Struan 1962 - Adm.monash.edu.au

Wh at are the little magazines? Th ey have been described as "non­commercial magazines devoted to socio-cultural or liter ary issues." The editorof Prospect claims that his aim is " to treat whatever is vita l in Au str alianthou ght. "This is one of the main purposes of such publications, which ran ge fromthe strongly Left-wing Overland, edited by Stephen Murray-Smith, and Out­look, which describes its views as "a dem ocratic kind of communism," to theheavily government-financed Southerly, There has over the last ten year sbeen an enormous and ap parently un abatin g increase in the number of new"little magazines" publi shed . It seems that, whereas in Latin Am erica politicalor social discontent leads to a "litt le revolution ," in Au stralia it finds itsexpression through another "little magazine." Several editi ons have beenpublished specifically to fill gaps in Australi an cultural life, for example, theeditors of The Critic, a Western Au stralian magazine, intend " to fill in thegap between what we did with Arts at the Uni versity, and the general public."Oth ers present an expression of liberal Au stralian thought. Th ey are aneffective forum for nearl y all brands of thought, and as such the y are vitallyimp ort ant to any "democratic" country.Mo st of these publications ha ve financi al difficulty, thei r circul at ionusually being fai rly limit ed. There has been much cr iticism of the CommonwealthL iterary Fund, which subsidises some literary magazine s, because itsAdv isory Board is thought by some people to be influenced stro ngly by thepolitical party in power. An example of this has been seen over the last twoyears, when the Advi sor y Bo ard has recommended that the literary magazineOverland be granted a subsidy, only to .have its decision vetoed by the PrimeMinister, who apparently considers the magazine dangerously Left-wing,alth ough it is definitely ant i-Communist. Th e board agreed without a hint ofprotest, but the editors of other "little magazines" were almost un animousin their condemnation of the decision . It can be argued th at it is undesirablefor the little magazines to seek govern ment support and therefore possiblecontrol. Accepting it, are they not sacrificing their independence? Most ofthese magazines, however, are not purely political, but also literary publica­tions, which present some of the best current Au stralian prose, poetry andliterary criticism, as well as providing a valu able opportunity for new talentto be recognized. It is impossible to sepa rate social comment from literarywork.____...."";[ h go Wf,nmt}nt,,,of a co untry, although it may not recognize it, h a s,~ ..an obli gation to support and encourage cultural growth. Th e C.L.F. playsan important part by subsidizing such valuable Left-Liberal literary magazinesas Meanjin.- Margaret Reynolds.Pag~ Sixty.Six STRUAN, 1962