Volume 69 Number 3, 2010

In our penultimate 70th birthday edition, Meanjin wonders what it takes to make a city: Dianna Wells visits Melbourne’s ever-shifting outer edge; David Nichols and Mia Schoen walk through the early housing commission suburb of Doveton; Elizabeth Glickfeld reflects on the politics behind Melbourne’s latest logo; and Rachael Weaver reminds us that, not so long ago, morgues were a place where the town’s citizens went to be entertained.

Michael Harden examines the impact of liquor licensing laws on Melbourne’s bar, restaurant and music culture; Ben Eltham meets the tenants of the Nicholas Building, the city’s informal artistic hub; Chris Womersley considers the role of place in fiction; and Tanya McIntyre and Clinton J. Walker revive the punk scene of the 1970s through a candid photoessay.

As part of our CAL/Meanjin series, Paul Daley reveals some of the darker truths about the Anzac Day myth, while Jeremy Fisher surveys ebooks and Australian publishing for Meanland. In other writings, Matthew Ricketson considers long form journalism and the legacy of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood; Nonie Sharp looks at the legend of The Little Wanderers; Anthony Macris pays tribute to that great film, All About Eve; and Brian McFarlane celebrates the work of three Australian women directors – Sarah Watt, Rachel Ward and Ana Kokkinos. George Dunford diagnoses Second Novel Syndrome; Maria Takolander comes to understand the lessons she’s learnt from literature; John Potts defends the book from declarations of death; Peter Mitchell recalls a painful and uncertain AIDS diagnosis and Rachel Buchanan tries to fall in step with her rapping brothers, ‘da xxxclusiv brevrin’.

In conversation, Sophie Cunningham talks to the great travel writer, William Dalrymple, and we publish fiction by Jennifer Mills, Simone Lazaroo, Catherine Cole, Natalie Sprite and Belinda Rule, as well as Alison Sampson’s crossword challenge winner. September also features poetry by Ali Alizadeh, John Kinsella, Mike Ladd, Jillian Pattinson, Tracy Ryan and many talented others.

In our next edition

This December, Meanjin turns 70. As Australia’s second oldest 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 our birthday we will republish some favourites alongside current commentators.

We include an overview of Meanjin’s noble history of cover design by Denise Whitehouse alongside former editor Jim Davidson’s interview with Dorothy Hewett in 1979. Hilary McPhee will revisit A.A. Phillips’ ‘The Cultural Cringe’ (which we’ll reproduce) while Marcus Westbury considers the value of thinking and acting small and Jane Gleeson-White looks back at the history of the book. Vance Palmer (1942) asks what it means to go into battle, Geoffrey Serle pays tribute to the writers and intellectuals of the Hungarian revolution of 1956, Gerald Murnane (1994) muses on fiction while Helen Garner (2002) considers the use of ‘I’ in her work. 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, Brian Matthews visits a very different Northern Ireland in 1979, Catherine Duncan reports back from the Paris riots of 1969, Elizabeth Jolley (1987) talks about her knickers, Loene Carmen (2006) goes down Devil Gate Drive and Wendy Harmer stands up for herself (1986). 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, Fiona McGregor (1996) tells us why she’s queer, not a lesbian, Meaghan Morris (1990) considers the future of Australian studies, 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 Elizabeth Smithers, Lily Brett, McKenzie Wark, Tim Richards, Beverly Farmer, Alex Miller, Tim Winton, Dal Stivens and Peter Carey as well as poetry by Judith Wright, Chris Wallace-Crabbe, A.D. Hope, James McAuley, Dorothy Porter, John Tranter, Judith Beveridge, Lisa Bellear, Robert Adamson, John Forbes and Antigone Kefala. And, much, much more.