David Lewis in @newpolitics.bsky.social : "Its closure is as un-Australian as rioting on a beach to drive out those you dislike. We must not accept this." Meanjin: A legacy and a lamentable closure open.substack.com/pub/newpolit...

Late to this from @greenj.bsky.social , but: exactly... "What a shitty waste, and what a tragic confirmation of the Meanjin project’s occasional subtext: that culturally we are inclined to cringe." greenworlds.substack.com/p/the-death-...

Toby Fitch: “MUP’s gagging of Meanjin‘s editor, their failure to pursue all the various ways a literary journal raises money, their refusal to release the journal’s copyright to new backers who have come forward..." 1/2 honisoit.com/2025/09/seco...

Meanjin’s former poetry editor Jeanine Leane: “cancellations of artists and fellowships — not just at Meanjin — [has been] intended to curtail social discourse”, and the forces allied against free speech were trying to “edit the national conscience”. www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/16/m...

Here we go again. Universities once beacons of light, embracing the dark arts of erasure. Eco rats from the political right want to destroy anything that isn’t cruel. This is a cruel and spiteful decision. Who killed Meanjin?  www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/16/m...

We hope not!

Purely. Financial. Grounds. Yup.

No comment and all class @anatolitis.bsky.social

See also: @savemeanjin.bsky.social

“If we’ve learned anything from the recent slew of Zionist attacks on culture in Australia, it’s that institutions — mainly universities — are often a poisoned chalice for writers and editors.” Deputy editor Eli McLean on the closure of MEANJIN.

'New revelations cast doubt on the official explanations for its closure' Who killed Meanjin? - by ⁦‪Nick Feik @nickfeik.bsky.social #Meanjin nickfeik.substack.com/p/who-killed...

The math ain't mathing. We can reveal worrying details about the closure of Meanjin - one of Australia's longest running literary journals. It starts with G ... Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/w...

Wow. What an essay by Eli McLean for @overlandjournal.bsky.social : "I had started to feel over the last few months that the ever-watchful eye of the university panopticon was sooner or later going to cast its gaze on our publishing activities"

Not how most of us tend to talk about works we're responsible for, is it @mupublishing.bsky.social @meanjin.bsky.social ? #savemeanjin

Yes, "deeply weird" @cormacmccafe.bsky.social. Deeply weird to pay for a review you don't allow time to enact while in apparent financial distress. To not reach out to subscribers for donations. To not explore crowdfunding. To not speak to potential purchasers. None of that just close? Deeply weird.

“Its loss is not just a literary blow,” concludes Max Kaiser. “It signals a narrowing of public debate and unfortunately a chilling message to people daring to support the publication of inconvenient truths." @nickfeik.bsky.social on who killed Meanjin. #auspol www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/16/m...

It just does not add up. We're aware of at four offers being put to MUP to clear their financial woes @andyhazel.bsky.social @nickfeik.bsky.social

We couldn't agree more @juliaharvey.bsky.social! Some very brave (and very silent) sources and some high quality and vulnerable analysis by @antoinettelattouf.bsky.social and @janfran.bsky.social. It's a yes from us.

Re #MeanjinJournal, a letter from myself and some of my colleagues to The University of Melbourne. #Meanjin is such an important part of Australia's literary ecosystem and losing it would be culturally and industrially devastating. #AusLit #AustralianWriters #Publishing #Unimelb

Meanjin should be saved somehow. Hope that still happens

Meanjin closing & AI stealing the work of authors. Times are tough for Australian writers. Please sign chng.it/p4KFP8BB9Y #australianwriters

My review of Madison Griffiths' SWEET NOTHINGS is out now in the spring edition of Meanjin. It's bittersweet to be in one of Meanjin's last editions. The loss of this literary institution is a travesty. I've loved reading and writing for Meanjin, and especially working with @mxcreant.bsky.social

The closure of Meanjin is real blow to the Australian literary community. We're sad to see the loss of another place where writers, thinkers, and culture-makers have a voice and platform. Our thoughts are with staff and contributors.

On the surface, Melbourne University Publishing says axing Meanjin was “purely financial.” But something doesn’t add up. The numbers look less like accounting and more like creative writing given we can reveal there's been an offer of a cash injection. www.ettemedia.com/exclusive-me...

‘Interested stakeholders continue to come forward with proposals to take on the title, even as MUP confirmed last week that “the journal is not for sale”.’

