Happy holidays and Merry Christmas! This bumper edition is a celebration of our vendors by our vendors, who have penned their reflections on a difficult year, their hopes for the future, and given thanks to the people who matter most in our annual Big Wish Yous. It’s a festive edition full of heart, humour, hope – and some mirth-inducing cracker jokes.
“I’m excited about it,” says Perth vendor David B, on making his cover debut, “and a lot of people will be excited to see me on the cover. I’ve sold The Big Issue for over 10 years in Subiaco. I have met and become friends with many people from different walks of life. The Big Issue has been a big part of my life…and it’s helped me enormously.”
More highlights in this festive edition:
- Helen Garner on being head prefect, burning her teenage diaries and writing with no regrets in her Letter to My Younger Self.
- We chat to actor Timothée Chalamet about working with Wes Anderson on the auteur’s quirky new ensemble film The French Dispatch.
- Zoë Foster Blake talks farts, fiction and family – plus her new kids book Scaredy Bath.
- Many people experiencing homelessness in Australia own a pet, providing companionship and support. We meet the housing organisations providing pet-friendly accommodation, and the people (and animals) who’ve found a home.
- In The Big Picture, we visit Christmas Island to witness the world’s biggest crab migration.
- Actor Viggo Mortensen reveals the real-life inspiration behind his directorial debut, Falling.
- R&B artist Milan Ring is feeling hopeful about her debut record, a journey of self-discovery.
- And in Tastes Like Home, Matt Preston delivers heaven in a bowl: his festive recipe for A Trifle Peach Melba.
