Scripsi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scripsi was an Australian literary periodical published from 1981 to 1994 in Melbourne, first at the English Department and subsequently Ormond College of the University of Melbourne.

It was founded by Michael Heyward and Peter Craven who met while studying at the University of Melbourne and who edited the journal until 1989 (Heyward) and 1993 (Craven). For many years, the poetry editor was John Forbes and the graphics editor was Bill Henson. Associate Editors included Penny Hueston, Philippa Hawker, Owen Richardson and Andrew Rutherford. The latter two were briefly co-editors, in 1993–4. Editorial assistants included Rosemary Hunter and Rosemary Sorensen.

In 1989 a single number was published by Penguin Books Australia Ltd. From 1991 to 1994 the magazine was published by Oxford University Press. Otherwise later numbers were described as published 'at' Ormond College.

‘Scripsi of the Air’ was a weekly radio show Heyward and Craven and others presented on Melbourne Radio Station 3RRR for several years in the 1980s.

The magazine was widely regarded at the time as one of the world's s finest literary magazines ^[1] . It published a wide variety of Australian writers - fiction, poetry and non-fiction - and also attracted contributions from world-famous literary figures such as Susan Sontag, Salman Rushdie, Georges Perec, John Ashbery, August Kleinzahler and others. Ostensibly a quarterly, Scripsi's gradually slowing publishing rate - it rarely managed more than three issues a year - led the Australia Council to withdraw funding in 1994, and thereby to the death of the magazine.

[edit] Selected issue numbers, with issue titles (where applicable) and dates of publication

• Vol. 9 No. 2, 'The Deficit Was in His Heart', June 1994
• Vol. 9 No. 1, 'Filthy with Emotion', Sept 1993
• Vol. 8 No. 3, 'What Do They Know?', April 1993
• Vol. 8 No. 2, 'Temporary Like Achilles', December 1992
• Vol. 8 No. 1, 'Death & Co.', August 1992
• Vol. 7 No. 3, 'Nothing Inhuman', March 1992
• Vol. 7 No. 2, 'Between the Lines', October 1991
• Vol. 7 No. 1, May 1991
• Vol. 6 No. 3, November 1990
• Vol. 6 No. 1, February 1990
• Vol. 5, No. 4, 'Penguin Special Issue', August 1989 (published by Penguin Books Australia Ltd)
• Vol. 5 No. 3, April 1989
• Vol. 5 No. 2, April 1989
• Vol. 5 No. 1, June 1988
• Vol. 4 No. 4, September 1987
• Vol. 4 No. 3, April 1987
• Vol. 3 Nos. 2 & 3, Double Issue, August 1985
• Vol. 3 No. 1, April 1985
• Vol. 2, No.4 June 1984
• ...
• Vol. 2 No. 1 James Joyce Special Issue, November 1982
• ...
• Vol.1 No. 1, July 1981

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ David Lehman, Newsweek, Manning Clark, John Ashberry, all quoted in the Special Penguin Issue