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[Cover Image: Michael Dean]

This site exists in order to provide a conveniently accessible online index for the New Zealand literary journal brief, founded by Alan Loney in 1995, and carried on (under a succession of editors) until now.

No copyright works have been reproduced here, with the exception of covers and contents pages for the various publications produced by the Writers Group - brief's community of subscribers and contributors - over this period. Some of these works are available elsewhere on the internet, however, and hyperlinks to these locations have been provided wherever possible.

There are individual pages below for the contents of each issue, supplemented by an alphabetical index of the contributions of each author. A short history of brief has also been provided, with a selection of various of the statements and manifestos issued by its editors at different times, as well as a list of the books published to date by the magazine.

For up-to-date information on subscription rates, submission policies, and any other information relevant to the magazine, please consult the official Brief Website, or else write to the present managing editor, Michael Arnold, at the following address:

The Writers Group
PO Box 102
Waimauku 1250
Auckland
New Zealand

• Preface


• Manifestos


• Breakdown by Author


• Breakdown by Issue:



[Cover image: Ellen Portch]

brief

Editor: Hamish Dewe



• No 43, November 2011: 104 pp.



Editor: William (Bill) Direen



• No 42, May 2011: 111 pp.



Editor: Richard von Sturmer



• No 41, December 2010: 110 pp.



Editor: Ted Jenner



• No 40, July 2010: 134 pp.



Editor: Michael Arnold



• No 39, March 2010: 132 pp.



Editor: Jen Crawford



• No 38, August 2009: 104 pp.



Editor: Michael Arnold



• No 37 - the exotic, April 2009: 118 pp.



Editors: Brett Cross & Bill Direen



• No 36 - The NZ Music Issue, September 2008: 126 pp.



Editor: Brett Cross



• No 35 - a brief world order, September 2007: 132 pp.



Editor: Scott Hamilton



• No.34 - war, February 2007: 188 pp.


• No 33 - exile and home, March 2006: 150 pp.



Editor: Jack Ross



• No 32 - Joanna Margaret Paul, May 2005: 120 pp.


• No 31 - Kultur, October 2004: 120 pp.


• No 30 - Kunst, October 2004: 120 pp.


• No 29 - more fun than you've ever seen, March 2004: 102 pp.


• No 28 - Alan Brunton, October 2003: 126 pp.


• No 27 - season of the remakes, June 2003: 104 pp.


• No 26 - Smithymania, January 2003: 118 pp.


• No 25 - trains at a glance, October 2002: 111 pp.


• No 24 - less formal than bull, July 2002: 84 pp.



Editor: John Geraets



• No 23, March 2002: 100 pp.


• No 22, December 2001: 100 pp.


• No 21 - aesthetics, September 2001: 93 pp.


• No 20 - aesthetics, June 2001: 68 pp.


• No 19, March 2001: 80 pp.


• No 18, December 2000: 100 pp.



A Brief Description of the Whole World


Ab.ww / Loney


• No 17 - Loney, September 2000: 96 pp.

Ab.WW / AbdotWW


• No 16, June 2000: 85 pp.

ABDOTWW / description


• No 15, March 2000: 86 pp.

ABDOTWW


• No 14, December 1999: 110 pp.


• No 13, September 1999: 93 pp.


• No 12, June 1999: Leigh Davis, Willy’s Gazette (1983): vii + 111 pp.



Editor: Alan Loney



• Nos 10 & 11, October 1998: 47 pp.


• No 9, April 1998: 55 pp.


• No 8, December 1997: 76 pp.


• No 7, September 1997: 66 pp.


• No 6, July 1997: 56 pp.


• No 5, May 1997: 58 pp.


• No 4, November 1996: 82 pp.


• No 3, June 1996: 67 pp.


• No 2, March 1996: 52 pp.


• No 1, December 1995: 70 pp.

[Cover Design: Alan Loney]

•

[Cover Image: Will Maclean]

Books:

• K. M. Ross. Falling Through the Architect. ISBN 0-476-01578-2. Auckland: The Writers Group, September 2005.


• Kendrick Smithyman. Campana to Montale: Versions from Italian. Edited by Jack Ross. ISBN 0-476-00382-2. Auckland: The Writers Group, October 2004.


