'In the first half of 2020, Overland received a small grant to help the magazine provide writing and publishing opportunities during the pandemic lockdown, part of a broader scheme by Creative Victoria to save the arts sector when so many jobs and gigs completely disappeared for so many artists. ‘Poetry in Lockdown’ is one outcome of this—a standalone poetry special issue containing new work by twelve poets from across Australia. In commissioning these new works we imposed no theme on the poets. However, with the pandemic as background to all our lives, it is impossible not to read the poems in that context. Collating these poems has been a salve for us. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we have.' (Publication summary)
