Redmond Barry Fellow 2011

Jim Davidson
Bigger than little: literary magazine culture in Melbourne between 1940 and 1988

Professor Davidson is utilising the Stephen Murray-Smith and Overland magazine papers at the State Library of Victoria, and the records of Clem Christesen and Meanjin at the University of Melbourne Archives. Each of these founding editors filled their post for 34 years, and each journal had a strong connection to the University of Melbourne during that time: although Meanjin began in Brisbane, after four years Christesen arrived at the University of Melbourne.  While Professor Davidson's research starts with similiarities between the two literary magazines, the differences are likely to prove of greater interest.

Professor Davidson's research illustrates how literary magazines have played a part in the enunciation of Australian political independence. They also helped in the development of cultural confidence in the period following WWII - Meanjin began as journal featuring poetry written in Queensland and became broader in scope, with internationally recognised authors published alongside Australian ones.

The characters and interests of the two founding editors and the writers with whom they corresponded are clearly seen in the records.  In addition to the personalities and events, Professor Davidson is interested in the kinds of readers who subscribed to the journals and whether it was common to read both, and he is looking at how their readerships expanded.