"If you are NOT allowed to raise your VOICE above the PAGE then you can’t be properly heard in the STRAITJACKET of language that they insist you WRITE in." Our first print issue unlock for OVERLAND #159 is by πO, on why people hate poetry. overland.org.au/previous-iss...

Why people hate poetry - Overland literary journal

But then, not all “sonnets” are great either! Lots of people still laugh at Cubism for example, and there is a lot of “bad” examples of it, but “habituation” and “training” changes all that, and admit...

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“Recognising harm is one thing. Changing the conditions that allow it to continue is another.” Shamikh Badra on the government response to the report on Islamophobia by Aftab Malik

Australia has recognised Islamophobia. But will it provide equal protection? - Overland literary journal

When the racist motive of a crime is not named, part of the experience disappears from the official story. The attack left me anxious. I now think before wearing a keffiyeh in public, not only because...

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For our latest #fridaypoem, editor Elena Gomez has selected an entry by Chinese poet Shen Haobo, translated into English by Liang Yujing.

他不吃螃蟹 / He doesn’t eat crabs - Overland literary journal

A poem by Shen Haobo, translated from the Chinese by Liang Yujing

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“This is a book about that generation’s resistance to a capitalist war bequeathed to today’s anti-war generation. Tom Orsag reviews Rowan Cahill’s COLD WAR KID

Cold War rebel: how the government created its anti-war activists - Overland literary journal

“The only lottery I’ve ever won” quips Rowan Cahill about turning twenty — the date of his birthday being his number in the “lottery of death” or “blood lottery” run by the Australian government for c...

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Effective July 1st, we are pleased to announce an increase in contributor rates across all categories, reflecting our ongoing commitment to paying writers and artists fairly for their work.

“The figure of the ‘ISIS bride’ therefore reveals more than bad media representation. It exposes the limits of care and recognition under Islamophobia.” Houda Ali on the persistence and effects of a racialised label.

After the “ISIS bride”: Islamophobia and the limits of care - Overland literary journal

The violence of Islamophobia diminishes the ability of Muslims, as Muslims, to narrate themselves and project themselves into a future. But to insist on complexity is not to evade responsibility. It i...

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“Customers, shareholders and experts agree that Time Buddy™ increases productivity.” From our latest Friday fiction, a brand new story by Matthew Dalla Rosa.

Time BuddyTM - Overland literary journal

Customers, shareholders and experts agree that Time BuddyTM increases productivity. The Employee feels tremendous pressure to log their time. This pressure builds to the point The Employee stares at t...

overland.org.au

“Part of a healthy civic society is having the ability to choose where we direct our attention. Local news may be where that choice becomes visible again.” Genevieve Siggins on the case for local news in an age of news avoidance.

The case for local news in an age of news avoidance - Overland literary journal

Revitalising local news could create space for journalists who are genuinely invested in the communities they report on, giving them the time to develop and preserve the Australian voices that might o...

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“History shows that when housing is at risk, communities respond”. Activist and oral historian Hannah Garvan on the past and present of occupations as a tactic in the struggle for housing.

We met them at the door: occupations in the fight for housing justice - Overland literary journal

History shows that when housing is at risk, communities respond. Whether it is an economic depression, overdevelopment or a housing crisis, moments such as these demonstrate people’s ability to meet h...

overland.org.au

"Who are you anyway but a figure in life who loves literature in all its phases; but not necessarily life in all of hers." Today we remember Barry Dickins by re-publishing WRITING FOR A DYING, a meditation on his career first published in our online magazine in 2015 overland.org.au/2015/11/writ...

Writing for a dying - Overland literary journal

I have written for my bread and butter (usually margarine!) ever since I failed high school in 1965. I have made both a fortune from it as well as nothing. I have had popular daily or weekly newspaper...

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LAST CHANCE! The 2026 Nakata Brophy Prize for Young Indigenous Writers CLOSES TONIGHT 11:59PM! Make sure to get your poetic entries in while you can! Link to submit → overland.submittable.com/submit/24622...

“PRAISEWORTHY is maybe the first novel to attempt to think about a planet in polycrisis” Giacomo Bianchino on the first global anti-epic. Generously supported by the @copyright.com.au Cultural Fund.

The toast at the end of time: Alexis Wright’s Praiseworthy as anti-epic - Overland literary journal

Praiseworthy is maybe the first novel in the world which takes all of these pressures completely seriously. It is an attempt to think a planet in “polycrisis”: beset on all sides by exploitation, geno...

overland.org.au

“The state’s media should not turn its back on the people in Kalgoorlie dying waiting for houses that are empty.” Chelsea Daniel on the challenges of reporting on, and by, Western Australia.

Can WA report on WA? - Overland literary journal

Independent media outlets holding institutions to account have been gaining prominence over the past year, with organisations like Deepcut, Ette Media and Lamestream speaking to a frustrated media aud...

overland.org.au

The 2026 Nakata Brophy Prize for Young Indigenous Writers is CLOSING THIS FRIDAY 11:59PM! Make sure to get your poetic entries in, and spread the word! Link to submit → overland.submittable.com/submit/24622...

“It’s theft, and more than that. Class warfare of a particular character.” Joshua Mostafa on the first strike in the Australian software industry and the struggle against the privatisation of the general intellect.

