Progressive culture since 1954
Overland and the Malcolm Robertson Foundation are thrilled to announce the entries that placed in the 2020 Overland Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize! This year’s star judges, Mirandi Riwoe, Jeanine Leane and Wayne Marshall, rose to the challenging task of selecting a shortlist of eight pieces from over 500 entries, before narrowing the result down to three exceptional stories.
This year’s stellar judges, Bonny Cassidy, Bella Li, Anne-Marie Te Whiu and Toby Fitch (who is also Overland’s poetry editor), read over 900 entries before selecting a shortlist of just eight outstanding works – including poetry from emerging poets such as Sara Saleh, Harry Reid and Declan Fry. The judges then chose four unforgettable poems to place 1st, 2nd and 3rd in this year’s prize. The competition was so fierce this year that the judges chose two poems to share 3rd place!
We’d like to thank everyone who entered this year for their thoughtful and incredible work. We received an impressive and high quality range of poems, and each and every writer deserves congratulations. We’d also like to thank our judges, Evelyn Araluen and Gayle Allan (Trinity College), for their hard work and dedication to the decision-making process.
6 pm Friday 6 December
ETU Ballroom, Trades Hall, Melbourne
Overland, the United Workers Union, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers and the Migrant Workers Centre are hosting a lively end-of-year debate on the contention: ‘The time to strike is now!’
6.30 pm Saturday 8 December
VU at MetroWest, 138 Nicholson Street, Footscray
Overland editorial intern Magan Magan is launching his first collection, published by Vulgar Press, in Footscray on 8 December.
6 pm Friday 7 December
The Toff in Town, 252 Swanston Street, Melbourne
Overland and the National Union of Workers are hosting a lively end-of-year debate on the topic of automation and what it will mean for workers and labour.
How to Build Bridges Symposium
10 am – 6 pm Friday 23 November
The Substation, 1 Market Street Newport
The Bridge (the play)
Wednesday 21–Saturday 24 November
The Substation, 1 Market Street Newport
Online, 7pm Thursday 1 November
Join Overland‘s resident tech-genius and poet Benjamin Laird, experimental storyteller Mez Breeze, and writer and VR enthusiast Mark Riboldi to boldly go where no writers have gone before: a panel examining the history and present of VR taking place in virtual space! This is a free event.
Check out the Overland events at the National Young Writers’ Festival! Taking place in Newcastle from 27-30 September, 2018.
Saturday 23 & Sunday 24 June, State Library Victoria, Conference Centre
Join Overland at the National Writers’ Conference weekend, as part of the 2018 Emerging Writers’ Festival. There’s a panel on mentoring, featuring Laniyuk Garcon and Ellen van Neerven, a couple of industry sessions, such as ‘What editors want’ and ‘Pitch it!’, and Overland will have a trade table all Saturday, where you can stop by and talk with mag eds, peruse issues and maybe even try on some Overland tees.
Friday 25–Sunday 27 May, Queen Victoria Women’s Centre
Three days of feminist politics, feminist perspectives and collective solutions. Catch the editor of Overland Jacinda Woodhead, with fiction editor Jennifer Mills and writer Natalie Kon-yu in conversation on mentorship in the arts – then stick around for special event presented by Overland on writing and activism with Santilla Chingaipe, Tarneen Onus-Williams and Asher Wolf.
Debate: ‘It’s time … for a universal basic income?’
6pm, Monday 11 December
Ballroom, Trades Hall
54 Victoria St, Carlton
Free food, free drinks, free event!
We’ll make you think, we’ll challenge you, we’ll move you – and in our pages you’ll read things you disagree with. As one subscriber wrote to us just yesterday, ‘Every now and then I want to throw Overland across the room – which I consider a brilliant thing.’
By taking out, renewing or giving an Overland subscription today, you could win:
– today’s ‘Parental leave’ prize
– any of the three Major Prizes
– and/or one of our Regional Prizes
– a good feeling about yourself – and the future of progressive literary culture
Okay, we decided to narrow it down from 1,917 reasons to simply the top 17!
In Overland you find ideas unpopular with the political classes, and stances not taken in other publications. Since 1954, we have been a place where the political and literary left meet because politics does not end where a book begins.
