The recent, sudden closure of Meanjin has brought renewed attention to Australian journals: those hardy perennials that support Australian literature year in and year out. While the sector has been suffering for some time, new entrants in Adelaide’s Splinter and First Nations journal Sovereign Texts – and a resurrected Southerly – reflect a surge of growth.
When Melbourne University Publishing issued a statement that Meanjin was being closed for “purely financial reasons”, the sector collectively baulked. A literary journal is not a profit-generating enterprise.
