Subscribe to continue a much-needed progressive literary culture

Anyone who subscribes, resubscribes or donates over the next week goes into the draw to win some spectacular prizes, including a holiday to Ubud, original artworks, locally roasted coffee, wine, workshops – and piles of books and subscriptions.

Since 1954, Overland has been a space for making progressive, political cases about moments big and small – Overland argued against the Vietnam War and the invasion of Iraq; and argued for the importance of movements such as the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, S11 and Black Lives Matter. In Overland you find ideas unpopular with the political classes, and stances not taken in other publications.

In a suffocative political climate, where far-right positions are the staple of the political discourse, independent space for progressive opinion – for alternative perspectives and possibilities – is more important than ever.

At Overland, we seek to present not just one position, but provide a space for a range of Left perspectives that need to be debated. And we remain a place where the political and literary Left meet, because politics does not end where a book begins.

All this year, we’ve published on the moments, big and small, that formed 2016:

• The student uprisings in South Africa
• Pokémon Go and the politics of gaming in public spaces
• How Australia treats refugee women
• Waleed Aly and the violence of forgiveness
• Surviving on precarious wages and conditions
• The failure of Australian politicians to grasp poverty
• Homophobia and the ritual of coming out
• ‘Assimilation’ versus ‘integration’ and halal snack packs
• McKenzie Wark speculating on alternative Australias

And on the currents shaping contemporary literature and publishing:

• Four perspectives on race & racism in Australian poetry
• A case for the cost of Australian books
• The (ir)relevance of the Man Booker
• The campaign against PIR reform

The same political scrutiny can be found in our fiction and poetry, as in Jo Langdon’s short short story ‘What do you tell’, or Anna Ryan-Punch’s ‘pseudonyms for women (after Danez Smith)’.

In the words of Christos Tsiolkas:

Overland reminds me that some of the best Australian writing – fiction and non-fiction – emerges from the history and struggle of ideas. The journal also reminds me that the challenge of reconciling the promiscuous scoutings of artistic freedom with the imperatives of political actions and insight is still unresolved, still problematic, and for this very reason, still very fruitful.

Issue after issue, at its best, I am reminded that such questioning and probing is vigorous and exciting – that even when I am arguing with a contributor, I am engaged in a rigorous, exciting conversation.

By taking out, renewing or giving an Overland subscription today, you could win:

• this weekend’s Daily Prize
• any of the four superb Major Prizes
• and/or one of our Regional Prizes, including a a most excellent prize for our New Zealand subscribers
• a good feeling about yourself – and the future of progressive literary culture

Remember: current subscribers can also take this opportunity to resubscribe and go into the draw – we’ll simply add another year onto your existing subscription. Subscribe today. 

Day Four: The Political Possum!

1 x one-year subscription to Crikey

1 x 250g Wide Open Road coffee beans, freshly roasted in Brunswick

1 x $100 voucher for Whitehouse Pet Supplies (online pet store)

A copy of The Chaser’s Australia by The Chaser

A copy of Double Dissolution: Heartbreak and Chaos on the Campaign Trail by Lee Zacariah

2 x bottles of Story Wines 2014 Shiraz (featuring the inaugural Story Wine Prize winner Leah Swann with ‘That inward eye’)

1 x block of handcrafted Wawa chocolate

The following titles:

• Captives by Angela Meyer
• Skylarking by Kate Mildenhall
• The Hidden Life of Trees By Peter Wohlleben
• Australian Love Stories edited by Cate Kennedy

1 x Black Inc. tote bag

See the list of Subscriberthon Prizes for 2016, including these Major Prizes:

Major Prize 1: Book to Bali

5 x nights at the Honeymoon Guesthouse in Ubud, plus return flights to Bali (from anywhere in Australia)

2 x bottles of Story Wines 2014 Shiraz (featuring the inaugural Story Wine Prize winner Leah Swann with ‘That inward eye’)

1 x 250g of Padre espresso coffee beans, freshly roasted in Brunswick

1 x embossed Padre coffee tin

1 x Scribe pack, including a Scribe tote bag and these 10 books:

• The Love of a Bad Man by Laura Elizabeth Wollett
• Cairo by Chris Womersley
• Lion Attack by Oliver Mol
• We Are All Stardust by Stefan Klein
• My Brilliant Career: Malcolm Turnbull: a political life, in cartoons edited by Russ Radcliffe
• Money Shot by Jeff Sparrow
• Fear and Politics by Carmen Lawrence
• Kiffy Rubbo: curating the 1970s edited by Janine Burke, Helen Hughes
• The Brain’s Way of Healing by Norman Doidge
• Rise of the Machines by Thomas Rid

