I’ve pretty much spent most of my twenties, resolutely avoiding anything to do with (comtemporary) Literature or ‘the literary scene’ as my few attempts to dip my toe into that particular puddle have only left me feeling befuddled and alienated. Or, you know, bored. There are some exceptions. I have occasionally been deeply moved/entertained by a poetry reading, or have found points in common with a fellow reader (such as, for instance, my Dad) whose literary preferences are mostly diametrically opposite to my own.

Oh yes, I have my biases. When it comes to literature with a capital L, I can be positively bigoted, and I keep telling myself that, whatever my past experiences, however much that Carmel Bird novel that was apparently “just like a fantasy novel” was in fact, not in any way like a fantasy novel, I should challenge myself on occasion, and get over it.

To this end, I bought a subscription to Overland Magazine in their last subscription drive, and my first issue arrived a few weeks ago. I’d heard vaguely about this particular publication over the years, because of its tangential relationship to the SF scene – they’ve published  benpeek, and Rjurik Davidson is one of their associate editors. Apparently they are also planning to review some specfic works this year…

So yes, I subscribe in a random act of small press kindness, and today (having run out of Doctor Who Magazine to read) I went through it, cover to cover. I was far more impressed with the articles than the literary content – I am almost entirely incapable of reading poetry for pleasure, and I found all three of the stories revolved around fairly unlikeable, unchanging characters. In particular, I found Virginia Peters’ “The Fat Man” to be a quite repulsive story about a woman’s disgust at sight of the man who comes to fix her computer. The fat man of the story’s title was dehumanised and ridiculed, both in the protagonist’s head and in the narrative of the story itself, without any apparent point.

The non fiction was a treat, though. The standout essay was a critical analysis of the way that Nick Cave has been reinvented as a harmless, middle-of-the-road aging rock relic when his success has largely revolved around music about the murder and debasement of women. The essay presents its case from a personal angle (the author, Anwyn Crawford, is a former Nick Cave fan who admits to her own biases and talks about the problems inherent in being a female lover of rock music) but also has a lot to say in the way that the media (and Cave himself) have constructed his image. I was particularly interested in Crawford’s debunking of the “myth” that it was their famous duet that saved Kylie Minogue’s career and helped to relaunch her as a credible music figure; rather, Crawford argues, it was Nick Cave who benefited from the collaboration, which was the beginning of his own mainstream acceptance. If you have any interest in feminism and its uncomfortable relationship with the music industry, it’s worth reading this article.

I also really appreciated Francesca Rendle-Short’s bittersweet article about her changing relationship with her obsessively religious father as he descends into Alzheimers, and Darshana Jayemanne’s article about the question of whether computer games can be considered art, and why so many people think the question isn’t even worth asking. Liz Thompson and Ben Rosenzweig also tackle the politics of international students in Australia, and the way that they are being exploited in the workplace. Considering that I was just watching Julia Gillard discussing this very issue on the 7:30 report earlier today, you can’t fault Overland when it comes to being up to date on current issues.

I consider the first issue of Overland a success as far as this year’s experiment goes. I’d love to see some fiction that I enjoy more, but I’m not exactly lacking for quality short fiction to read. My dislike of poetry isn’t a problem, as the number of poems published in this particular issue is restrained enough for me to ignore without feeling ripped off. The mix of writers and general high quality of content means that I am definitely reading this magazine for the articles.

Tags: australiana, feminism, literaturewithcapitalL, reviewing