Cirrus@Austlit

'Literary journals are post-digital publications, where digital and print media blend and
shape one another. They play an important role in Australian literary culture, but rely
on funding to survive. Recent discourse about funding Australian literary journals has
been characterised by debates about publication media: print and digital. With the
upcoming establishment of a new body for writing in Australia, ‘Writing Australia’,
this study examines literary journals’ relationships with these media, and how editors’
use of these media affects the operations and economics of their publications, and the
field as a whole. The study finds that federal project funding is unsuited to the type of
work that literary journals do, as well as evidence of an increasingly entrenched two-
tier field, where journals with operational backing from institutions like universities are
more competitive than their smaller, unsupported counterparts in obtaining existing
funding. While digital publication has many advantages for literary journals, skills
shortages in digital publishing, marketing, and data analysis limit the scope of some
journals to demonstrate their reach and effectiveness. The study finds that print
publication remains important, particularly for writers, and that the community-
building capacity of literary journals is a highly significant contribution which, while
not evidenced on the page or screen, should be given weight in assessments of journals’ success.' (Publication abstract)