Southerly has turned 80! Founded in 1939, Southerly has been published continuously for fully four score years. This is a cause for great celebration; we salute the many, many writers whose poetry, fiction, essays and reviews Southerly has published, often providing new writers with their first foray into publication. In their submissions of work for this issue, many writers recall the significance of these first works, some dating from 50 and 60 years ago.

Alongside literary stalwarts, and in keeping with Southerly‘s committed practice, new writers reflect the matrices of contemporary Australia’s peoples and literatures. Juxtapositions of this kind are at the heart of Southerly‘s project and span the spectrum of writing across creative and critical modes.

Southerly also salutes the generations of readers who have engaged with this enterprise, the many who continue to access Southerly‘s formidable archive from 1939, and our current readership.