• Jack Ross. A brief index: A breakdown by issue & author of 7 years / 26 issues of brief, the magazine formerly known as: A Brief Description of the Whole World / ABDOTWW / description / ABdotWW / Ab.ww / brief. &c., December 1995 – January 2003. ISSN 1175-9313. Auckland: The Writers Group, February 2003.
  
  
  • --. Supplement 1. A breakdown by issue & author of 3 years / 7 issues of brief ... June 2003 – May 2005. Auckland: The Writers Group, 2005.


• Sugu Pillay. The Chandrasekhar Limit and Other Stories. Auckland: The Writers Group, December 2002.


• Alan Loney. Reading / Saying / Making: Selected Essays. Auckland: The Writers Group, 2001.

[Cover Design: Janet Hunt]

Issue 43 (November 2011)

[Cover image: Ellen Portch, “untitled",
from the series Wall (2010)]

brief
Editor: Hamish Dewe
Number 43 (October 2011 [November 2011]):

Manon Revuelta / sleeve red of milken bees ... / 5
John Geraets / Poems - Stunning Debut: Willy's return / 6
Sarah Bogle / (Law school/ dichotomy / then smile) / 22
Scott Hamilton / Blackbirding - The Law of Equivalence - The Parachutist - Five Dreams - Osip - Invitation to a Stoning / 24
Richard von Sturmer / We Batten On / 38
Vaughan Rapatahana / ko mutu inaianei - no kai - Whetumatarau / 50
Stephanie Christie / Mindnight - An Argument / 55
Brett Cross / shadow / slink / 58
Lisa Samuels / from Life Sentence / 59
David Howard / Unemployment - Paperwork / 67
Iain Britton / in zambia / like elsewhere - & all that tactile stuff / 71
Ted Jenner / 'Wet traffic ghosting through the night' / 78
Giovanni Tiso / The Canto of Ulysses / 84
Bill Direen / Extract from Hyperbaton, or the Ballad of Rue Belliard (word 9692 to 10939) / 90
Jacques Coulardeau / Bill Direen: Devonport, A Diary, Esplanade / 96
Jen Crawford / Ahh - salt / 99
Notes on Contributors / 102

Issue 42 (May 2011)

[Front cover image: Sandra Bianciardi, “Terre et ombre"]

brief
Editor: William Direen
Number 42 (March 2011 [May 2011]):

Sarah Bogle / 4 Poems / 3
Ted Jenner / from Genius Loci / 7
William Direen / On 1st looking into Lisa Samuels' Mama Mortality Corridos / 9
Greg Kan / 3 Poems / 13
Jennifer Compton / Against the Silences to Come / 14
Marion Jones / 4 Poems / 16
Franco Bianciardi / Couronne I - Crown I - Personne - No one / 18
Orchid Tierney / 4 Poems / 22
Janet Charman / on the sliding rack - i thought that visit would be - the anthology of women's poetry / 26
Richard von Sturmer / Crossing the Mind / 32
Vaughan Rapatahana / 4 Poems / 33
Andrea Quinlan / A History of Haarige / 38
Jack Ross / Johnsons or Shits: Mike Johnson's Travesty / 40
Nick Ascroft / The random infinite / 45
Michael Morrissey / The (My) House / 48
K. M. Ross / Ballad of the Kitchen Corner / 58
John Adams / Did you hear the snicker ... / 63
Pip Adam / Alan MacDiarmid Building / 64
Andrew Dean / Writing the South: Landfall, Baxter and Frame / 65
Paul Veart / In lieu of flowers - John Logan's Long Shadow / 70
Bill Direen / Two Paris Exhibitions / 79
Giovanni Tiso / Too Loud a Solitude: Bohumil Hrabal / 80
William Direen / Extract from Hyperbaton / 83
Mel Rands / 4 Texts / 85
Scott Hamilton / Crossing the Plains: a journey in twelve notes / 89
Jill Chan / After coming back from nowhere, / 96
Hamish Dewe / 9 Poems / 98
Mick Borrado / Turning Japanese / 103
Notes on Contributors / 109

[Rear cover image: Sherry Hamid, “Sonar Hunter"]

Issue 41 (December 2010)

