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2024 Fiction Edition Submissions Open Now

The Big Issue’s annual Fiction Edition is now taking submissions for our milestone mag.

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Article
Food for Thought

Some people get excited about limited-edition sneakers or rare vinyl records. For me, I can’t get enough of new food discoveries.

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vendor
Grant

I had nowhere to go, so I turned to The Big Issue. It gave me a chance to build back my life again.

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Article
Spiced Mussels With Sobrassada and Sherry

Whenever, wherever and for whomever I prepare mussels, I feel a strong sense of nostalgia. It means that, regardless of the culinary direction that takes my fancy, it feels like home to me.

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vendor
Maureen

I’m very proud to say that I work at The Big Issue. I like the companionship, working as a team, the laughter.

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Article
Ban-Almond Double Crunch Cheesecake With Tropical Fruits

I baked it EVERY weekend until my family cried out for the relief of a chocolate cake!

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vendor
Chris H

My father sells The Big Issue and encouraged me to give it a try – the rest is history.

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Article
Epic Tarragon Roast Chicken

Nothing makes me feel more at home than a roast chicken: a dish my family has lovingly cooked each other for generations, and which always spurs on warm conversation.

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vendor
Steve C

The Big Issue’s always been there for me. They’ll always welcome you back with open arms.

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Article
Vendor MBK’s Ukrainian Vareniki

Once I had the first bite, the memories came flooding back.

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Article
Meatsmith’s Salt-Baked Chicken

This recipe uses an incredible cooking technique Andrew first came across in Hong Kong, where chickens are baked street side in bags, buried in salt.

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Article
Kirsten Tibbal’s Strawberry Trifle With White Chocolate Mousse

The trifle is great for an Australian summer: light and fresh with a touch of chocolate decadence.

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vendor
Monique

I like everything about selling The Big Issue. What I like about it is that I can work whenever, wherever.

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Article
Bonnie’s Mascarpone, Raspberry & Rosewater Tart

Our gorgeous mum Bonnie is in charge of the sweetie treaties at Christmas. She makes the Christmas pudding a year ahead, and the tradition remains that she gets everyone to make a wish while you “have a stir”.

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vendor
Michelle

I love this job so much. It gives me purpose, and I’m much happier now.

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Article
Be Kind Rewind  

Rod O’Hara’s small-town video shop is a treasure, and one of the last of its kind. We farewell an era with Bellingen Video Connection, a cult classic if ever there was one.

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Article
Lasagne

My nonna Paolina was best known in the family for two pasta dishes – her gnocchi and her lasagne. When eating either, you were never in any doubt who had created the meal. She always told us her secret ingredient was love, but I suspect it was skill.

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vendor
Vesna

I was born in Melbourne. Mum told me I was born in the hospital in Moonee Ponds. I’ve got two sisters, but they do their own thing. I’m the youngest. My parents split up. We shifted from one place to the next – I’ve been all over the place. Because I’d been moving around, I ended up...

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Article
For Millie

Mark Brandi reflects on the loss of his beloved dog and the comfort that her companionship brought to his life.

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vendor
Bill

I was born in America, and we moved to Perth four years later, when my Aussie-born mum and American father split. I have cerebral palsy, and my grandfather told Mum to bring me to Australia because the health system was much more affordable. I attended a “special needs” education facility in Mount Lawley, where I...

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Article
Cheesy Roasted Garlic Bread

Growing up, garlic and olive oil were staple items in my mum’s cooking. No matter where I am in the world, the smell of freshly peeled garlic on my fingertips will always send me back to my childhood home. It also reminds me, even though I have grown up in Australia, to never forget my...

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vendor
Chris

I’ve lived in Whyalla for 21 years, and I started at The Big Issue 18 years ago. One lady even said I’m a Whyalla icon.

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news
The Big Issue launches 2024 Calendar

Much-loved social enterprise The Big Issue has released their 2024 Calendar, on sale now from your local vendor!

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vendor
Dennis

I was born in Bristol in England, but I grew up in Kent. I was adopted by my mum and dad when I was about six-and-a-half, along with my two brothers. I don’t remember anything about my life before then. My dad was fighting in India when he was 15 – he put his age...

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Article
Poulet au Coco Rico

I didn’t start cooking until I got married. I had to remember the recipes that were made for me as a child. I didn’t have to ask anyone for this recipe – it was in my memory. I was always there when my grandfather would make it. He would tell me, “Sido, go get this. Sido,...

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vendor
Jack

I grew up on a farm in Coonabarabran in New South Wales. We had pigs. My childhood was pretty good. At the time, I probably didn’t like it so much, coming from a family of 10. I was the oldest boy. My sister was a bit older than me – she and I had a...