1 x copy of It’s a Long Way from Acca-Dacca to Zappa, 1969–1979: The Photography of Philip Morris

Major Prize 2: Emerging Writers’ Boot Camp

1 x Overland fiction writing workshop for you and five members of your writing group/community; to be facilitated by Jennifer Mills in Melbourne in early 2017

1 x Pilot 2017: A Diary for Writers

1 x Cinema Nova silver pass (three months of films for you and a friend!)

1 x Lifted Brow collection, including:

• TLB tote bag
• copy of The Island Will Sink
• 6 x back issues (including latest issue)

1 x $30 Voucher to North Melbourne Books

1 x 250g of Padre espresso coffee beans, freshly roasted in Brunswick

1 x embossed Padre coffee tin

1 x Puzzle Peace art puzzle

As well as these superb titles:

• The Hate Race by Maxine Beneba Clarke
• Black Rock White City by AS Patrić
• Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic
• Captives by Angela Meyer
• Skylarking by Kate Mildenhall
• The Hidden Life of Trees By Peter Wohlleben
• Ghost Girls by Cath Ferla
• Australian Love Stories edited by Cate Kennedy
• Double Dissolution by Lee Zacariah
• Westography: Images of a Vanishing Suburbia by Warren Kirk

Major Prize 3: Cultural Defibrillator Pack

1 x Kobo Glo HD ereader

1 x Wide Open Road pack, including:

• Aerobie AeroPress Espresso Maker – ‘The best coffee maker I’ve ever owned’
• 1 x 250g coffee beans (or ground), freshly roasted in Brunswick
• ‘It’s in our blood’ mug
• Wide Open Road tote bag
• 2 x hessian sacks

1 x one-year Griffith Review subscription

1 x one-year Meanjin subscription

3 x back issues of Southerly

1 x Bee Sustainable pack containing:

• 1 x beekeeping workshop
• The Australian Beekeeping Manual by Robert Owen

1 x Scribe pack, including a Scribe tote bag and these 10 books:

• The Near and the Far: new stories from the Asia-Pacific region edited by David Carlin and Francesca Rendle-Short
• The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore
• Fever of Animals by Miles Allinson
• So Sad Today by Melissa Broder
• The Middlepause by Marina Benjamin
• What is a refugee? by William Maley
• The Ice Age by Luke Williams
• Best Australian Political Cartoons 2015
• Mrs Engels by Gavin McCrea
• There’s not one by Jennifer Higgie

1 x copy of It’s a Long Way from Acca-Dacca to Zappa, 1969–1979: The Photography of Philip Morris

1 x Komorebi opalite, pearl, moonstone and quartz necklace

1 x salted caramel sauce

Major Prize 4: Pretty as a Picture

1 x Savina Hopkins framed original collage artwork, Woman with Book

1 x $50 Readings voucher (can be used online)

1 x 250g of Padre espresso coffee beans, freshly roasted in Brunswick

1 x embossed Padre coffee tin

2 x bottles of Story Wines 2014 Shiraz (featuring the inaugural Story Wine Prize winner Leah Swann with ‘That inward eye’)

1 x Fremantle Press TAG Hungerfield Prize pack, including:

• Troppo by Madeline Dickie
• The Weaver Fish by Robert Edeson
• What is left over, after by Natasha Lester
• Red Dirt Talking by Jacqueline Wright
• The Whip Hand by Michaela Nicolescu / Nadine Browne
• The Last Sky by Alice Nelson
• Stories from Suburban Road by Tom Hungerford

1 x Komorebi Picasso Jasper necklace

1 x copy of Westography: Images of a Vanishing Suburbia by Warren Kirk

1 x copy of  The Unknown Judith Wright by Georgina Arnott

1 x copy of It’s a Long Way from Acca-Dacca to Zappa, 1969–1979: The Photography of Philip Morris

1 x salted caramel sauce

And the following art books:

• Behind the Doors: An art history from Yuendumu by Philip Jones
• Cornucopia by Adrian Feint
• Elvis Has Entered the Building by Ian W Adbulla

*Many thanks to the friends and supporters of Overland’s 2016 Subscriberthon!