The Big Issue | Vin Maskell

Browsing All Posts filed under »The Big Issue«

Tour de Failure

July 28, 2017

Here’s the cycling story The Big Issue ran a few weeks back under the headline Tour de Flat. (#540 30 June to 13 Jul7 2017). Cheers. Flat tyres fill cyclist Vin Maskell with dread but he always gets back on his bike. Eventually. I was stranded by the roadside, about eight kilometres from home. Flat […]

Tour de Failure (preview)

July 1, 2017

Never thought I’d be in a magazine with Nicole Kidman on the cover. The latest edition of The Big Issue Australia features the Kidman story (written by Margaret Pomeranz), an interview with Ben Mendelsohn, a look at The Handmaid’s Tale – and a yarn about cycling and the existential perils of getting a flat tyre. […]

Tree Change

November 26, 2016

This story was first published in The Big Issue #523 (21 Oct – 3 Nov 2016) I’ve stopped collecting freshly-cut logs and tree stumps from nature strips. I’ve stopped pulling over a little excitedly, opening up the back of the car, hauling the wood into the boot and driving off, a little triumphantly. My back’s […]

Tree Change (preview)

October 21, 2016

My latest Big Issue story is an 800-worder called Tree Change. And, no, it’s not about moving to a rural idyll.

The Do It Yourself Postal Service

September 26, 2016

This story was first published in The Big Issue # 518, 12-25 August 2016. My mate Paul and I have started a new postal service. An exclusive, boutique service. We have a catchment area of four linear kilometres and a clientele of two. There are no premium rates. No sorting of letters in faraway […]

The DIY Postal Service (preview)

August 15, 2016

The Big Issue has just published a story about letter-writing, and friendship, and delivering your own hand-written letters on your own bike. I have a postie’s bike, but not in good working order. Salvaged from a skip, it’s a rusted machine with a cracked leather seat, flat tyres and a chain that won’t budge. Still, […]