''Westerly'' is a literary magazine that has been produced at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

since 1956. It currently publishes two issues a year, and in 2016 released its first online special issues. The journal maintains a specific focus on the Australian and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

n regions, but has published literary and cultural content from international authors. The magazine publishes fiction,

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

, cultural, autobiographic, and scholarly

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

s, and

interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...

History

In 2015, ''Westerly'' ran a campaign called 'Word Matters', a response in publication to the funding cuts seen in the arts in federal and state budgets. The campaign published poetry from two young emerging poets, and sought reader engagement in the tweeting of responses online (#westerlywordmatters). Around that time, ''Westerly'' developed a more extensive online presence with a new website and social media engagement. The magazine, with the redesign of their website, broadened their publications to include special issues and regular online pieces. In early 2016, the magazine ran a successful crowdfunding campaign on chuffed.org exceeding their target funding. Funding has also been received from the Copyright Agency Ltd. to support a forthcoming 'Writers Development Program'. The ''Westerly'' archives are housed in Special Collections in the University of Western Australia Library, with a complete digital version of the backset available at the website.

Notable contributors

Notable ''Westerly'' writers include

Randolph Stow Julian Randolph Stow (28 November 1935 – 29 May 2010) was an Australian-born writer, novelist and poet. Early life Born in Geraldton, Western Australia, Randolph Stow was the son of Mary Campbell Stow née Sewell and Cedric Ernest Stow, a ...

, Dorothy Hewett, T.A.G. Hungerford and

Elizabeth Jolley Monica Elizabeth Jolley AO (4 June 1923 – 13 February 2007) was an English-born Australian writer who settled in Western Australia in the late 1950s and forged an illustrious literary career there. She was 53 when her first book was publishe ...

; highly awarded contemporary writers, including

Tim Winton Timothy John Winton (born 4 August 1960) is an Australian writer. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997, he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia, and has won the Miles Fr ...

Kim Scott Kim Scott (born 18 February 1957) is an Australian novelist of Aboriginal Australian ancestry. He is a descendant of the Noongar people of Western Australia. Biography Scott was born in Perth in 1957 and is the eldest of four siblings with a ...

, and Sally Morgan; and acclaimed local poets John Kinsella, Tracy Ryan,

John Mateer John Mateer (born 1971) is a South African-born Australian poet and author. Early life and education He was born in Roodepoort, South Africa in 1971, and grew up on the outskirts of Johannesburg. He spent some of his childhood in Canada, before ...

, and Lucy Dougan. It has a remit to focus on

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

n writing, with other interests including the Asia region and Australian literature more generally. The Patricia Hackett Prize has been awarded by the University of Western Australia for the best original contribution to ''Westerly'' each year since 1965.William Wilde ''et al'', ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'' Oxford University Press, Melbourne 2nd edition 1994

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://westerlymag.com.au/ 1956 establishments in Australia Literary magazines published in Australia Biannual magazines published in Australia History of Western Australia Magazines established in 1956 Magazines published in Perth, Western Australia University of Western Australia Western Australian literature

History

Notable contributors

See also

References

Further reading

External links