Buy Overland 253

I like to think of Australian literary studies as a kind of “world”, albeit a world among other worlds, with its changing communities gathering and regathering around textual objects that themselves shift and transform with cultural and social change.

In this, the first issue of Overland’s 70th year, there is a throughline that insists on the urgency of radical community-building. Captured in the above quote from Brigid Rooney’s moving tribute to the late, great Elizabeth Webby, Overland 253 offers a vivid snapshot of the relational nature of Australia’s literary and political discourses, and of the necessity of community in creating and sustaining spaces like Overland, in which material and digital opportunities for radical change can be nurtured. 

Inside the pages of this issue, John Docker, a “non-theatre person” by his own admission, enchants us in a sentimental and unorthodox review of The New Theatre: The People, Plays and Politics behind Australia’s Radical Theatre. We’re also excited to be printing the witty and exacting criticism of Dženana Vucic, whose essay “In the name of the moon, I’ll destroy capitalism!” mines the subtle and not-so-subtle Marxist symbolism in Sailor Moon. Elsewhere, Sarah Schwartz, lawyer for The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Services, writes powerfully on healthcare in prisons as an extension of the carceral system in “Prison healthcare as punishment — the killing of Veronica Nelson”.

In fiction, editor Claire Corbett has selected 4 short works for our summer issue, including a poignant story on memory and displacement from Nasrin Mahoutchi-Hosaini, “At first, nobody died”. This issue also features several of the shortlisted poems from the 2023 David Harold Tribe Poetry Award, as well as the winning poem by Jeanine Leane, “Water under the bridge”.

The cover of this issue is by Sofia Sabbagh and internal designs are by Stephanie Ochona.

It’s a terrific issue to have on its own – or as part of a subscription!

Overland subscriptions: You can support Overland by becoming a subscriber. Our basic subscription package includes a discounted 4-issue subscription to Overland (four print issues and the online magazine), invitations to subscriber events, and other opportunities and giveaways. $70 a year, or $50 concession, student or unwaged. A digital subscription option ($50) gives you 4 digital issues of Overland straight to your inbox.

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