Southerly

the journal of the Sydney affiliation of the English Association, first published in 1939, edited by R. G. Howarth. For the first five years the journal covered English and American literature. Australian publishers Angus and Robertson, who became involved in 1944, and its second editor, Kenneth Slessor, turned Southerly into ‘A Review of Australian Literature’. Distinguishing itself from what was seen as the ‘sociological’ or ‘semi-literary’ commentary of Meanjin, the journal required of its contributors impartial criticism of work perceived as standing in its own right, similar to the New Criticism in the USA. Southerly has excluded reviews of other arts and European literature; its commitment to Australian literature remains complete.