Shuttered literary magazine Meanjin has secured a new institutional home, with Queensland University of Technology (QUT) stepping in to revive the 85-year-old publication and return it to Brisbane.
The move comes just months after Melbourne University Press announced in September 2025 that Australia’s second-oldest literary journal would close due to financial pressures, sending shockwaves through the country’s literary community.
Over more than eight decades, Meanjin published work by some of Australia’s most significant writers, including Helen Garner, Alexis Wright, David Malouf, Judith Wright and Patrick White.
The journal built its reputation as a forum for rigorous essays, fiction and cultural debate, shaping generations of readers and writers.
QUT vice-chancellor Professor Margaret Sheil. Source: Supplied.
Closure sparked industry backlash
Following the closure announcement, editor Esther Anatolitis and deputy editor Eli McLean lost their roles, with the final issue released in December.
The decision drew immediate criticism from across the literary sector. Authors Jennifer Mills, Anna Krien, Claire G Coleman and Sian Prior publicly expressed concern, alongside former editors Sophie Cunningham and Sally Heath, and ABC Radio National presenter Jonathan Green.
Many argued that the loss of Meanjin represented more than the end of a magazine; it signalled mounting structural pressure on Australia’s small but influential literary publishing ecosystem.
A return to Brisbane
Now QUT has confirmed it will take over the journal, marking a symbolic homecoming.
Editor Clem Christesen founded Meanjin in Brisbane in 1940 before relocating it to the University of Melbourne in 1945. In 2008, the publication moved to the university’s publishing arm.
In a statement, QUT vice-chancellor Professor Margaret Sheil said since the magazine’s foundation, “Meanjin has been instrumental in shaping Australian literary and intellectual culture”.
“We are honoured to be entrusted with the legacy of this cultural icon.”
QUT will appoint an editorial board to recruit a new editor and safeguard the magazine’s “independence, values and standards”, positioning the university as custodian rather than controller of the title.
Custodianship and continuity
Chair of Melbourne University Press Professor Warren Bebbington said several organisations had approached the publisher about reviving the magazine after the closure announcement.
“The board is delighted Meanjin will continue, and in the hands of a university so clearly alert to the nature of the custodianship MUP had fulfilled for it for so long,” Bebbington said in a statement.
The transition marks a rare second life for a legacy literary journal at a time when print publishing continues to face tight margins and shifting audience habits.
The announcement also follows Creative Australia’s establishment of a dedicated fund for literary journals, offering grants of $15,000 to $50,000 to support digital infrastructure and editorial capacity.
While the fund operates separately from QUT’s takeover, it signals growing recognition that Australia’s literary magazines require structural support to survive in a fragmented media market.