Issue Details: First known date: 1923... 1923 Vision : A Literary Quarterly
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

The first 48-page issue of Vision appeared in May 1923 with more than a dozen Norman Lindsay (q.v.) sketches of nymphs and satyrs prominently displayed. Planned as a vehicle for the aesthetic philosophy of Lindsay and to a lesser extent the ideas of poet Hugh McCrae (q.v.), its editors hoped the magazine would usher in an Australian renaissance to bolster the literary and artistic traditions rejected by European modernists. The editors also believed that the magazine would invigorate an Australian culture they claimed was stifled by the regressive provincialism of publications such as the Bulletin.

Proposed during regular meetings at a Sydney coffee cellar, the magazine was edited by Frank C. Johnson, Jack Lindsay (Norman's son) and Kenneth Slessor (qq.v.). Johnson, an assistant at Dymock's book store, acted as business manager, setting the price of the magazine at 3 shillings and sixpence per copy. He also attracted a variety of advertisers, including Penfolds, Studebaker, Kodak and The Shakespearean Quarterly. Slessor and Lindsay performed the major editorial tasks and provided most of the contributions, including a number of pseudonymous contributions from the latter.

The intellectual programme of the magazine was presented in regular forewords and essays by Norman and Jack Lindsay. Prominent modernists were criticised and often lampooned for their rejection of conventional form and their jaded outlook on modern life. The magazine further asserted its anti-modernist stance by proclaiming 'free verse will not be considered' in its calls for contributions. Proceeding from Norman Lindsay's principles of beauty, passion, youth, vitality, sexuality and courage, Vision consistently provided readers with potentially offensive content. But the editors welcomed any negative attention, stating in the fourth issue, 'Vision has . . . published a vast amount of material which would have been destroyed in moral fury by any other periodical. It blushes for the compliment.' But, despite the strong ideological position exhibited by the magazine in the 1920s, the circumstances of its publication and its later influence were the subject of a significant debate in the pages of Southerly (1952-53) between Jack Lindsay, Kenneth Slessor and Norman Lindsay.

The contributions of Slessor and Jack Lindsay were accompanied by the work of a number of other writers, including Hugh McCrae, Dorothea Mackellar, R. D. FitzGerald and Dulcie Deamer. Many of these contributions exhibit the direct influence of Norman Lindsay's ideas. When the fourth issue of Vision appeared in February 1924, it advertised plans for a larger format in the next issue. Promising one hundred pages with illustrations, uncensored material and popular serials, Vision was to appear bi-quarterly at a new price of one shilling and sixpence. But this did not occur and the editorial team of Vision disbanded. Jack Lindsay subsequently moved to London where he continued the intellectual programme of Vision by founding with P. R. Stephenson the London Aphrodite.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1923

Works about this Work

'Screamers in Bedlam' : Vision 1923-24 David Carter , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: Always Almost Modern : Australian Print Cultures and Modernity 2013; (p. 89-111)
Lindsayan Vitalism : Jack Lindsay, Norman Lindsay and P. R. Stephensen John Hawke , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literature and the Symbolist Movement 2009; (p. 64-83)
Parabolic By Design Ross Gibson , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , vol. 65 no. 2 2006; (p. 108-114)

Editor's note: Ross Gibson builds a literary bridge between two Sydney publications that appeared at the time of the building of the Harbour Bridge and ponders the fate of Sydney in the light of their visions.

The two publications referred to are the literary magazine Vision and Frank Cash's account of the building of the bridge, Parables of the Sydney Harbour Bridge: Setting Forth the Preparation for, and Progressive Growth of, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, to April 1930.

Things Fall Together : Slessor, Modernism and Melbourne Punch Greg Badcock , 1997 single work criticism
— Appears in: Kenneth Slessor : Critical Readings 1997; (p. 158-175)
'O Rare Young Man': David McKee Wright's 'Bulletin' Debates with Jack Lindsay, 1922-25 Michael Sharkey , 1995 single work criticism
— Appears in: Proceedings : Association for the Study of Australian Literature, Sixteenth Annual Conference, 3-8 July 1994 1995; (p. 1-6)
Parabolic By Design Ross Gibson , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , vol. 65 no. 2 2006; (p. 108-114)

Editor's note: Ross Gibson builds a literary bridge between two Sydney publications that appeared at the time of the building of the Harbour Bridge and ponders the fate of Sydney in the light of their visions.

The two publications referred to are the literary magazine Vision and Frank Cash's account of the building of the bridge, Parables of the Sydney Harbour Bridge: Setting Forth the Preparation for, and Progressive Growth of, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, to April 1930.

Lindsayan Vitalism : Jack Lindsay, Norman Lindsay and P. R. Stephensen John Hawke , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literature and the Symbolist Movement 2009; (p. 64-83)
Satyrs in the Top Paddock: Metaphysical Pastoral in Australian Poetry Peter Kirkpatrick , 1992 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , May vol. 15 no. 3 1992; (p. 141-154)
The Necessity of the Little Magazine : The Australian Scene Norman Bartlett , 1948 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Winter vol. 7 no. 2 1948; (p. 108-117)
Slessor and "Vision" Douglas Stewart , 1975 single work criticism
— Appears in: Quadrant , July vol. 19 no. 4 1975; (p. 68-76)

PeriodicalNewspaper Details

Frequency:
Quarterly
Range:
1923-1924
Size:
25cm, 48-57 pages
Price:
Three shillings and sixpence per copy
Last amended 5 Jan 2009 13:46:48
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