Overland literary journal

We the undersigned, academics and professional staff at Australian Universities, seek your immediate assurance that Western Sydney University (WSU) will stop enabling police presence on its campuses for the purpose of suppressing and deterring student protests.

Sponsored by Trinity College at the University of Melbourne and supporters, the Nakata Brophy Prize for Young Indigenous Writers, established in 2014 and now in its ninth year, recognises the talent of young Indigenous writers across Australia.

Overland ’s free fortnightly newsletter highlights the best of Overland online, new writing from the print journal, and regularly collates writing events and opportunities in the community.

Over the past year, students at the University of Melbourne have consistently called on their university to cut ties with institutions and companies that are complicit in the genocide waged against the Palestinian people by Israel. Following several months of organised protest actions on campus – including rallies, speak-outs, die-ins, organised class walk-outs, a month-long Gaza Solidarity Encampment that culminated in the sit-in at Mahmoud’s Hall (fka Arts West) – students organised a sit-in on 9 October 2024 in the office of the head of a joint PhD program with Hebrew University of Jerusalem – an institution that is deeply embedded in Israel’s military industrial complex. The condemnatory response to the student actions from the University and sections of the media raises serious concerns that the principles of our institution of learning and critical thinking are increasingly being threatened.

Australian Book Review is one of Australia’s leading literary and cultural magazines. ABR publishes reviews, essays, topical commentaries and new creative writing. The magazine engages with all the arts, not just literature, and its diverse programs include three prestigious literary prizes, a weekly podcast, and writers fellowships. ABR

Sponsored by Trinity College at the University of Melbourne, the Nakata Brophy Prize for Young Indigenous Writers, established in 2014 and now in its ninth year, recognises the talent of young Indigenous writers across Australia.

Last week, five police officers turned up on my doorstep. They didn’t have a warrant to arrest me or search the house, but they insisted on coming inside and looking for me. They walked into my room as I was climbing out of bed and placed me under arrest. One officer stayed in the room while I stripped down to get dressed, telling my objecting housemate “it’s so she doesn’t jump out the window.” They handcuffed me in my bedroom, and the five of them walked me to a police car. In the interrogation room, two officers took turns shoving photos on the desk in front of me while I sat on a chair bolted to the ground. The photos, taken from a helicopter, allegedly showed me in a large group of protesters outside the Land Forces weapons convention. I was charged with affray. In layman’s terms, rioting.

To Pip Nicholson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (People & Community) and Barry Judd, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous)

Dear Ben Carroll MP (Victorian State Minister for Education), Jason Clare MP (Federal Minister for Education), and Lizzie Blandthorn MLC (Victorian State Minister for Children),

Overland ’s free fortnightly newsletter highlights the best of Overland online, new writing from the print journal, and regularly collates writing events and opportunities in the community.