The spaces left behind

5 October 2012 #417

Cover Story: The spaces left behind

Each year, more than 35,000 people are reported missing in Australia. But social media is drastically changing the ways families and tracking services go about finding those who have disappeared. This edition Melissa Cranenburgh investigates how social media means finding lost friends and family members is now easier in some ways…and more difficult in others.

Tim McGuire discusses queer culture in Asia with writer Benjamin Law; director Andrea Arnold tells David Michael why she hopes movie-goers will come back for moor (!) Wuthering Heights; Ed Nimervoll chats with Billy Bragg about the larrikin appeal of Woody Guthrie; and, in ‘Roving Eye’, we present extraordinary images of an abandoned town that’s being reclaimed by the Namib Desert.

This edition’s ‘Vendor Profile’ is Christine from Canberra, and we have ‘Streetsheet’ contributions from Steve W and Frank in Perth, Zoe in Brisbane, Glenn in Sydney and Grant in Canberra. We also present some fabulous images from Melbourne-based artist and former Big Issue vendor, Raf.

In very sad news, two much-loved vendors from WA have recently died. In ‘Streetsheet’, we present tributes from WA state manager Jim Petrie to vendor Davie, who was a popular personality in the town of Margaret River and vendor John, who was a familiar face around the Perth CBD and the University of Western Australia.