We’ve got prizes for oenophiles, emerging writers and artists, Canberrans, dog owners, coffee afficionados, gamers, New Zealanders, strapped poets and chocolate lovers. There are bikes, bee-keeping workshops, award-winning books, bundles of excellent magazines, music and a trip to Byron Bay!
Subscriberthon 2017 is here! So many marvellous prizes to be won – and a splendid magazine to support!
Anyone who subscribes, resubscribes or donates over the next week goes into the draw to win some spectacular prizes, including holidays, bikes, Nintendos, original artworks, locally roasted coffee, wine, workshops – and piles of books and subscriptions.
2.30pm Saturday 2 September
Beer DeLuxe, Fed Square, Melbourne
Join award-winning writer and Overland fiction reviewer Michalia Arathimos as she launches her debut novel, Aukati: Boundary Line.
2.30pm Friday 1 September
ACMI Cinema 1, Federation Square, Melbourne
Will democracy win? Join Overland’s editor Jacinda Woodhead in conversation with Tony Birch, Jeff Sparrow and Micah White at this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival.
From 6pm, Monday 24 July
Readings Hawthorn
A new anthology reflecting on violence against women. Editor Jane Caro will launch the book alongside readings from and discussions with contributors Rebecca Lim and Overland editor Jacinda Woodhead.
6.30pm, Thursday 17 August
The Wheeler Centre, Melbourne
Drawing on MIFF’s Sci-fi retrospective and looking at how cinema harnesses contemporary anxieties to show us where we might be headed, some of the best minds around dissect the darker corners of the future in this panel discussion about Dystopia on Film.
Screening of Dead-End Drive-In
From 9.30pm, Saturday 12 August at The Astor, Melbourne
In the spring issue of 1972, Overland published the short story ‘Crabs’ by then little-known writer from Bacchus Marsh, Peter Carey. In 1986, ‘Crabs’ was made into the film, Dead End Drive-In. To celebrate the forty-fifth anniversary of the story, Overland has teamed up with the Melbourne International Film Festival.
10.15am, Friday 2 June
University of Iceland, Reykjavik
For our friends in Iceland and those attending the 2017 NonfictionNOW Conference in ReykJavik, Overland’s editor Jacinda Woodhead will explore publishing with a purpose in a world of lightning-paced content, with guests Sam Cooney, Björn Larsson and Guðmundur Andri Thorsson.
6pm–7pm, Monday 19 June
The Wheeler Centre, Melbourne
Catch Overland’s Deputy Editor Sian Vate with fellow editors Jessica Wilkinson and James Read as they share the tips, skills and knowledge on being an editor, and finding new ways to grow in the industry.
7.30pm, Monday 19 June
1000 £ Bend, Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Free event
Overland’s Deputy Editor and poet Sian Vate will join fellow contemporary poets Saaro Umar and Elena Gomez for a night of readings hosted by Australian Poetry.
3pm–4pm, Tuesday 30 May
The Carrington Hotel, Katoomba NSW
Overland’s fiction editor Jennifer Mills in conversation with Evelyn Arraluen Corr and Amy McQuire, winners of the 2016 Nakata Brophy Prize for Young Indigenous Writers.
Poetry Night at Sappho: the Overland Judith Wright Prize Readings
7pm, Tuesday 11 April
Sappho Books Cafe & Wine Bar
51 Glebe Point Road, Glebe NSW
When: 5.30pm–9pm, 7 March
Where: VUSU Lounge, Footscray Park Campus, Victoria University
To mark this International Women’s Day, the Victoria University Women’s Collective is hosting a panel discussion to explore violence against women and its intersection with racial inequality.
Debate: ‘Does a “common future” mean overhauling our political system?’
6pm, Friday 9 December
The Toff in Town
252 Swanston St, Melbourne
It’s your last chance to win prizes by committing to a magazine that believes another world, a better world, is possible.
Anyone who takes out a joint subscription – or subscribes, resubscribes or donates – over the next week goes into the draw to win some spectacular prizes. This year’s prizes include a holiday to Ubud, original artworks, locally roasted coffee, wine, workshops – and piles of books and subscriptions.
It’s hard to be a writer, and even harder to be an emerging writer. It can be lonely, atomising and there’s not a great deal of support. One of the real difficulties new writers face is where they can publish their work.
