The long summer draws to an end, our publishing houses emerge from what feels like a long recess, and we have new and exciting offerings to behold! A particular stand-out so far this year has been Affirm Press’s terrific first couple of offerings in their short-story series, overseen by Rebecca Starford.

In a show of remarkable industriousness, she has now co-edited (in her own time no less!) a brand-spanking-new literary journal, in order to – as the editors have it – ‘reinvigorate and re-energise’ a medium that sometimes risks a certain staleness. An outstanding design concept is perhaps the first feature which lifts this journal above the average; some snappy book reviews, a cartoon from the redoubtable Oslo Davis, an extended interview with Sarah Waters, and stories from some of the most exciting exponents of Oz Lit (including Kalinda Ashton, Patrick Cullen and Chris Womersley) all indicate that this publication has every intention of becoming a fixture in our literary world.

Oh and there’s a clutch of diverse and approachable non-fiction articles too, all an ideal length for the more time-poor among us. My only gripe is a rather inflammatory piece by Gideon Haigh on the alleged decline in Australian literary reviewing – but it attests to KYD’s mission to be at the forefront of debate and exchange, for all who care about books, writing and ideas.

www.killyourdarlingsjournal.com