Great pod out today from @antoinettelattouf.bsky.social @janfran.bsky.social @ettemedia.bsky.social New info from insiders + *checks notes* silence from @mupublishing.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/e...

Its closure is an occasion for nothing less than grief. We are losing Meanjin at the very moment we need it most. We can’t rely on robots to give voice to the spirit. #auspol #MUP #Meanjin

Meanjin’s performance and sustainability were the focus of a review commissioned by MUP in February. The final recommendations of the report, which was never released publicly, did not include closing Meanjin.

Thorough and fascinating examination of what remains publically known (and unknown) around the decision to end Meanjin

Yes: Its loss…”signals a narrowing of public debate and unfortunately a chilling message to people daring to support the publication of inconvenient truths. I do not know exactly what the machinations were that led to the decision to close Meanjin, but I think we should all be very disturbed by it.”

Some thoughts on why, amidst everything else, saving Meanjin matters. #savemeanjin savemeanjin.org

“another venerable cultural institution has been terminated by a corporate managerialism that places little value on literary expression, and the university behind it refused to fight for its preservation.” #savemeanjin

"Readers will no doubt see the irony in a cash-strapped organisation paying an independent consultant for three months to provide strategies for financial viability, only to ignore the findings on the grounds of financial viability."

Prophetic? Devastatingly accurate? You can decide. Either way, @beneltham.bsky.social ‘s essay in issue 84:3 of Meanjin dives into the sociopolitical shaping of Australia’s cultural landscape over 60+ years and why it matters. After today’s headlines? Perhaps it’s never mattered more. #savemeanjin

Who killed Meanjin?  www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/16/m...

Our latest copy of Meanjin just arrived in the post and, well, we couldn't agree more! #savemeanjin

Lina Bryans' study of a deeply thoughtful Nina Christensen (part of the #NGA Cezanne to Giacometti exhibition in Canberra, last week) is a reminder of the deeply cultural roots of #Meanjin Surely we who care about culture & lit can rise above the accountants? @savemeanjin.bsky.social ??

a letter from me and m'learned colleagues in support of @meanjin.bsky.social (@savemeanjin.bsky.social )

The soft and quiet power of Australian literature needs public champions by Farrin Foster for InReview www.indailysa.com.au/inreview/boo...

If MUP can't keep Meanjin running for "financial" reasons but the property is not for sale, which would clear the liability from their balance sheet, there is no "financial" issue. Either they're killing it, or the plan is to refloat it later -- without its current editorial leadership.

Avustralya’da ‘Meanjin’ için sokak eylemi velev.news/kultur/avust...

Meanjin is a literary journal which has nurtured Australian writing and culture for 75 years. It has been killed off at no notice by Melbourne University Press, who hold the copyright, so no one can resurrect it. 'Not financially viable'. The end. Blunt times.

This was excellent. Araluen clearly laid out how suss the whole deal with Meanjin is, how easily it could have been avoided, why Oz literary journals actually matter & how subscribing to them makes them less hostage to the whims of funding bodies who may have topics they'd prefer nobody talk about.

One of the reasons I don’t buy the “financial decision” line from MUP is that I’m a Meanjin subscriber, someone (ostensibly) in a position to add a donation to my subscription, and I wasn’t informed about these apparent dire straits. Who cancels the whole thing before pulling the fund-raising lever?

Really looking forward to this chat with Evelyn Araluen about the swift death of Meanjin. Tune into @3rrrfm.bsky.social at 7pm.

Meanjin absolutely must be surrendered and allowed to survive.

Following today's rally, we are going on Spin Cycle by the wonderful @evelynaraluen.bsky.social to discuss the closure of Meanjin, Australia's shrinking public square and much more after a monstrous week of news. Join @jessielilley.bsky.social @rachelwithers.bsky.social and I on RRR from 7pm!

So apparently MUP would rather kill Meanjin that allow anyone else to keep it going.

If MUP don’t turn Meanjin over to another publisher that values it, the claim that it was shut down on purely financial grounds will be untenable (as opposed to now when it merely indicates incompetence)

So MUP claimed it was closing #Meanjin "on purely financial grounds" because it was "no longer viable" - but today it claimed that if a buyer offered cash to take ownership it would reject said cash ("The journal is not for sale"). This does NOT add up www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...