Island magazine

Island Magazine is a quarterly literary publication produced in Hobart, Tasmania.^[1] Started in 1979^[2] it provides a forum for Tasmanian writers and writers from around Australia to publish new work.

The magazine's first issue in June 1979 was published as the Tasmanian Review. In March 1981, the magazine was renamed Island Magazine, indicating a shift in editorial policy to produce a more national magazine. Thereafter Island Magazine published poems, short stories, articles, interviews, photographs and graphics. During the 1980s, the magazine exhibited a strong concern for ecological issues, supporting protests against the Tasmanian government's proposed damming of the Franklin River. In the 2010s the magazine publishes "Ideas, Writing, Culture".

Island is a not-for-profit incorporated body run by a board of management.

Content

Island publishes poetry, fiction, graphic novels, essays, memoirs, commentary, review essays, interviews and visual art.

Editors

Editors for the magazine have been:

• 1979 to 1989 Andrew Sant and Michael Denholm
• 1989 to 1994 Cassandra Pybus
• 1994 to ???? Rodney Croome
• [unknown] Russell Kelly
• [unknown] David Owen
• [unknown to 2010 Gina Mercer
• 2011 Sarah Kanowski
• 2012 Dale Campisi
• 2013 to present Matthew Lamb.

History

Michael Denholm, Andrew Sant and Tim Thorne founded the Tasmanian Review, publishing the first issue in June 1979. In March 1981, the magazine was renamed Island Magazine, indicating a shift in editorial policy to produce a more national magazine.

Island Magazine published poems, short stories, articles, interviews, photographs and graphics. During the 1980s, the magazine exhibited a strong concern for ecological issues, supporting protests against the Tasmanian government's proposed damming of the Franklin River. But, reflecting the national character of the magazine, contributors during this period included Les Murray, Christopher Koch, Dorothy Green, Humphrey McQueen, Donald Horne, Frank Moorhouse, Gwen Harwood, Bernard Smith, Hugh Stretton, Tim Winton, Olga Masters, Marion Halligan, John Forbes, Judith Beveridge, Geoff Page and Peter Porter.

In 1989 Denholm and Sant edited First Rights: A Decade of Island Magazine, bringing their term as editors of Island Magazine to a close. Cassandra Pybus was appointed editor and the magazine soon displayed the shortened title Island. During Pybus's term, circulation increased substantially and the reputation of the magazine grew to rival many of the older mainland literary quarterlies. But Pybus's editorial practices, which included employing non-Tasmanian guest editors, caused a conflict with members of the magazine's board who wanted to maintain a Tasmanian focus. In 1994 the board requested her resignation, ending Pybus's term in controversial circumstances, and prompting heated debates in mainland magazines.

Rodney Croome, a prominent Tasmanian gay rights activist, was appointed editor of Island after a short interim period. This coincided with mainland criticism that Island was fast becoming a parochial publication and did not deserve funding from the federal government. With the magazine in financial difficulty, the editorial board challenged this assertion, but, regardless, Croome followed an editorial policy that he later called 'Voicing the South'. In 1999, continuing financial difficulty influenced a 'strategic planning process' with the support of Arts Tasmania, resulting in a change of editorial policy to that originally voiced by Denholm and Sant: 'The two criteria which determine the selection of material for the journal are excellence and variety'. This policy has since been implemented by David Owen, who was appointed editor in late 1999.

See also

• List of literary magazines

External links

• Island Magazine website

References