The Sunday Paper: Beyond Borders

Editing, Production, Commissioning, Writing, Interviewing, Printing and Delivery.

The Sunday Paper is a quarterly broadsheet published by Desmond & Dempsey. It celebrates indulgence, slowness, adventure and freedom, and for our sixth issue we focused on transcending borders in art, life, work and language. Read on for my Editor’s Letter and a few of my favourite piccies from the issue.

Read the full issue here.

Moving countries is what I do. I spent my childhood between Japan, Australia, Belgium, France, and England, and have found myself planting roots and immersing myself in new ways of life every few years since I can remember. Finally, I have found myself in London, working alongside a fellow Aussie (Molly), who I had never met before starting with Desmond & Dempsey, but who’s grandma in Brisbane is coincidentally in the same group of friends as mine. The world is a funny place, and one that I have discovered is full of connections and friendships, no matter where you are. 

As we sat down to plan this issue of The Sunday Paper, we wondered how we could possibly sew the stories of Mexico, of bread, and of kids together in one common thread. Yet as we delved deeper into each narrative, we began to see the commonality between them. To travel, to learn, to be part of a community in our modern world, we must transcend many borders. We must cross physical, generational, and cultural lines to see and experience the best the world has to offer. And as someone who has been lucky enough to know these experiences first-hand, finding this connection gave me chills of excitement, and set the tone for the issue that you read today.

So as borders close around us, as ears are deafened to the stories that most need to be heard, and as an attitude of exclusion rears its ugly head, this issue of The Sunday Paper explores the value of breaking down those walls, whether physical or metaphorical, to reveal the wonders that lie on the other side. 

We speak to a couple drawn together from opposite sides of the world who are now raising their daughter to embrace the duality of her rich heritage. We meet two designers who, after living wildly international lives, have returned home to launch their respective brands, filled to the brim with inspiration from abroad and a newfound appreciation of what they left behind. We sit down with a chef from Mexico City whose restaurants and recipes take inspiration from the simplicity of Italian cuisine and the joy of Lebanese sharing plates respectively to create a distinctly modern type of Mexican cuisine. 

Elsewhere, we weave through stories of breaking family traditions and learning from the endless curiosity and untainted perspectives of children. And finally, we explore the universality of breaking bread and communal bathing and how these acts of communion have brought people together for as long as history remembers. 

So, I give you The Sunday Paper: Beyond Borders. An issue which delights in the life-changing magic of living far and wide, staying ever-curious and always being open to learning from people outside of your bubble. I hope that you enjoy it on a slow Sunday morning over a hot cup of coffee and that it inspires you to always be on the look-out for life’s special connections.