Sovereign Texts: Journal of First Peoples Literature launches

Sovereign Texts: Journal of First Peoples Literature has launched as a print and online literary journal for works written by Australian First Peoples.

Aiming to publish twice a year, the journal will accept scholarly peer-reviewed articles, essays, poetry, prose fiction, memoir, life writing, reviews, criticism and interviews.

Current journal staff include editor and publisher Eugenia Flynn, general editor Bridget Caldwell-Bright and editorial board members Graham Akhurst, Evelyn Araluen and Crystal McKinnon.

The name Sovereign Texts is ‘an acknowledgement of the sovereignty of our storytelling […] in order to culturally ground this journal in First Peoples ways of being, knowing and doing’, said the organisers. ‘Although we are a literary journal – focused on text-based storytelling, scholarly writing and critique – we acknowledge a broad range of storytelling practices and expanded notions of what First Peoples’ text is.’

‘This first issue of Sovereign Texts will focus on writing that draws on First Peoples’ lineages of story, culture, kin, literature, writing and text, as well as the politics of citation in scholarly work,’ said organisers. ‘A focus on drawing upon works accessed via the Informit platform is encouraged but is not essential.’

The first issue is slated for publication in June 2026.

More information is available on the Sovereign Texts website.

Category: Local news