But at Overland, we don’t just love you when you’re famous.
We received more than 500 entries in the third year of the Overland Story Wine Prize, the calibre of which greatly impressed our three judges – award-winning writer and screenwriter Michelle Law, novelist and winner of the 2015 Stella Prize Emily Bitto, and winner of the 2015 Overland Story Wine Prize, Melissa Manning.
Capitalism makes it seem like everything is in constant competition, but the more literary magazines we have, the more meaningful cultural conversations and literary experimentation occur, furthering and challenging our understanding of literature in the world today.
Since 1954, Overland has been a space for making progressive, political cases about moments big and small – Overland argued against the Vietnam War and military intervention in 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.
Start the weekend on a high note with this prize for music and poetry lovers. Remember, 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.
Overland’s annual Subscriberthon is taking off once more! 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.
Reimagining ‘My country’; class, race and urban decay in Detroit; how to get published and more. From Friday 27 August to Sunday 4 September.
Three days of feminist politics, feminist perspectives and collective solutions. Overland has a couple of panels taking place on the first day of the festival, Friday 26 August.
Vagabond Double Launch (Melbourne)
5pm, Saturday 18 June, The Alderman (Brunswick East)
Come celebrate the Melbourne Vagabond Double Launch of The Bloomin’ Notions of Other & Beau by Overland poetry editor Toby Fitch and O Sonata by Chris Edwards.
Overland events at the 2016 Emerging Writers’ Festival
Wednesday 15 June—Friday 24 June, Melbourne
Pushing the literary form, baring literary jealousy and pitching literary work. Featuring Overland editors Jacinda Woodhead, Stephanie Convery and Toby Fitch, and website producer Benjamin Laird.
Vagabond Double Launch (Sydney)
3.30pm, Saturday 30 April, Gleebooks
Come celebrate the Sydney Vagabond Double Launch of The Bloomin’ Notions of Other & Beau by Overland poetry editor Toby Fitch and O Sonata by Chris Edwards.
If you care about writing and ideas as much as we do, you know how important it is to maintain a healthy literary ecosystem. Literary journals are a fundamental part of writing and publishing in Australia. They encourage dialogue about literature and culture, provide a nurturing space for new and emerging writers, and providing crucial opportunities for experimentation in form and aesthetics.
At Overland, we believe in the democratisation of politics and culture. We believe that the loudest voices shouldn’t be those with the most money or the strongest corporate support. We believe that alternative media and voices are crucial to keeping art, culture, and politics accessible, innovative and accountable.
Part of that mandate is developing a strong culture of support for emerging writers.
Subscriberthon is Overland’s annual celebration of progressive writing, culture and all things literary. We’re inviting you to join us in declaring your love for local literary culture, and to support the magazine by taking out a subscription.
To sweeten the deal, we’ve put together an amazing range of prizes donated by our generous supporters and sponsors.
After reading the entries blind, the judges have selected a shortlist of eight outstanding stories. The winning story will receive a $4000 first prize and be published on the label of a bottle of Story Wine, as well as in Overland’s print magazine. Two runners-up will each receive $500 and be published at Overland online, and on the labels of different Story Wines vintages. Winners will be announced next week.
Overland is very pleased to be launching our upcoming issue at the 2015 Melbourne Writers Festival. We’re also very excited to host journalist, contributing editor of the New Statesman and editor-at-large of The New Inquiry Laurie Penny, who will join NUW’s Tim Kennedy and playwright and Guardian columnist Van Badham in conversation with Overland editor Jacinda Woodhead to imagine the possibilities for a changed society.
5:30pm Thursday 4 June
Vic Books (Kelburn Campus), Wellington
Come celebrate Overland‘s first-ever edition dedicated exclusively to the work of some of their closest writerly neighbours. Guest edited by Giovanni Tiso, Jolisa Gracewood and Robert Sullivan.
Following a stimulating day at a writers’ festival, what could be more appealing than an after-hours soiree at Metropolis Books, located in the Art Noveau-styled Curtin House (former home to the Communist Party of Australia)?
7pm, Friday 14 November
Russian House, Fitzroy
$15 entry. BYO picnic food with drinks available for purchase on the night.
Overland is celebrating its sixtieth anniversary at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival.