K.A Ren Wyld Serve the tea Blak
Download this pdf: Use the one click download button at the bottom of the document.
Author: Southerly
Announcing the Inaugural Southerly Essay
Southerly is proud to announce the launch of the inaugural Southerly Essay, written by K.A Ren Wyld, entitled “Serve the tea Blak”. This essay is a conversation with, and an extended reflection on the award-winning work, Apron-Sorrow / Sovereign-Tea by Natalie Harkin (Wakefield Press, 2025). K.A Ren Wyld reflects on Natalie Harkins’ book, its representation of the history of Aboriginal women’s domestic labour and servitude, and its use of archival research to speak back to the colony and to power, through literature. As part of Southerly‘s ongoing revival, we will publish on our website a series of essays, each focused on…
The Southerly Poetry Prize – closed
We’re delighted to announce Southerly 79.3, The Way We Live Now, a special issue edited by Melissa Hardie and Kate Lilley. This digital issue is offered FREE and open access to all, with thanks to Create NSW.
The Way We Live Now offers a collection of pandemic-adjacent writing, featuring new work by Claire Aman, Chris Andrews, Chris Arnold, Stuart Barnes, Vanessa Berry, Pam Brown, Pascalle Burton, Anne Casey, Julie Chevalier, Eileen Chong, Matthew Clarke, Josie/Jocelyn Deane, Shastra Deo, Lucy Dougan, Dave Drayton, Johanna Ellersdorfer, Blake Falcongreen, Michael Farrell, Liam Ferney, Toby Fitch, Angela Gardner, Jake Goetz, Elena Gomez …
Long Paddock for Southerly 80.1: First, The Future
After pestilence, after pain, after wholeness, after emptiness, after life, after death, after a long hiatus, Southerly is back. ‘First, The Future’ is co-edited by guest co-editor K.A.Ren Wyld and new Southerly editor Roanna Gonsalves. We strongly affirm the crucial importance of imaginative labour and imaginative literary production i.e. the narrative and non-narrative literary forms of fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry, as well as of literary scholarship, in the passing down of knowledge between generations, as our world continues to deal with the fallout of colonialism, of genocide and war, of climate change and of AI. This issue emphasises the…
Announcing Southerly 80.1: First, The Future
We’re delighted to announce Southerly 80.1, ‘First, The Future‘, co-edited by guest co-editor K.A.Ren Wyld and new Southerly editor Roanna Gonsalves. This issue strongly affirms the crucial importance of imaginative labour and imaginative literary production i.e. the narrative and non-narrative literary forms of fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry, as well as of literary scholarship, in the passing down of knowledge between generations, as our world continues to deal with the fallout of colonialism, of genocide and war, of climate change and of AI. ‘First, The Future’ emphasises the value of the work we do as writers and scholars of literature, work…
Kerry Klimm
Kerry Klimm is a Guguu Yalanji and Koko Lamalama woman who lives on the unceded lands of the Kabi Kabi peoples on the north side of Meeanjin (Brisbane). Kerry is a journalist and communications specialist with 30 years experience and runs the creative consultancy Flashblak. Kerry is expanding her artistic career and growing body of work titled ‘Spill the tea on the colony’ to speak about the ongoing impact of colonisation on her family. Kerry’s artwork, ‘The messenger’ appears on the cover of Southerly 80.1: ‘First, The Future’.
Dr Michael Moller, Barribugu Editor
Michael Moller has a deep commitment to Australian literature as a reader, writer and educator. His scholarly work has been published in Remote Control: New Media, New Ethics, The Journal of Gender Studies, and Cultural Studies Review, among other publications. He works as Head Teacher, English at Sydney Secondary College Leichhardt, leading the Faculty of English in educating the next generation of readers and writers in the analysis and interpretation of literary texts and in the creation of new work. He is passionate about the dynamic nature of Australian literature and the creative potential of young voices.
Dr Axel-Nathaniel Rose, Southerly Blogs Editor
Axel-Nathaniel Rose is an author, editor, and academic based at UNSW Sydney. His research crosses literary studies, fan studies, queer studies, and book history. His research has appeared in Axon: Creative Explorations, Transformative Works and Cultures, and Ludic Inquiries Into Power and Pedagogy in Higher Education. His short stories and poetry have been published in Unsweetened Literary Journal and Tharunka, and his novella, Stars, Hide Your Fires, will be published in a forthcoming anthology from Penguin Vintage. He is the Access and Equity portfolio lead for the Australasian Association of Writing Programs, and he is administrative assistant and blogs editor…
Dr Craig Billingham, Reviews Editor
Craig Billingham is a writer and academic. He has published two collections of poetry (Storytelling, 2007; Public Transport, 2017) and numerous short stories, essays, and reviews. He is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at UNSW.
Dr Melody Ellis, Creative Nonfiction Editor
Melody Ellis is a writer and creative practice researcher interested in the politics of value and taste, language, interpretation, and subjectivity. Her work is informed by critical theory, philosophy, and art – as well as a long history of participating in grassroots artist-led collaborative projects. Melody is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University where she is currently Program Manager of the Bachelor of Media and Communication (Honours) degree and is a member of the non/fictionLab research group. She is also co-convenor of the Gutter Stars comics collective.
Dr Paul Dawson, Poetry Editor
Paul Dawson’s latest collection of poetry is Lines of Desire (Puncher & Watmann, 2025). His first book, Imagining Winter (IP, 2006), won the national IP Picks Best Poetry Award. Paul has been anthologised in Contemporary Asian Australian Poets (Puncher & Wattmann, 2013) and Harbour City Poems: Sydney in Verse 1788-2008 (Puncher & Wattmann, 2009), and his poetry and short stories have appeared in top Australian literary journals such as Meanjin, Island, Overland, Southerly, Westerly, Cordite Poetry Review, Australian Poetry Journal, Peril Magazine, Mascara Literary Review, and The Sleepers Almanac. Paul is also an internationally recognized scholar. He has published three…
Dr Luke Johnson, Incoming Fiction Editor
Dr Luke Johnson, Incoming Fiction Editor: Luke Johnson is a writer and academic from Wollongong, NSW. He is the author of two books: the short-collection Ferocious Animals (Recent Work Press, 2021), and Kangaroo Unbound (Puncher & Wattmann, 2025) – a collection of 50-odd poems that take their titles and inspiration from legendary Australian artist Garry Shead’s ‘D.H. Lawrence’ paintings. His poems, stories, essays and criticism have appeared in such places as Griffith Review, HEAT, Island, Southerly, Overland, Westerly, The Lifted Brow, Going Down Swinging, Meniscus, TEXT, Mascara Literary Review, The Age, The Herald Sun, The Conversation and Australian Book Review,…