Overland 254 is the first in a set of four special editions dedicated to commemorating 70 years of Overland. This issue also launches a new design and format by Common Room Editions, inspired by Overland’s trove of radical literature spanning from 1954 to today. Andrew Brooks and Astrid Lorange consider the asymmetrical responses to two events: the wearing of keffiyehs by three cast members during the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Anton Chekov’s The Seagull, and, on the same day in the US, the shooting of three Palestinian men wearing keffiyehs. Jeff Sparrow uncovers the Sydney Herald’s legacy of Terra Nullius, and Daniel Lopez writes on Marx, Meredith and the festival as an inversion of modern life.
Aamer Rahman is one half of cult comedy duo Fear of a Brown Planet. As well as doing stand-up comedy, he has also written for television, including for Balls of Steel Australia. In 2009 he was one of 10 writers selected to attend an exclusive scriptwriting workshop in the UK. Besides touring his standup in sold-out shows at home and overseas (most recently at Edinburgh), he has also appeared on Comedy Channel’s You Have Been Watching, and Channel 10’s Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala. He is a regular contributor to Political Asylum, Melbourne’s topical stand-up comedy night.
