Bro fist?
Sophie Cunningham
October 19
Meanjin’s extraordinarily fabulous 70th birthday edition has gone to the printer. Here’s a lolcat to celebrate this great moment in literary kultcha.
see more Lolcats and funny pictures
Oh, and here’s a peek of the cover. And the blurb. In fact, I think you should all subscribe! (If you haven’t already).
This December, Meanjin turns seventy. As Australia’s second oldest literary journal, it has helped our nation develop a cultural identity, critiqued that identity and, more recently, saw globalisation threaten Australia’s newfound sense of self. A list of the contributors over the years is like a roll call of Australian literature and, to celebrate, we will republish some favourites alongside current commentators.
In colour, we feature a striking illustrated history of Victoria’s little magazines, from Meanjin (1940) to Is Not (2005). In other contemporary essays, Jane Gleeson-White looks back at the history of the book while Hilary McPhee revisits A.A. Phillips’ ‘The Cultural Cringe’ (which we’ll reproduce) and Marcus Westbury considers the value of city’s thinking locally, not globally.
We republish founding editor Clem Christesen’s first editorial (1940) and Vance Palmer’s thoughts on what it meant to go to war (1942), as well as Geoffrey Serle’s tribute to the writers and intellectuals of the 1956 Hungarian revolution and Gerald Murnane’s reflections on a life in print (1994). Jim Davidson (1979) interviews Dorothy Hewett, while Helen Garner (2002) considers the use of ‘I’ in her work and M.J. Hyland (2004) writes an elegy to the asylum that once held her. Christos Tsiolkas (2006) undergoes some emotional archaeology to describe the perfect mixed tape, McKenzie Wark (1993) threshes out diagrams of desire in popular media, Elizabeth Jolley (1987) talks about her knickers and Wendy Harmer (1986) stands up for herself. Michael Kirby (2007) reflects on years of shame and phobia when it comes to same-sex law reform, Graham Little (1985) asks if Bob Hawke is in trouble, Catherine Duncan (1968) reports back from the May riots in Paris and Brian Matthews visits a very different Northern Ireland in 1979. Meaghan Morris (1990) considers the future of Australian studies, Fiona McGregor (1996) tells us why she’s queer, not lesbian, Gillian Whitlock (1989) recalls accusations of plagiarism between the work of Lucy Maud Montgomery and Colleen McCullough, and Tony Birch (1992) looks at the making and unmaking of Aboriginal culture.
We include fiction by Alex Miller, Beverley Farmer, Peter Carey, Tim Winton, Elizabeth Smither, Tim Richards and Dal Stivens, as well as poetry by Judith Wright, Chris Wallace-Crabbe, A.D. Hope, Dorothy Porter, John Tranter, Judith Beveridge, Lisa Bellear, John Forbes, Antigone Kefala and many more.
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Comments
19 Oct 10 at 12:39
Love that you’ve reverted to the first cover for the design. Very simple and respectful.
...19 Oct 10 at 13:19
Although I hope the next cover is a LOLcat.
...19 Oct 10 at 13:20
Although I hope the next cover is a LOLcat.
...19 Oct 10 at 13:44
I am currently looking into the idea of making the March 2011 cover a lolcat. Stuart Geddes, my designer, is uncertain but I’m sure I’ll wear him down.
...19 Oct 10 at 13:51
I agree, it’s a beautifully restrained tribue cover, and a LOLcat would be great too.
When you describe Meanjin as Australia’s second oldest literary journal, are you thinking of the NSW School Magazine as the oldest? It’s a literary magazine that was first published in 1916, but is generally discounted because its intended readers are children.
...19 Oct 10 at 13:56
No, I’m thinking of Southerly, in Sydney, which was started three months before us.
...19 Oct 10 at 15:50
Congratulations guys, what an achievement. Looking at the contents, I can’t wait until this issue makes its way to my doorstep. (:
...19 Oct 10 at 20:48
BROFIST! It looks wonderful.
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