutruwita / Tasmania: land that was stolen and never ceded. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.