Preface

Let’s begin with some basic details. The Writers Group, and its quarterly magazine A Brief Description of the Whole World (now brief) were founded in December 1995 by Alan Loney. Now, some twenty-odd years later, we’ve reached issue #54, albeit with five changes of name, and seven different managing editors: Alan Loney (1995-98), John Geraets (1999-2002), Jack Ross (2002-05), Scott Hamilton (2005-07), Brett Cross (2007-9), Michael Arnold (2009-12), Alex Wild (2013-15) and now Olivia Macassey (2016- ).

In that time, the magazine has published over 333 authors & artists in 53 issues -- 10/11, 30/31 & 44/45 were double issues, and numbers 12 & 48 were single book-length issues. The Writers Group has also published five books: Alan Loney’s Reading / Saying / Making: Selected Essays (2001), Sugu Pillay’s The Chandrasekhar Limit and other stories (2002), Jack Ross's A brief Index (2003 / Supplement 1, 2005), Kendrick Smithyman’s Campana to Montale: Versions from Italian (2004) and K. M. Ross’s novel Falling through the Architect (2005).

As it has throughout this period, the magazine continues to specialise in technically adventurous literary and graphic work, by acknowledged (and newly discovered) innovators. Pageworks, critical articles, poems and fictional texts are all equally welcome.

Enquiries are welcome, and can be directed to the present managing editor, Olivia Macassey, by email, or by post to the following address:

brief
1416 Kaiaua Road
RD 3
Pokeno 2473
Auckland
New Zealand