Island magazine

10/09/2025

"gaze over Lorca’s city —
hills that legions stormed —
yesterday & tomorrow grapple like lions —

made to decay — "

Read 'Alhambra', new poetry from Omar Musa, at islandmag.com/read

Image: Victoriano Izquierdo - Unsplash

02/09/2025

"Not only does ChatGPT not know how to compose a lyric essay, it also has no knowledge of precarity, no memory for past hurts, old breaks, or what can be lost. Artificial intelligence cannot hold and set down and thereby preserve the memory…"
Read Dani Netherclift's new essay, 'Extinctions' at islandmag.com/read

Image: Library of Congress

01/09/2025

Island 175, out later this month, features a story from Ivy Alvarez, one of the recipients of the Island / Libraries Tasmania 2025 Writing Fellowships. 'The Revision Mirror' explores the story of Eric Casiño, a Curator of Anthropology from the National Museum of the Philippines, who was working in the north west of Tasmania in the late 1960s. In a presentation as part of National Family History Month, Ivy will discuss her research and read part of the story. Tickets are available here

What bought Eric Casiño to Tasmania in the 1960s? Ivy Alvarez shares his story, and how she found him in the archives

29/08/2025

"Tamim was painted in similar colours to me and maybe a couple of years older. He wore a smile and exuded warmth, and his charm was infectious – even his fellow baristas seemed happier alongside him. They don’t wear name tags, so I didn’t know his name at first or his cultural background, but when he first called out my name, I took notice. Aboubakr, he said perfectly."

Read Aboubakr Daqiq's essay about who gets to have a name: 'Cold coffee', at islandmag.com/read

Image: Jon Tyson - Unsplash

26/08/2025

Blood spattering the both of us –
It goes right through your clothes you know he said as we leaned on the corrugated shed.

When you take them off
you’ll have stains all over. His eyes
moved onto me then and he said let’s check...

Read Johanna Bell's new poem, 'If Anne Carson had grown up on a cattle station in the Northern Territory', at islandmag.com/read

Image: Thomas Marquize - Unsplash

23/08/2025

Closing Monday! Last chance to enter the Nature Writing Prize, which we're running with and . Win a week's writing retreat at the TLC's beautiful Sloping Main Reserve on the Tasman Peninsula, a package of books from Fullers and publication in Island! Find out more at islandmag.com/submit

Sloping Main image is by Rob Blakers/TL

19/08/2025

It was such a privilege to feature the art and stories of Uncle Rex Greeno in Island 172 last year. We were very saddened to hear of his passing this week. Condolences to his family and to the wider community.

15/08/2025

Submissions are open now for Island Online and closing soon. We want to read your writing! Send us your best essay or story: visit our website and head to 'submit'.

Image: Etienne Girardet - Unsplash

11/08/2025

We're thrilled to be part of Junction Arts festival in Launceston this September, presenting a writing workshop with Charlotte Wood and the launch of Island 175, including a panel with Charlotte and artist Patrick Hall. Tickets are now available for both at islandmag.com/events

08/08/2025

This year's third-year creative writing students were challenged not to "write what you know" but to "write what you love". The result? Horror! Rom com! Lyrical writing! Memoir! Fantasy! Social commentary! And a seagull detective! Read these new Tasmanian voices at islandmag.com/read/tag/lovedstories

Image: Elle Hughes - Pexels

05/08/2025

We are thrilled to be part of this year's Junction Arts Festival in Launceston! We'll be running two literary events, on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 September. Friday night is the launch of Island 175, with a panel featuring Charlotte Wood and artist Patrick Hall. And on Saturday morning, Charlotte will run a writing workshop. Tickets for these and all the other wonderful events at Junction go on sale Thursday morning! Take a look at the program now...

04/08/2025

Have you picked up your copy of Island 174 yet? Tim Loveday, Gerard Starling and Saraid Taylor confront toxic masculinity in families, the workplace and sport. Nadia Refaei and Marion Abraham grapple with the role of visual arts in dark times. Alyssa Bermudez forgets to pack her pants. All this plus five brand new short stories and 12 remarkable poems. Get to your local bookshop or pop online: islandmag.com/current-issue