Book reviews, extracts to feature in ‘Womankind’ magazine
A new magazine called Womankind has been launched in Australia and will feature book reviews and extracts.
The quarterly magazine is produced by The Bull Publishing, which also publishes New Philosopher, and is edited by New Philosopher literary editor Antonia Case.
Case told Books+Publishing that the new magazine contains a book reviews section covering fiction and nonfiction. ‘In Issue One we featured Michelle De Kretser’s Questions of Travel; the classic work of Vance Packard, The Hidden Persuaders; as well as Arundhati Roy’s Listening to Grasshoppers. These books are plucked out of the New Philosopher library, and are only works that have been read by the team and agreed as significant in some way. We like books that challenge contemporary thought.’
The magazine will also ‘feature work from a major literary figure in each issue’, as well as extracts from books and poetry, said Case. ‘For the launch issue we featured Booker Prize winner DBC Pierre. He wrote an exclusive story for Womankind on a day in Mexico when he had nine minutes and thirty-one seconds to throw himself into a grave.’ The launch issue also includes a poem from Australian poet Judith Wright.
Case said the Womankind was started to offer Australian women ‘more than celebrity, fashion, and diet magazines’. ‘Women are the most avid readers of books, so it’s not much of a leap to suppose that they’ll enjoy a magazine on society, culture, psychology, sociology, philosophy, art, science, photography, and so on and so on. The aesthetics of the magazine is particularly important and we have gone to great pains to produce something beautiful.’
The magazine will be financed by purchases from newsagencies and bookstores and via subscriptions, and does not accept paid advertising.
The first issue of Womankind was launched at the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival and was the bestselling title at the festival bookshop. For more information about the publication, visit the website here.
Category: Local news
