Joint Statement on the Closure of Meanjin
Voiceworks has signed on to a joint statement from literary journal editors and publishers on the closure of Meanjin. You can read the text of the statement below:
We, the undersigned—editors and publishers of literary magazines across Australia—stand in solidarity with Meanjin and its team. This includes the ‘two part-time staff of Meanjin’ whom MUP has made abruptly redundant without going so far as to thank, or even name—Esther Anatolitis and Eli McLean—along with:
Claire Cao, Fiction Editor; Bronwyn Lea, former Poetry Editor; Aunty Jeanine Leane, Poetry Editor; Tess Smurthwaite, former Deputy Editor and Fiction Editor; Emma Sutherland, Archives Editor; Cher Tan, Reviews Editor—all contracted a few hours a quarter;
Production team: Stephen Banham, designer; Jack Callil, copyeditor; Pat Cannon, typesetter; Lee Lai, illustrator; Nikki Lusk, proofreader; Richard McGregor, former copyeditor; Zoe Padgham, proofreader; Stilgherrian, IT consultant—also contracted for a few hours a quarter;
And the inaugural and current Meanjin Cultural & Literary Advisory, all volunteer committee members: Dan Bourchier, Sophie Cunningham AM, Winnie Dunn, Samantha Faulkner, Grace Lucas-Pennington, Jinghua Qian and Christos Tsiolkas.
The cultural work of Meanjin has been vital for its 85 years of existence, and its loss will be felt sorely. We write here, together, in dismay, sympathy, and outrage. That this cultural institution could be gutted so suddenly demonstrates a deep disregard for literary work—as does the cavalier attitude displayed in the recent public statements made by Melbourne University Publishing (MUP). Literary journals have never been about profit: these journals create communities, make writers, sustain culture, and push our language forward to meet the moment at hand. The loss of Meanjin leaves all of this—and all of us, as readers, writers, editors, and those committed in any way to the cultural health of this continent—far worse off.
Shortly after the abrupt closure of Meanjin, a series of Frequently Asked Questions appeared on the Meanjin website, posted by MUP. Needless to say, these FAQs were not frequently asked before the announcement on September 4. Notwithstanding the first and most obvious solution to these invented problems—namely, the restoration of Meanjin—they introduce further questions that cause us to fear for the writers and editors whose work and integrity will be put at risk.
In the FAQ about the closure of Meanjin, MUP notes that pieces have been commissioned for publication beyond the end of this year, and that those pieces ‘will be published here on the Meanjin website and promoted on Meanjin’s social media platforms.’ The relationship between a commissioning editor and author is vital to the shaping of a piece of work: the development of a piece of writing often takes place over a series of many drafts, and relies on the trust and rapport an author is able to develop with their editor over time. In laying off Meanjin’s editorial staff and contractors, MUP has broken that relationship and thrown away valuable expertise in finding and nurturing potential, developing new talent, and working closely and respectfully with established writers to produce pieces of the highest calibre. What systems are being put in place to edit these commissioned pieces and to develop them to a standard that reflects both the ambitions of their authors and the high standards of Meanjin? In whose hands is the work of these authors being placed? MUP’s failure to address these matters in the statements they have shared, or even to consult Meanjin’s editorial staff with regards to them, demonstrates a deeper lack of regard toward the very core of Meanjin’s—and all literary journals’—actual work.
Asking these commissioned authors to write these pieces, then simply taking them, slapping them up on the Meanjin website, and claiming the cultural clout they provide, is insultingly insufficient; to ask the editors who have just been fired to come back and work on these pieces would likewise serve as an insult. We demand, therefore, that MUP pay these artists a 100% kill fee for these pieces.
MUP’s FAQs also state that all Meanjin content will be made ‘freely accessible’ next year. As Cochon Truffier has noted in Crikey, ‘This would have been a win for accessibility and preservation a decade ago, but in the age of AI—which can scrape the internet and steal data to train its algorithms—it raises ethical questions for the authors behind the work. … [MUP has not] addressed how—if at all—it plans to protect it against AI scraping.’ This simple oversight reflects a broader lack of consideration towards the integrity of Meanjin’s archive, and the rights of the authors represented in it not to have their work stolen and misused. This lack of consideration is particularly egregious in the case of the many First Nations writers represented in the archive, the theft of whose work will represent a violation of their cultural sovereignty. MUP must offer genuine safeguards to protect these authors. ‘Liaising’ with them is not enough.
The public outcry that has followed MUP’s decision abundantly demonstrates the existence of the necessary public and philanthropic will to reinstate and sustain Meanjin in safe, responsible hands. We therefore demand that MUP work in good faith—and in collaboration with Meanjin’s editorial staff, Esther Anatolitis and Eli McLean—to transfer the Meanjin IP, and the rights to its 85-year archive, to a new body: a body committed to Meanjin’s ongoing publication as an editorially independent journal, and to the maintenance and protection of its archive.
Anything less will amount to an act of cultural vandalism that will serve, forever, as MUP’s central legacy.
Signed,
Alison J Barton, Editor-in-Chief, The Suburban Review
Daniel Juckes, General Editor, Westerly Magazine
Joel Keith, Editor, Voiceworks Magazine
Martin Dolan, Chair, Australian Poetry
Jacinta Le Plastrier, Freelance Volume Editor (including for Australian Poetry)
Jane Rawson, Managing Editor, Island Magazine
Dr Evelyn Araluen, Co-editor, Overland
Dr Jonathan Dunk, Co-editor, Overland
Audrey Pfister, General Manager, un Projects
Michelle Cahill, Author and Literary Editor, Mascara Literary Review
Sophie He, Editor, Farrago Magazine
Marcie Di Bartolomeo, Editor, Farrago Magazine
Farrin Foster, Editor, Splinter Journal
Jessica Wilkinson, Editor, Rabbit
Alex Stevenson, Creative Director, Lead Designer and Editor, Soft Stir
Chloe Hayman, Editor-in-Chief and Producer, Soft Stir
Daniel Holmes and Annabelle Turner, Co-directors, no purchase
Rebecca Starford, Publishing Director and CEO, Kill Your Darlings
Suzy Garcia, Editor, Kill Your Darlings
Carody Culver, Editor, Griffith Review