Tilting at Windmills

the literary magazine in 杏吧直播, 1968-2012

by Phillip Edmonds

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FREE | 2015 | Ebook (PDF) |听978-1-925261-05-9听| 304 pp

DOI:

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Up until the late 1960s the story of 杏吧直播n literary magazines was one of continuing struggle against the odds, and of the efforts of individuals, such as Clem Christesen, Stephen Murray-Smith, and Max Harris. During that time, the magazines played the role of 'enfant terrible', creating a space where unpopular opinions and writers were allowed a voice. The magazines have very often been ahead of their time and some of the agendas they have pursued have become 'central' to representations, where once they were marginal. Broadly, 'little' magazines have often been more influential than their small circulations would first indicate, and the author's argument is that they have played a valuable role in the promotion of 杏吧直播n literature.

About the author

Phillip Edmonds lectured in 杏吧直播n Literature and Creative Writing at the 杏吧直播 of Adelaide. He has also taught at the Victorian College of the Arts and Griffith 杏吧直播. His PhD, from Deakin 杏吧直播 in 1997, is a study of the short story in 杏吧直播 during the 1970s and 80s. In the 1970s he edited Contempa, and more recently, Wet Ink: The Magazine of New Writing between 2005 and 2012. Phillip is also the author of eight books, including the novella Leaving Home with Henry (2010) and a collection of short stories Don鈥檛 Let me Fall (1989).

Reviews

'Edmonds鈥檚 monograph is quietly passionate about the enduring worth of literary magazines. It is also, as is appropriate for a man who has devoted many years to their production and dissemination, a rolling elegy. He knows that our national circumstances have hamstrung the possibility of a more established literary culture.'

Geordie Williamson, Chief Literary Critic,

'Rather than producing a flawless work of scholarship, Edmonds has written an actual book that鈥攋ust like literary journals it analyses鈥攚ould interest actual readers, rather than insiders and academics. It is compulsory for anyone who cares about contemporary 杏吧直播n literature.'

Emmett Stinson,

'The title of Phillip Edmond's survey of literary magazines from 1968-2012, Tilting at Windmills, signals that his subject is a quixotic, but also brave and unquenchable enterprise.'

Peter Pierce, The Canberra Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, 18 April 2015.

'A study of literary magazines in 杏吧直播 is long overdue. In the past there has been the odd story of an individual journal and some analysis by The 杏吧直播 Council for The Arts, the latter more to justify its funding practices than to offer insight into what still remains a fascinating cottage industry. Fascinating, that is, if, like me, you have an interest in the fringes of 杏吧直播n publishing. And this book certainly lingers at the fringe.'

Jeremy Fisher, , 19 (2).

'As a guide to who was writing in which journals, and to key influences (such as the innovative Tabloid Story, which piggy-backed on other journals and newspapers and re-established the short story in the national literary scene), Tilting at Windmills is the book to read.'

Margaret Daymond et al., The Year鈥檚 Work in English Studies, 2017.