Published in Overland Issue 209 Summer 2012 Writing editorial Jeff Sparrow Overland is fundamentally committed to emerging writers. This edition features the winning entries from the Overland Victoria University Short Story Prize, the richest and most prestigious competition of its kind in Australia. They are introduced by Jennifer Mills, Overland’s incoming fiction editor, in a judge’s report offering a snapshot of the huge quantity of writing that was assessed. We are very pleased to publish the three successful stories in an issue in which many of the essays ask hard questions about the theory and practice of writing itself. We rarely theme Overland these days, for the literary journal is a form that thrives on diversity, even eclecticism. But this edition emerged naturally, since so many contributors seemed to grappling with the same problems. What does it mean to be an author in Australia? Can I make a living from my work? Is writing merely a private hobby, a practice akin to stamp collecting? If not, what role does it play in Australian society? Should writing involve a politics – and, if so, how? Writing is always difficult, particular so in turbulent economic times, in a small country like Australia. But that very difficulty makes confronting broader questions all the more important. Overland 209 invites both new and established writers (and, for that matter, readers) to join an ongoing conversation about writing and its role. Jeff Sparrow Jeff Sparrow is a Walkley Award-winning writer, broadcaster and former editor of Overland. More by Jeff Sparrow Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays 5 First published in Overland Issue 228 6 April 202231 May 2022 Writing What happens when authors stop listening to their editors Jessica Stewart When I moved into a second career in editing and publishing, friends told me that working as an editor might temper my love of books—that a professional eye might spy previously unnoticed flaws. I dismissed this, but they were right. Before, if a book left me restless, dissatisfied, annoyed, I would simply close it and move on. Now, I know what is wrong, why I, the reader, feel short-changed. 3 First published in Overland Issue 228 22 November 202131 January 2022 Writing Precarious words Jennifer Mills Eight years ago, I wrote a short piece for Overland called ‘Pay the Writers’. I was fed up with being asked to work for ‘exposure’. It was a time when a lot of writing work was moving online, and this work was often unpaid. Writers were at risk of losing our incomes entirely. If anything needed some exposure, it was the working conditions of freelancers.