What I love about Overland is its ability to hit the mark with fiction, poetry, essays and reviews. I don’t grab bag Overland; I read it cover-to-cover. That’s a credit to the editors, all of whom have been creative and insightful in their own ways in the decade I’ve read and contributed to the journal. – Paul Mitchell

Overland is well known for its history of publishing some of Australia’s most celebrated writers. In a journal published since 1954, it’s no surprise that there has been a succession of editorial teams and we thank them all for the brilliant legacy they have gifted to the current incarnation. We take this opportunity to thank and remember Overland’s founding editor, Stephen Murray-Smith (1922–1988).

Now that we’ve blown our collective trumpet with the wind of the past, it’s time to toot a few toots for the individuals who make up the editorial team at Overland in 2011. These writers and editors are dedicated to literature and to serving and developing the community of progressive politics. Some are paid for the work they do at Overland and all do many voluntary hours.

Meet the team …

Editor
Jeff Sparrow is the author of several books, has been known to attend the odd protest or two and was once compared to a corridor-jumping lamb.

Publisher
Alex Skutenko only exists IRL! Bicycle queen and dog-person, Alex is the one who knows around the Overland office. Possessor of a keen eye and a kind heart.

Associate editor & online editor
PhD candidate Jacinda Woodhead bakes delicious vegan cinnamon scrolls and writes blistering opinion pieces. She coordinates the blog and is to be congratulated for her dedication to developing the vibrancy of the Overland online community scene.

Associate editor
Rjurik Davidson may only be slumming it with Overland until he gets his big break as a screenwriter in Hollywood, but this gentle author and university lecturer contributes his thoughtful insight, hilarious office jokes and a touch of rock and roll.

Fiction editor
Fresh off the presses with her latest book, Jane Gleeson-White is a luminary of the editing scene. Based in Sydney, she contributes her keen judgement to Overland’s proud history of publishing great fiction.

Poetry editor
Judge of Overland’s Judith Wright poetry prize, Peter Minter (another IRLfer) is a leading Australian poet, editor and scholar. Passionate about poetry, he can usually be found lurking in the halls of NSW universities.

According to Peter, ‘Overland is the leading light for cutting-edge emerging and innovative Australian poetry. As a poet and editor with a life-long commitment to the original and radical spirit, I am delighted to be part of an editorial team that champions free, creative and at times beautifully renegade thought and writing. If such ideas are meaningful to you, I urge you to subscribe today!’

And then there’s consulting editor John Marnell, IT extraordinaire Benjamin Laird, contributing editor Clare Strahan, consulting editor (online) Boris Kelly, our fantastic editorial intern Roselina Press and the essential David Hudson, our proofreader.

This (rather long) list must include the extra support of contributing writers and especially the many fabulous bloggers and dedicated readers who volunteer their time and talents to keep Overland fresh, relevant and of the highest quality.

Dear friends, isn’t it time to honour the commitment of these good people and subscribe? Get clicking to win one of today’s fabulous Daily Prizes:

The sex pack
Slip into something more comfortable and take in the pleasures of Krissy Kneen, Triptych and Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha’s Sex at dawn: the prehistoric origins of modern sexuality, while quaffing a nice glass of Platypus Gully red.

Novel-ty pack
Six fantastic Australian novels: Brendan Cowell, How it feels; Kylie Ladd, Last Summer; Malcolm Knox, The Life; Alison Pick, Far to go; Patrick Holland, The Mary Smokes Boys; Teju Cole, Open City

The Sydney reader’s pack
A $50 gift voucher from Sydney’s celebrated Gleebooks, This is the Penguin Plays Rough Book of Short Stories (comprised of stories shared at 475 King St, Newtown between 2008 and 2010 at the Penguin Plays Rough salons) and a copy of Sydney-sider Brendan Cowell’s novel, How it feels.

The Melbourne writer’s prize
This most excellent prize includes a year’s membership to the fabulous Victorian Writer’s Centre, four complimentary tickets to what is arguably the funkiest cinema in Victoria – the Nova, and two recent editions of the thoroughly gorgeous Meanjin.

Remember, if you win a fab Daily or Spot Prize, fear not, you are still in the running for our splendid Major Prizes to be drawn in the days following Subscriberthon.

A Subscriberthon 2011 Major Prizes reminder:

Meanland luxury prize pack
This celebration of the digital age includes a Kobo Reader for your e-reading pleasure; a one year subscription to Meanjin (Melbourne’s other most-loved literary journal); a BONUS one-year subscription to Overland, a beautiful paper-and-digital diary and to round off the literary journal excellence, the Griffith Review’s snazzy Edition 33: Such is Life USB, which contains the complete edition in digital format.

Great Reads luxury prize pack
Sit back and enjoy a glass of fine wine from Platypus Gully (heck, have a whole bottle – you’ve got twelve!) while you relax into a selection of the best reads of 2011. Miles Franklin award-winner, Kim Scott, Dead Man Dance; Charlotte Wood, Animal People; Alex Miller, Autumn Laing; SJ Finn, This too shall pass; Brendan Cowell, How it feels.

Coffee Lover’s luxury prize pack
Footscray is too close to Melbourne’s CBD for us Overlanders not to be coffee freaks (though it must be noted, our fiction editor lives in Sydney), so we jealously invite you to indulge yourself with this fabulous prize pack that includes a Kobo Reader; the beautiful coffee-table book Bird; a bottle of fine wine; a coffee-pack from Silva coffee (500 grams of delicious coffee and a stylish coffee-plunger), free trade, organic and roasted in Victoria’s beautiful Yarra Valley and, just to push it over the edge into the truly covetable, some fine organic chocolate.

For more info, see the Subscriberthon Sponsors page.

The revolution will not be televised – it will be read in Overland.