Established in Melbourne by Catholic laymen in 1946, Twentieth Century sought 'articles of general interest in various fields - cultural, philosophical, sociological, political and scientific'. Closely associated with the Jesuit Order, it was published by Archbishop Mannix's Institute of Social Order from 1955. Receiving the benefit of free printing at the Advocate Press, Twentieth Century was edited for seventeen years by W. G. Smith SJ.
The relationship with the Institute of Social Order caused Twentieth Century to be perceived as an organ for the religious ideology of Mannix and other intellectuals such as B. A. Santamaria. Magazines such as the Catholic Prospect (based at the University of Melbourne) opposed the ideas of Mannix and Santamaria, objecting to the subjugation of the individual to affairs of the church and state, an ideology implicit in many articles published in Twentieth Century.
Despite the implicit connection with the Institute of Social Order, Twentieth Century published a diverse array of poetry, perhaps assisted by the long association with Peter Steele SJ, a lecturer in English literature at the University of Melbourne. In addition to many contributions from Steele, the most frequent contributors included Vincent Buckley, James McAuley, Bruce Dawe and Niall Brennan (qq.v.). Later contributors included Mary Finnin, Rosemary Dobson, Roland Robinson, John Tranter, Grace Perry, Ian Mudie, Peter Skrzynecki, Graham Rowlands, Robert Adamson, Hal Colebatch and Peter Kocan (qq.v.).
When the Advocate Press ended its technical support of Twentieth Century in 1973, the editors sought to attract more subscribers and applied for grants from the Commonwealth Literary Fund. The application was refused, according to the editors, because the CLF would 'not assist a literary magazine that expresses the view of a particular group'. Despite a reduction of pages in 1974, the magazine could not endure the new financial conditions, ceasing production in 1975.