The general intellect on the picket line: after the first strike in the Australian software industry - Overland literary journal

It would suit the interests of our would-be techno-fedual overlords for each of us to simply fret, individually and impotently, about the situation, while the economic foundations of our lives are hol...

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Here at Overland we are staunch fans of Elese Dowden's work. Here's her new poem, BIG DADDY

big daddy - Overland literary journal

it is no longer enough / to hold love in the body without moving it outwards / towards the world or the big daddy man the ‘climate’ / who does not fit on a screen or in the palm of a hand: / refuses t...

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“This is what happens when environmentalism is done to Indigenous peoples rather than with them.” Sara Relli on the long tail of the campaigns, by Brigitte Bardot and others, to end sealing in the Arctic.

“We are the guardians of where we live”: the other face of the campaign to end sealing - Overland literary journal

The knowledge is indeed in the landscape — and Inuit communities continue to defend it, despite decades of erasure, exclusion, and demonisation. Recognising this knowledge is the first step in reimagi...

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“For a first-time offender, that is a life-altering penalty”. Sam Elkin on the case of Lauren Ashley Mastrosa and the books we don’t want to defend.

The books we don’t want to defend: literary fiction, censorship and the case of Daddy’s Little Toy - Overland literary journal

The freedom to write is not tested by those books abounding with literary merit. It is tested by the books that embarrass us, repel us and make silence feel safer than speaking up against dangerous pr...

overland.org.au

We're absolutely delighted to share that our EOFY appeal has raised $18,787 in donations, an extraordinary result that far exceeded our initial target of $12,000. Thank you for reading, sharing, donating—and for being part of the Overland community. We are all deeply grateful.

In an incredible turn of events, we have exceeded our initial goal. Thank you once again for your incredible support, especially in these tough times. With just nine hours remaining before EOFY, we're hoping to reach $20,000—and we need your help to get there. overland.org.au/donate

Donate to Overland - Overland literary journal

Keep Overland Independent Every year, Overland runs an end-of-financial-year drive to raise funds for the magazine and honour the many contributors whose work makes Overland what it is. Over the […]

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Here's Sophie McNeill handing Peter Garrett a copy of Gwenaël Velge's eye-opening piece on AUKUS in Overland, 'Sacrificed for the Pentagon: on Australia’s “security” crisis' Read here: overland.org.au/2026/05/sacr... Support Overland at the link below!👇

Overland Journal@overlandjournal.bsky.social · last mo.

We have until Tuesday to raise the rest of our goal. All donations over $2 are tax deductible and every dollar goes directly towards sustaining our future. Please share the word! overland.org.au/donate

As our EOFY campaign draws to a close, our wonderful online editor @gtiso.bsky.social has selected a few recent pieces to give you a taste of what we cook up on a daily basis. First, Jeff Sparrow dissects Professor Greg Craven's "audit":

Our latest Friday Fiction is none other than the runner up in this year's Peter Carey Short Story Award: FAMOUS FRIEND by Oscar Revelins.

Famous friend - Overland literary journal

Famous Friend, in all of his glory, rust-coloured hair swept casually to one side as if he ran a hand through it and trusted gravity to do the rest, a pair of nondescript Prada sunglasses over his eye...

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We have until Tuesday to raise the rest of our goal. All donations over $2 are tax deductible and every dollar goes directly towards sustaining our future. Please share the word! overland.org.au/donate

Seriously excellent article on inequality and heat death from Noa Wynn in @overlandjournal.bsky.social — and a reminder that Overland need your help to keep going — donate!

The unequal summer: why Australia’s poorest communities are paying the highest price - Overland literary journal

Heat kills more Australians than floods, bushfires, and cyclones combined, yet it remains one of the least discussed public health problems in the country. The death toll alone should have been enough...

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We are almost halfway to our goal! With only five days remaining, can you help us get there? overland.org.au/donate

“Masculinity, these men tell us, is the ability to get what you want.” Clem McNabb on Louis Theroux’s INSIDE THE MANOSPHERE and the construction of gender.

Looksmaxxing the transsexual - Overland literary journal

Transsexuals have an intimate understanding of building an idea of masculinity. In the most literal sense, this is a life project — a physical, mental, spiritual one, augmented by surgeries and hormon...

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We are just over a third of the way there! Six days remain for us to reach our goal. Thank you so, so much to everyone who has chipped in so far - the support has been phenomenal. overland.org.au/donate

Overland Journal@overlandjournal.bsky.social · last mo.

Can you help us reach $12,000 by July 1st? All donations are tax-deductible and go directly towards sustaining Overland's future. overland.org.au/donate/

Reminder that @overlandjournal.bsky.social is the best, and it needs your help to survive. Chuck them some cash!

Overland Journal@overlandjournal.bsky.social · last mo.

Can you help us reach $12,000 by July 1st? All donations are tax-deductible and go directly towards sustaining Overland's future. overland.org.au/donate/

Hey mates! The literary landscape has been drying tf up but Overland continues to support staunch voices traditionally excluded from mainstream media. If you have the means, please throw some support behind Overland 🙏

Overland Journal@overlandjournal.bsky.social · last mo.

Can you help us reach $12,000 by July 1st? All donations are tax-deductible and go directly towards sustaining Overland's future. overland.org.au/donate/