[Cover image: Richard von Sturmer, “Straps on Railway Freight Carriages"]

brief
Editor: Richard von Sturmer
Number 41 (November 2010 [December 2010]):

Richard von Sturmer / Editor's Note / 2
Simon Jackson / Question Mark - Apostrophe - The boy who didn't like bananas - 100 Years of the Poetry Society / 3
Marion Jones / Degrees of Whiteness - Sasha / 6
Andrea Quinlan / 2 Poems from Sedmikrásky /8
K. M. Ross / The Headless: Coleop / 10
Michael Harlow / Take five: composition for words and music - Short talk on a Sunday afternoon with John Cage - Day­book of thought-songs - Sweeping the courtyard / 14
Michael Farrell / thrills 2 - minimalism over two pages - simone de beauvoir / 19
Vaughan Rapatahana / no surface - pestilence - at Waikanae / 26
Iain Britton / Gestures - Apparitions - Punctured Experimental / 34
Lisa Samuels / Haptic radio / 42
Manon Revuelta / Meadowable - Voice, The - Re-veal / 45
Wystan Curnow / Altaussee / 48
Richard Taylor / again) - we did the Name Thing (when she was certain) / 50
Zarah McGunnigle / This would go on / 53
Jack Ross / Celanie: 5 Versions from Paul Celan / 54
Richard von Sturmer / Six Book of Equanimity Verses / 60
John Geraets / Extrapolations / 62
Michael Morrissey / 52 Questions in the Reel Life of a Stone Washed Man / 66
William Direen / Wednesday 9 / 74
Marty Blayney / Postrenku - Dust Pans / 78
Ngahuia Harrison / A Day of Visiting - Dirt / 80
Scott Hamilton / An Annotated Guide to Mungo National Park / 82
Dale Johnson / Permanent Change / 91

Reviews:

Roger Horrocks / Stunning Debut of the Repairing of a Life by Leigh Davis / 94
Elmar Ludwig / Kingdom of Alt by Jack Ross / 103
Notes on Contributors / 106

Issue 40 (July 2010)

[Cover image: John Dickson & Ted Jenner, “After Hours Return"]

brief
Editor: Ted Jenner
Number 40 (June 2010 [July 2010]):

Ted Jenner / Editor's Note /2
Richard von Sturmer / Conversations with Clarice /4
Jack Ross / Memoirs from beyond the Grave - Badges - Sor Juana lnés de la Cruz /9
Richard Reeve / Uptake /14
Sugu Pillay / The Tree in its Setting - Lindis Pass /15
S. Nadja Zajdman / Nana / 17
Michael Morrissey / Pre-Posthumous Meditation on Keats /19
Murray Edmond / Ecstasy: A Short Film - The Animals of the Bed ­ The Gates of Paradise /20
Vaughan Rapatahana / old Tom - from father through son to son / 24
Michael Estabrook / The Rumba with Patti - goats Oklahoma and frozen 30 candles - during the snowstorm - The Continuity of Life /30
Wystan Curnow / At the Hotel /33
William Direen / Hyperbaton or The Ballad of rue Belliard [ctd] /35
Michael Farrell / jill jones eyes - dear sincerely - cocoon /42
Michael Steven / Here, the Lovers - Blackburn's Last Strut /48
Anna Rugis / She tries to explain that thing she doesn't do ­ Exploding the Myth - Shift – Humidity ­ Marmalade Pudding /51
Hamish Dewe / Head Table - Auckland Star - 2009/56
Iain Britton / The Scarecrow /59
Ross Brighton / Birds /61
K. M. Ross / The Headless: Lucy /66
S. H. Hamilton / Twenty Theses Against Space and Time /70
Richard Taylor / Reading Things /80
Tony Green / lines from SKETCHES 59–61 /87
S. H. Hamilton / On the Island /90
Michael Harlow & Kit Powell / Devotion to the Small /98
Olivia Macassey / The Death of Porthos / 117

Reviews:

Ted Jenner / Enclosures by Bill Direen /119
Ted Jenner / The Tramconductor’s Blue Cap by Michael Harlow /123
Notes on Contributors / 131

[Cover image: Ted Jenner, "There We Go"]

Issue 39 (March 2010)

