Otis Rush #11

Little Esther Books and SA Pub. Ventures & Futures. PO 2l, North Adelaide 5006, $40 for four Issues, ISSN: 0819 7288

One reward for editing, publishing and keeping afloat a small magazine must be that you can pay homage to your heroes and can even claim a good chunk of magazine for yourself. Editor/publisher Ken Bolton and poet John Jenkins are obviously having fun with ‘Gwendolyn Windswept’, their ongoing verse novella, of which thirty pages appear in issue 11. Bolton follows this with forty pages of his art commentary, covering a year’s viewing of exhibitions in Adelaide.

Otis Rush cultivates an image of being for ‘the independent, the hip, the wigged-out & true’. It has been going since 1987 and has a loyal following. Apart from the presence of Bolton, the new writing in this magazine, mainly poetry, is experimental in form. Contributions from far afield include the writing of Dada-inspired Nakahara Chuya, who died in 1937, and an extract from Soh Sakon’ s ‘Mother Burning’ published in 1967 (both translated from Japanese by Leith Morton).

Despite the pale print, issue 11 looks terrific. Drawings by Micky Allan are featured, and the poetry throughout is given plenty of room to breathe.

The UTS Review: Cultural Studies and New Writing

Volume 1. No. 2, Nov. 1995, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, UTS, PO 123 Broadway, NSW 2007, Biannual, $15 per issue ISSN: 1323 1677

According to the editors, much cultural studies writing published today is written for an international (British and American) readership. The UTS Review came into being partly to help offset this and to provide a space for writing on culture that will attract critical discussion in Australia. This journal is regional, with an emphasis on communities within Australia and around the Pacific and Indian oceans.

The opening article by Denis Byrne is seductive. The famous Return of MacArthur is interwoven with the history of Intramuros, a 16th century Spanish colonial enclave in Manilla. There are resonances between Byrne’s piece and the next, by Brian Massumi, who also examines media representation of war.

Writing styles range from lyrical to academic, and topics such as globalization, multiculturalism and postcolonialism weigh in equally with writing on aspects of popular culture, as in Jean Duruz’s analysis of fashion scenarios told to her by women.

The book reviews section covers relevant new titles and broadens to include The First Stone. One notable aspect of this new journal is the linking of literary and theoretical genres by the inclusion of a piece of creative writing. Another is that dialogue is encouraged through a Responses section, where enough space is given for ideas and arguments to be developed.

Viewpoint: On Books for Young Adults

Vol 3, No. 4, Summer 1995, Faculty of Education, Uni. of Melbourne, Parkville 3052, $36 for four issues, ISSN: l039 2858

Two recurring questions in Viewpoint are what constitutes Young Adult Literature and how old are the readers of these books. In the current issue the age range is stretched, at one end by a picture book, The Story of Rosy Dock, and at the other by Darren Williams’ 1994 Vogel winner Swimming in Silk.

Viewpoint is a well-organized magazine for teachers of literature in secondary schools, and for librarians. It is serious-looking and substantial compared to the more commercial Magpies, which probably hooks in a few parents and even the occasional young adult as well.

In place of the usual forum, the summer issue runs three consecutive interviews with YA authors. A series of book reviews follow, with two perspectives offered on The Third Day. The Frost by John Marsden and on Sleeping Dogs by Sonia Hartnett. A comprehensive section of shorter reviews appears towards the back. Regular features include a reconsideration of a book published in previous years, and examine the reading habits of young people.

Contributors are mostly teachers or authors but one insightful article on crime fiction for younger readers is by Olivia Craze, a Year 12 student.

Aurealis: Australian Fantasy & Science Fiction: #15

Chimaera Publications, PO 2164, Mt Waverley 3149, $24.00 for four issues, ISSN: l035 1205

Aurealis is geared to mass-market sales (it has US and UK distributors) and has a preoccupation with finding the right mix – content mix, that is. This issue dispenses with the long article, increases the reviews section and adds the Australian SF Writers’ News. An Input questionnaire on the back page ensures that the mix will be fiddled with for some time yet.

This slim magazine is now perfect – bound and ready for bookshop shelves. The cover illustration is effective; it shows a spaceman riding a large flightless bird through the jungle. Inside the magazine are five conventional science fiction and fantasy short stories.

The news section is of more interest. It lists local and overseas markets for SF and fantasy and gives a step-by-step account of submitting a manuscript on the Net. Before you reach the Input page, a taste for sifting through statistical information is revealed in Market Response Times, a table showing how many weeks various publications take to respond to submissions from authors.