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.
Gayelene Carbis is an award-winning Australian/Irish/Cornish/Chinese writer of poetry, prose and plays. Her first book of poetry Anecdotal Evidence (Five Islands Press) was awarded Finalist in the 2019 International Book Awards for Poetry. Recent awards/shortlistings include: first prize in the My Brother Jack Poetry Award; finalist in the Bruce Dawe Poetry Prize; and finalist in the Woorilla Poetry Awards (Commended). Gayelene teaches Creative Writing at universities and Sandybeach; English/EAL at ACU; and is a Poet-in-Residence in schools.