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Article
Miss Silky’s Instant Mac ‘n’ Cheese

This recipe is probably the most comforting and convenient one I’ve ever written. It’s inspired by those store-bought mac’n’cheese packet mixes that take seconds to make, except without all the chemicals and spooky ingredients.

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vendor
Rochelle

I’m in a good spot in my life at the moment, but that wasn’t always the case. My life started with open-heart surgery shortly after I was born. Luckily it went well, but I might need additional surgery to replace a valve later in life, so I can have a long life. While my parents...

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Article
The Tickets

Enjoy a preview of the newest Fiction Edition here, with Nina Wan’s short story The Tickets.

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vendor
Ted

I was brought up in Kingston, which is a few miles south of Woodridge in southeastern Queensland. It was my mum, dad and sister at home, but Dad was away a lot. Eventually my parents split up, so Mum did a lot on her own. I found primary school difficult and didn’t like it much...

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Article
Lamingtons

When I arrived in Australia, my wife Cath introduced me to the humble lamington and I was struck by its elegance, simplicity and, of course, flavour.

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Article
A Plain Cake With Passionfruit Buttercream

Plain cakes are the ones I grew up with. They are not only my comfort zone, but my happy place, too.

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vendor
Murray

I used to be an athlete. I got a scholarship with the Australian Institute of Sport when I was 14, and was with them for 10 years. I’ve travelled to Germany, Brazil, Spain, Hungary, Malaysia and Argentina to compete in the world championships for the intellectually disabled. I’ve held a world record and won gold...

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Article
Round-the-World Game

Vicky Daddo discovers that football is not the same on the other side of the world – but now football is coming home. I’m nine years old, thumping my frozen feet on the concrete of the Carshalton Athletic Football Club stand, south of London, with my dad and brother. Mum’s at home, probably enjoying the...

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Article
Tommy Pham’s Bò Kho

There’s a reason why my son Miles will eat bowls and bowls of this – you just can’t beat a bowl of juicy, melt-in-your-mouth beef in a thick and flavoursome sauce. You just can’t.

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vendor
MBK

I grew up with a single mum and an elder sister in St Albans, Melbourne. I never knew my father; he died when I was one. My mum’s parents are Ukrainian, and during this turmoil I’ve been wishing I could do more. I got the amazing Ukrainian trident (tryzub) tattoo, so now it’s always close...

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Article
Living Dolls

Melanie Saward inherited her nanna’s love of dolls – but her sister may have had other ideas. Nanna’s house is full of dolls. She has beautiful antique cabinets stuffed to the brim with vacant plastic faces staring out. All the wardrobes in her house are stacked high with boxes full of immaculate porcelain dolls bought...

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Article
Greek Egg and Lemon Soup

This is the soup of my childhood. Every time I was sick with a cold or flu this would be the soup my mum would make for me. Simply eating this soup would actually make me feel less sick; it was home in a bowl. It would make me feel loved and cared for, nurtured,...

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vendor
Ivan

I grew up in Adelaide, in the suburb of Payneham. Been there all my life. I went to Payneham Primary School, then went to Marden High. I haven’t lived out of the town. Growing up, I played cricket locally for my school, and for a couple of years at Payneham Cricket Club. I played soccer...

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Article
Steamed Fish

In Chinese culture, we always share food and the table is full of a mix of vegetables, meat, fish and rice, so that the food is varied for good health. At each meal, fish is the most important dish. The fish must be very fresh, and well-chosen in an Asian fish market. We prepare it...

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Article
Eva Grinston’s Chocolate Walnut and Sour Cherry Cake

Sometimes a recipe is more than just a recipe. It comes with a family story and memories. It can transport you to another time and place. To your grandmother’s kitchen. To another country. To a more innocent era, before you were forced to leave your home.

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vendor
Joe

I hated school. I hated discipline. At that time, you were allowed to leave school at 15, and on my 15th birthday I was like “see you later”! When I left school, I started off as a cabinet maker. But I didn’t have much of an education, so I got let go because I couldn’t...

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vendor
Francois

I’m known as “The French Kiwi” to everyone around me. Born in Whangārei, in the North Island of New Zealand, I had the only French name in town. And boy did I get picked on for that! For the first seven years of my life, I grew up in foster care. The family were so...

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Article
Japanese Gyoza

It’s a longstanding family joke that I’m completely biased when I adamantly declare at every opportunity that my mum’s gyoza are the best in the world.

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Article
The Life of Warnie

We revisit cricket legend Shane Warne’s Letter to My Younger Self, in which he revealed the importance of good manners, good friends and good scents.

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Article
Takin’ Care of Business

The Big Issue’s Women’s Workforce are a force to be reckoned with, as Melissa Fulton discovers when she joins them on a shift.

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Homes For Homes

Homes for Homes is a simple promise that when a home sells, whenever that is, 0.1% of the sale price will be donated—helping build homes for those in need.

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