Overland literary journal

Temper democratic, bias Australian

Not long ago, Peter Bishop stepped down as the Creative Director of Varuna, the writers’ house in Katoomba. The house is the former residence of Eleanor and Eric Dark and after their deaths it was retained as the centrepiece of the Dark Foundation as a place for writers to work. The Darks were politically engaged people. She was a writer of novels and he a doctor, writer and political activist. Their story is one worth knowing and can be found in Barbara Brooks and Judith Clark’s biography, Eleanor Dark: A Writer’s Life. Eric’s political activities with the ALP Left attracted the attention of the conservative forces of the Menzies era and the couple were surveilled by ASIO during the 1940s and 50s. The political legacy of the Darks is today somewhat overshadowed by the function of the house as a government subsidised institution but is nonetheless significant that this visionary couple had strongly held views that were at odds with the political status quo. ... read more

Written by Boris Kelly on 26-11-2010, 4 user comments

Literature, speculative fiction and me

Some time ago, I was talking to an old friend of my parents called Henry. Intelligent, liberal (perhaps back in the seventies he was a radical), Henry was the kind of person I grew up around. As often happens in such situations, the topic turned to writing. I explained to him that I wrote ‘speculative fiction’ (SF), an umbrella term for non-realist or non-mimetic fiction. It includes science fiction, magic realism, fantasy, science fiction, perhaps some ‘postmodern fabulations’. He looked at me puzzled. The discussion moved on until, some time afterwards Henry said, ‘I used to read Doris Lessing before she started writing all that science fiction rubbish.’ ... read more

Written by Rjurik Davidson on 26-11-2010, 26 user comments

Subscriberthon Day 5: It’s Friday, you need a drink – and a good book

Strawberries and cream. Horses and carriages. Writers and alcohol. Nothing is a more natural fit, especially on a Friday. That's why anyone who subscribes or resubscribes today goes into the running for, along with all the other general prizes, one of four crates of Platypus Gully wine. Here's the skinny on Platypus Gully:

Made from MV6 and D5V12 vines planted from 1993 to 1996, the wine exhibits typical varietal nose with a deep crimson colour and fresh berry flavours. Coincidentally beautiful black cherries are grown in the region. The grapes were hand picked in March 2006, fermented in stainless steel vats and aged in new French oak for 18 months. It was bottled in January 2008 at 13.0%.

Platypus live in a dam in a deep gully 80 ft below the vineyard surrounded by tree ferns and beautiful Blackwood trees. The wine is a full flavoured but easy drinking style and is ideal for accompanying food or for just sipping by the glass.

The wine sells for $14 wholesale and $25 retail a bottle and is often seen in restaurants at $40 per bottle.

... read more

Written by Editorial team on 26-11-2010, 1 user comment

Art, use and politics

Recently, there’s been much interesting discussion bouncing about Overland about whether literature can – or should be – ‘political’. And it’s not long before such questions transform into an argument about the use – or the necessary uselessness – of art. The various interlocutors seem to have found cautious middle ground in the agreement that the use of literature is to be literature.

As Jeff Sparrow commented earlier this month in a fascinating essay on the political in art, ‘literature matters as literature’. That is to say, in articulating the manifold complexities of being alive in a particular time and place, literature broadens our capacities to perceive and to think about who we are. As Sparrow comments of the war poets of 1914-18: ... read more

Written by Alison Croggon on 25-11-2010, 6 user comments

Subscriberthon Day 4: It’s a non-fictiony kind of day, lucky you

As Mungo MacCallum said last week, ‘At a time when all kinds of publishing in Australia are under threat, either from the internet or from monopoly interests, the continued survival of magazines like Overland becomes ever more critical. With its long tradition of genuine culture, support for new writers and providing alternative viewpoints, Overland is a standout in an increasingly predictable literary and political landscape. Vive la difference.’

Today we’re hoping to entice our non-fiction readers to subscribe using the impressively large number of books publishers generously donated for Subscriberthon. Everyone (yes, even those who win a spot prize) who subscribes today will go in the running to win: ... read more

Written by Editorial team on 25-11-2010, 1 user comment