''Meanjin'' (), formerly ''Meanjin Papers'' and ''Meanjin Quarterly'', is an Australian

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and lett ...

. The name is derived from the

Turrbal The Turrbal are an Aboriginal Australian people from the region of present-day Brisbane, Queensland. The name primarily referred to the dialect they spoke, the tribe itself being alternatively called ''Mianjin/Meanjin''. Mianjin was the Turrba ...

word for the spike of land where the city of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

is located. It was founded in 1940 in Brisbane, by

Clem Christesen Clement Byrne Christesen (28 October 1911 – 28 June 2003) was the founder of the Australian literary magazine '' Meanjin''. He served as the magazine's editor from 1940 until 1974. Biography Early years Clement Byrne Christesen was born and s ...

. It moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

in 1945 and is as of 2008 an imprint of Melbourne University Publishing.

History

''Meanjin'' was founded in December 1940 in Brisbane, by

. The name is derived from the

word for land on which the city of Brisbane is located. It moved to

in 1945 at the invitation of the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb ...

. Artist and patron

Lina Bryans Lina Bryans (26 September 1909 – 30 September 2000), was an Australian modernist painter. Life Lina Bryans was born in Hamburg, Germany, on 26 August 1909, second daughter of wealthy prosperous Michaelis-Hallenstein family of industri ...

opened the doors of her Darebin Bridge House to the ''Meanjin'' group: then Vance and Nettie Palmer, Rosa and Dolia Ribush, Jean Campbell,

Laurie Thomas Laurie may refer to: Places * Laurie, Cantal, France, a commune * Laurie, Missouri, United States, a village * Laurie Island, Antarctica Music * Laurie Records, a record label * ''Laurie'' (EP), a 1992 album by Daniel Johnston * "Laurie (Str ...

and Alan McCulloch. There they joined the moderates in the

Contemporary Art Society The Contemporary Art Society (CAS) is an independent charity that champions the collecting of outstanding contemporary art and craft for UK museum collections. Since its founding in 1910 the organisation has donated over 10,000 works to museums ...

(

Norman Macgeorge Norman Macgeorge (8 July 1872 – 2 September 1952) was an artist and art critic in the colony and State of Victoria. History Norman Macgeorge, artist and collector, was a son of Rachel Elizabeth Macgeorge, née Luxmoore and Alexander Macgeorge, ...

, Clive Stephen, Isobel Tweddle and

Rupert Bunny Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny (29 September 186425 May 1947) was an Australian painter. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, he achieved success and critical acclaim as an expatriate in '' fin-de-siècle'' Paris. He gained an honourable mentio ...

, Sybil Craig, Guelda Pyke, Elma Roach,

Ola Cohn Ola Cohn (born Carola Cohn; 25 April 1892 – 23 December 1964) was an Australian artist, author and philanthropist best known for her work in sculpture in a modernist style and famous for her ''Fairies Tree'' in the Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne. ...

and Madge Freeman and George Bell). Bryans created a free circle, and was able to give the liberal, conservative modernist position in Melbourne a more vital character and a freer base than it would otherwise have had. ''Meanjin Papers'' was published under that name until 1947, and became ''Meanjin'' from 1947 to 1960, ''Meanjin Quarterly'' from 1961 to 1976, and became ''Meanjin'' again in 1976.''Australian Poets and Their Works'', by William Wilde. Oxford University Press, 1996 It includes poetry, fiction,

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

s and other forms of writing, and also produces

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

s. Since 2008 ''Meanjin'' is published as an imprint of

Melbourne University Publishing Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) is the book publishing arm of the University of Melbourne. History MUP was founded in 1922 as Melbourne University Press to sell text books and stationery to students, and soon began publishing books itself ...

(MUP).

Notable contributors

Past contributors to ''Meanjin'' include Australian writers

Judith Wright Judith Arundell Wright (31 May 191525 June 2000) was an Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights. She was a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award. Biography Judith Wright was born in Armidale, New So ...

Kylie Tennant Kathleen Kylie Tennant AO (; 12 March 1912 – 28 February 1988) was an Australian novelist, playwright, short-story writer, critic, biographer, and historian. Early life and career Tennant was born in Manly, New South Wales; she was educate ...

Manning Clark Charles Manning Hope Clark, (3 March 1915 – 23 May 1991) was an Australian historian and the author of the best-known general history of Australia, his six-volume ''A History of Australia'', published between 1962 and 1987. He has been descr ...

, Vance & Nettie Palmer, Dymphna Cusack,

Martin Boyd Martin à Beckett Boyd (10 June 1893 – 3 June 1972) was an Australian writer born into the à Beckett– Boyd family, a family synonymous with the establishment, the judiciary, publishing and literature, and the visual arts since the early 19t ...

, Alan Marshall,

Dorothy Hewett Dorothy Coade Hewett (21 May 1923 – 25 August 2002) was an Australian playwright, poet and author, and a romantic feminist icon. In writing and in her life, Hewett was an experimenter. As her circumstances and beliefs changed, she progressed ...

, Peter Carey, Alice Pung, Michelle de Kretser, Randa Abdel-Fattah and

Dorothy Porter Dorothy Featherstone Porter (26 March 1954 – 10 December 2008) was an Australian poet. She was a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award for lifetime achievement in poetry. Early life Porter was born in Sydney. Her father was barrister ...

. International authors published include Carmen Callil, J. M. Coetzee,

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and lite ...

, and

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

Editors

* 1940 to 1974:

* 1974 to 1982: Jim Davidson * 1982 to 1987: Judith Brett * 1987 to 1994: Jenny Lee * 1994 to 1998:

Christina Thompson Christina Thompson is best known for her book ''Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia'', which won the 2020 Australian Prime Minister's Literary Award for Nonfiction. Career Christina Thompson was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, and grew up outs ...

* 1998 to 2002: Stephanie Holt * 2002 to 2008 Ian Britain * 2008 to 2011 Sophie Cunningham * 2011 to 2012 Sally Heath * 2013 to 2015 Zora Sanders * 2015 to 2022 Jonathan Green * 2022 to present Esther Anatolitis

Poetry editors

*Dates not known: Coral Hull * mid-to-late 1970s: Kris Hemensley *1979 to 1982: Judith Rodriguez *1987 to 1994: Philip Mead *1994 to 1997: Laurie Duggan * 1998 to 2000: Coral Hull *1998: Brian Henry *2000 to 2005: Peter Minter *2005 to 2015: Judith Beveridge *2015 to present:

Bronwyn Lea Bronwyn Lea is a contemporary Australian poet, academic and editor. Biography Born in Tasmania, Lea grew up in Queensland and Papua New Guinea, moving to San Diego to study at California State University. She completed a PhD titled "The way ...

References

External links