Meanjin acknowledges with deep respect that we work on the sovereign lands of the Turrbul and Yugara people, and that our contributors live and work on sovereign First Nations Country all over Australia. These lands and waters were never ceded.
Meanjin recognises the centrality of the first pillar of the national arts policy, Revive – First Nations First: recognising and respecting the crucial place of First Nations stories at the centre of Australia’s arts and culture.
When Clem Christensen founded the journal in Magandjin (Brisbane) in 1940, he gave it the Yugara name ‘meanjin’, to relate ‘culture … to place’. In bringing Meanjin home, we acknowledge and respect the importance of naming and place to the Turrbal and Yugara communities whose Country this is, as well as to the many other Peoples whose storytelling traditions and ways of making meaning are inseparable from Country and community.
In Meanjin 82.2 Winter 2023, Gaja Kerry Charlton (Yagarabul and Gabi Gabi Elder, traditional owner, and Indigenous Industry Fellow at the School of Languages and Cultures at the University of Queensland) published the first in a new series of Meanjin Papers titled ‘Makunschan, Meeanjan, Miganchan, Meanjan, Magandjin’, presenting family, cultural and linguistic context for the use of the word ‘meanjin’.
Gaja Kerry concludes:
Because of the extremely close connections between languages, wider First Nations cultures and ways of relating to and belonging on Country, it is of the utmost importance that First Nations languages be recorded and transmitted accurately. It’s also imperative that historical mistakes be acknowledged and rectified. Goori wisdom guides us to the future. As Pat Dodson said, ‘Nothing about us without us.’
Wirrepi: Return to us.
The Meanjin Paper
Meanjin’s original name was Meanjin Papers, and over time, ‘the Meanjin Paper’ became the name for each edition’s lead essay.
From Meanjin 82.2, Winter 2023, to Meanjin 84.4, Summer 2025, the journal opened with a Meanjin Paper written by a First Nations Elder that offered a story of place, making the experience of reading these editions begin with listening to Elders. Reimagining and remaking this commitment is an important focus for the next iteration of Meanjin.
This series of Meanjin Papers features:
- Gaja Kerry Charlton (Yagarabul), ‘Makunschan, Meeanjan, Miganchan, Meanjan, Magandjin’ (Meanjin 82.2 Winter 2023)
- Archival interview with Oodjeroo Noonuccal (Meanjin 82.3 Spring 2023, First Nations edition, guest-edited by Eugenia Flynn and Bridget Caldwell-Bright)
- Noel Pearson (Guugu Yimithirr), ‘Change the Country for Good‘, QUT Carumba Institute 2023 Meanjin Oration
- N’arwee’t Prof Carolyn Briggs AM (Boonwurrung), ‘Yulendj Boonwurrung: The history of the first people of Melbourne—the Yaluk-ut Weelam clan of the Boonwurrung’ (Meanjin 82.4 Summer 2023)
- Theresa Penangke Alice (Arrernte), ‘Ilkakelheme akngakelheme – Resisting assimilation’ (Meanjin 83.1 Autumn 2024)
- Rodney Carter (Dja Dja Wurrung), ‘Djaara: the essential ingredient’ (Meanjin 83.2 Winter 2024)
- Mike Ross (Olkola), ‘Well it’s beautiful Country, really—‘ (Meanjin 83.3 Spring 2024)
- Joe Geia (Gugu-Yimithirr Kaurareg), ‘Sing for the Black: From the Act to Treaty’, QUT Carumba Institute 2024 Meanjin Oration (Meanjin 83.4 Summer 2024)
- Anyume John Kemarre Cavanagh (Arrernte), ‘Different plants for different meanings’ (Meanjin 84.1 Autumn 2025)
- Djon Mundine (Banjalung), ‘“I am an invisible man”: this is how I became a curator‘ (Meanjin 84.2 Winter 2025)
- Marion Kickett (Noongar), ‘On belonging’ (Meanjin 84.3 Spring 2025)
- June Oscar (Bunuba), ‘Wanjawurru: Reimagining Australia in 30 years’ (Meanjin 84.4 Summer 2025)
Meanjin Oration partnership
Each August the Carumba Institute, QUT’s Indigenous research and education environment, presents the Meanjin Oration, the QUT key address to profile Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander excellence. As leaders in their field, the Meanjin Orators inspire, cultivate, and showcase research excellence by Indigenous people in Australia.
The ongoing relationship between the Carumba Institute and Meanjin sees an extract from each Meanjin Oration published as part of a subsequent edition of Meanjin. The first partnership was for the 2023 Oration by Noel Pearson.
An extract from the 2025 Meanjin Oration, delivered by Tony McAvoy SC (Wirdi), will be published in Meanjin 85.1 Summer 2026.
An extract from the 2026 Meanjin Oration, delivered by Cathy Freeman AC (Kuku Yalanji and Birri Gubba), will be published in Meanjin 86.1 Autumn 2027.
First Nations edition
The first Meanjin edition devoted solely to the work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and artists was Meanjin 82.3 Spring 2023, guest-edited by Eugenia Flynn (Larrakia and Tiwi) and Bridget Caldwell-Bright (Jingili and Mudburra).
Four previous editions had focused on Indigenous issues, presenting work by Indigenous and non-Indigenous writers: Meanjin 36.4 Summer 1977, the ‘Aboriginal Issue’, edited by Jim Davidson; Meanjin 52.2 Winter 1993, ‘Mabo and Moral Community’ and Meanjin 52.4 Summer 1993 ‘The Message Sticks’, edited by Jenny Lee; and Meanjin 65.1 Autumn 2006, ‘Blak Times’, with Guest Editor (Commissioning) Peter Minter working with Editor Ian Britain.
First Nations anthology
Following the 2024 publication of Essays that Changed Australia: Meanjin 1940 to today, which includes a significant number of impactful essays by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers, a subsequent anthology First Nations Writing: Meanjin 1940 1977 to today, edited by Aunty Jeanine Leane and Dan Bourchier, was published in 2025.