[Cover image: Ellen Portch, "Green"]

brief
Editor: Michael Arnold
Number 39 (December 2009 [March 2010]):

Michael Arnold / Editor's Note / 2
K. M. Ross / Thrash / 3
Janet Charman / 'look behind you' / 10
William Direen / Hyperbaton [ctd.] / 16
Vaughan Rapatahana / Aotearoa blues, baby - Encounter - Rata villa, Ngawhatu - wharenui / 24
Jack Ross / from The Puppet Oresteia / 33
Janis Freegard / Speaking of the Balloonist / 43
Jennifer Compton / Bungundah Does Things A Little Differently / 45
John Parkyn / Night of the Elephants / 47
Marion Jones / Apparition / 58
Scott Hamilton / St. Joseph's - The Suicider - Self-criticism - The Inland Sea / 59
Richard Taylor / Cold Moving Coldness - It Would Be a Mistake Not to Rise / 68
Belinda Diepenheim / Lake Rotoiti / 71
Ted Jenner / Mandolin - motuihe midden / 74
Richard von Sturmer / Yes / 76
Sarah Jane Barnett / The Picnic - Greece - Contours / 80
Stephanie Christie / Electroeneephalographia / 82
Brett Cross / Latona / 87
David Lyndon Brown / Sugartown 7 a.m. - Te Henga - Florilegium - Under the Museum - On the Jetty / 94
Andrew Burke / If the World is thought - Linfen Morning - From The Centre Out / 100
Michael Estabrook / 5 Snapshots in the Rain / 108
Lisa Samuels / Envoi - Love story - adorno - from Tender Girl / 109

Reviews:

Richard Taylor / EMO by Jack Ross / 116
Ross Brighton / Fragments Found in a 1937 Aviator's Boot by Kate Durbin / 122
Jen Crawford / Built, project. by Emma Phillipps - Wood by Jeanne Bernhardt / 124
Hamish Dewe / Free Fall by Rogelio Guedea / 127
Notes on Contributors / 130

Issue 38 (August 2009)

[Cover image: Emma Smith, "Wolfwhistler" (2007)]

brief
Editor: Jen Crawford
Number 38 (August [September] 2009):

Wystan Curnow / Blue Tips / 4
Emma Phillipps / that we move from plastic / 5
Ross Brighton / Blue Light - Metallic / 7
Joseph Cahill-Lane / C a l i b u r n / 8
Mez Breeze / <----[inter]Sections-A+B-> / 17
Lisa Samuels / Coop / 18
Richard Taylor / Marchenbilder / 23
Martin Edmond / Dungog - Rorschach Tests for Trees / 24
Sarah Broom / Heat / 26
Rachel O'Neill / Embarking on her other names / 27
Mark Young / from Genji Monogatari / 30
Alison Glenny / Mandoline / 32
Gareth van Sambeek / from Transgender Horse / 33
Janet Charman / The Honeymoon Bath / 38
Jack Ross / The Assassination Weapon - Anzac Day / 46
Rangi Faith / Homage To The Pufferfish / 49
joanne burns / is pointing still considered rude - whom did you expect / 50
John Geraets / Colourless leaves / 52
Richard von Sturmer / Train Notes / 53
Andrew Burke / Happy Hour / 56
Scott Hamilton / Eripene / 57
Mariana Isara / ink jet transfusion / 59
William Direen / Extract from Hyperbaton / 61
Gus Simonovic / One of Us / 70
Anna Rugis / Travelling Light / 72
Craig Cliff / Space For A Thousand Secrets / 73
Jennifer Compton / A Small Town on the Coast / 74
Douglas Barbour / Rose / 76
Cameron Hockly / Watching / 79
Tony Green / A Miscellany [2006 -2008] / 80
Murray Edmond / This One That One - Miniature / 84
Will Christie / C/rea[c]t/e / 86
Ian Finch / Revolving Wormhole - Organ of Corti / 87

Reviews:

Jack Ross on Martin Edmond's The Supply Party / 89
Ross Brighton on Ted Jenner's Writers in Residence and Other Captive Fauna, Sandy Florian's The Tree of No, and Lara Glenum's Maximum Gaga / 94
Notes on Contributors / 100