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.
Sophie Vivian grew up in Canberra, where she was a gymnast and internationally competitive climber, training at the Australian Institute of Sport. Since leaving the world of elite sport, she has completed a PhD in philosophy and an MSc in Neuroscience. She is a mother and an award-winning poet, and writes on social justice issues from her home, acreage in the Blue Mountains, Australia. Her website is sophivivian.com .
