Griffith Review

Griffith Review is a quarterly publication featuring essays, reportage, memoir, fiction, poetry and artwork from established and emerging writers and artists.^[1] Each edition focuses on a contemporary theme, enabling pertinent issues to be aired and discussed in a public forum.

Founded in 2003,^[2] Griffith Review has earned a reputation as "the leading literary magazine in Australia, with an uncanny ability to anticipate emerging trends".^[3] It was conceived by Griffith University as a way of advancing public debate and providing a platform for long-form writing. It was initially published by ABC Books,^[4] with significant support from founding patron Margaret Mittelheuser.^[5] In 2009, Text Publishing became the Review's publishing partner and distributor.^[6]

Editorial policy

Founding editor Julianne Schultz aims for Griffith Review to be iconoclastic and non partisan, with a sceptical eye, a pragmatically reforming heart and a commitment to public discussion.^[7] With a policy of liberal openness to a wide range of perspectives, each edition provides the opportunity for broad interpretation of the theme by publishing across genres. It aims to illuminate important issues through analysis, reportage and writing that connects with the emotional impact of the subject, particularly through the inclusion of memoir. Griffith Review is at the forefront of the re-emergence of long-form journalism in Australia, and has actively encouraged academics to write for more general, informed audiences.^[8]

Each edition features a lead essay from a prominent Australian writer or cultural figure, and the topic is explored by about twenty-five other writers in a range of forms and from a wide array of perspectives. Lead essays have been written by Noel Pearson, Frank Moorhouse, Glyn Davis, David Burchell, and Murray Sayle, with other major contributors including Margaret Simons, Lloyd Jones, Ashley Hay, David Malouf, Marcia Langton, Robyn Archer, Marion Halligan, Tom Griffiths, Brendan Gleeson, Michael Wesley, Scott Rankin, Peter Beattie, Kim Scott, Melissa Lucashenko, John Kinsella and Cate Kennedy.

Griffith Review also focuses on supporting new and emerging writers, connecting them to a significant national audience and thus helping to enrich public life. A third of its 700-plus writers have had their first professional publication in Griffith Review, many of whom have consequently secured publishing contracts, scholarships and awards.^[9]

Cultural engagement

Editions of Griffith Review are frequently open to targeted submissions from the public, encouraging writers to engage with diverse and stimulating content. In 2012, the Review published its first edition dedicated to the revival and promotion of the novella, Griffith Review 38: The Novella Project. The edition was open for submissions across Australia and New Zealand, and allowed writers to gain a foothold in the international revival of the novella while offering substantial prize money for successful manuscripts.^[10] The second novella edition, Griffith Review 46: Forgotten Stories, was published in 2014 with support from the Copyright Agency Ltd. The third novella edition will be published in 2015.^[11]

In 2013, to celebrate its tenth anniversary, the Review held its inaugural Annual Lecture in Brisbane, delivered by journalist and social commentator George Megalogenis.^[12] The lecture aims to further stimulate ongoing discussion around a topic of social and cultural importance. In 2014, it was delivered by leading Indigenous educationalist Dr Chris Sarra.^[13]

In 2013, Griffith Review published an edition on Tasmania - Griffith Review 39: Tasmania - The Tipping Point? - in conjunction with the University of Tasmania, which was co-edited by Natasha Cica. The edition has sold 30,000 copies, and shaped public discussion and understanding of the state. In 2014, an edition jointly edited by award-winning novelist Lloyd Jones featured 40 New Zealand writers, and headlined events in New Zealand and at the Australia and New Zealand Literary Festival in London in May 2014. In February 2015, an edition focusing on Western Australia that was produced in conjunction with Curtin University and co-edited by Professor Anna Haebich will be launched by the Governor of Western Australia, Kerry Sanderson.

In August 2015, Griffith Review published Griffith Review 49: New Asia Now. The edition recognises the importance of creating a platform for young writers from the Asian region, whose voices will shape the way we understand the complexities of culture, politics and modernisation in the Asian Century. Contributors included prominent writers and social critics such as Miguel Syjuco and Murong Xuecun, who were joined by Sheng Keyi, Annie Zaidi, Maggie Tiojakin and Joshua Ip on an Australian tour, to explore 'the tectonic mind shifts that are bringing the continents of Australia and Asia closer'.^[14]

Griffith Review is also a constant presence at public events and writers festivals throughout Australia. Its essay are regularly syndicated by leading newspapers, and it has published numerous essays in conjunction with academic journalism website The Conversation.^[15]

Recognition

Griffith Review has won national awards for essays advancing public debate, is regularly syndicated in major newspapers and forms the basis of ABC Radio and Television broadcasts. Essays and stories from the Review have been included in the Best Australian Essays and Best Australian Stories collections. An anthology of memoirs published in the Review was subsequently published as A Revealed Life: Australian Writers and their Journeys in Memoir by ABC Books in 2007.^[16]

Praise for the Review has come from major news publications and cultural figures around Australia, including: The Courier Mail, who called it "Australia's most important literary essay magazine";^[17] and social commentator and journalist for The Australian Phillip Adams, who said, "Griffith Review is a wonderful journal. It’s pretty much setting the agenda in Australia and fighting way above its weight… You’re mad if you don’t subscribe."^[18]

Awards

• 2007 Victorian Premier's Literary Award - Alfred Deakin Prize for an Essay Advancing Public Debate was awarded to Frank Moorhouse^[19] for "The Writer in a time of terror", published in Griffith Review 14: The Trouble With Paradise
• 2007 Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism
  • Finalist for the Magazine Feature Writing category - Margaret Simons for her essay "Buried in the labyrinth", published in Griffith Review 16: Unintended Consequences
  • Winner for the Social Equity Journalism category - Frank Moorhouse for "The writer in a time of terror"
• 2013 Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism
  • Winner for the Coverage of Indigenous Affairs category^[20] - Kathy Marks for her reportage piece "Channelling Mannalargenna", published in Griffith Review 39: Tasmania – The Tipping Point?
  • Winner for the Long Feature Writing category^[21] - Melissa Lucashenko for her reportage piece "Sinking below sight", published in Griffith Review 41: Now We Are Ten
• 2014 Human Rights Awards - journalist and editor Peter Mares was shortlisted for the Print and Online Award^[22] for his piece "Refuge without work", published in Griffith Review 45: The Way We Work.

See also

• List of literary magazines

References

External links

• Griffith Review website