The Lifted Brow

Australian literary organisation and magazine

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The Lifted Brow is both the name of an Australian not-for-profit literary organisation (also less well known as the TLB Society Inc.), and the quarterly print literary magazine/journal it publishes. It also publishes its books through its Brow Books imprint, and posts original work on its website, stages events, runs writing contests, and more. Founded in Brisbane, the headquarters was quickly established in Melbourne and it has been based there since.

## History[edit]

TLB was established in 2007 by Ronnie Scott, and then run from 2012 to 2020 by Sam Cooney. It is currently on an extended hiatus. It is a not-for-profit literary organisation which also runs the book publishing imprint Brow Books. It has been funded in part by Creative Victoria and the Australia Council, as well as other funding bodies. The organisation is run by volunteers.[1]

In April 2020 The Lifted Brow announced a pause in operations following an investigation by the board into allegations of sexual misconduct and unprofessional conduct by TLB workers.[2] Following this investigation, many of the staff, along with the entire governing board, resigned. A new board installed themselves in mid-2020 but no activity has occurred since.[3]

## The Lifted Brow[edit]

The Lifted BrowEditors| Justin Wolfers, Jini Maxwell

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Categories| Literary magazines
Frequency| Quarterly
Publisher| Sam Cooney
Founded| 2007
Country| Australia
Based in| Melbourne
Language| English
Website| theliftedbrow.com
ISSN| 1835-5668

The Lifted Brow is an Australian quarterly print literary magazine/journal. There is also a digital version available.

### History and profile[edit]

The Lifted Brow was established in 2007 by Ronnie Scott and edited by him until 2012. In 2012 Sam Cooney took as editor until 2014 when he handed over editorial duties to Ellena Savage, Stephanie Van Schilt and Gillian Terzis who edited the publication for a couple of years, before Annabel Brady-Brown and Zoe Dzunko took over in 2016. The magazine was also edited by Justin Wolfers, and then Jini Maxwell, who co-edited until 2020.[4]

Contributors who have appeared in the magazine include Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Wayne Koestenbaum, Helen Garner, Anne Boyer, Douglas Coupland, Roxane Gay, Heidi Julavits, Tom Bissell, Eileen Myles, Margo Lanagan, Tracy K. Smith, Diane Williams, Sam Lipsyte, Sheila Heti, and thousands of others.[citation needed]

Loosely falling under the literary journal category, the magazine features longform non-fiction and fiction, flash fiction, commentary, criticism, poetry, as well as artwork, drawings, comics, and music. Early versions of the publication were a perfect-bound journal format, and then in its middle years it embraced the tabloid newsprint format, before in 2015 evolving to the high-quality matte magazine format that is currently published four times annually. For a few years editions of The Lifted Brow included an arts and cultural lift-out called 'Middlebrow', which featured film, book, and television reviews, and articles profiling new video games, theatre, and music. Some editions have been themed; themes have included "Food", "Music", "Capitalism", "Medicine", "Art", and "Perth". The theme for December 2019 was "Digital Intimacies". The most successful issue ever of the magazine in terms of impact and sales was the Blak Brow edition,[5] edited and designed and managed entirely by Australian First Nations people, and publishing only First Nations contributors.[citation needed]

In 2013 TLB published its first anthology: The Best of The Lifted Brow: Volume One.[6] Edited by Ronnie Scott and celebrating the first five years of the magazine (2007–2011). It featured Jim Shepard, Karen Russell, Daniel Handler, Lisa Brown, Heidi Julavits, Adam Levin, Karen Coin, Rick Moody, Robert Shearman, n a bourke, Glen David Gold, Blake Butler, Michaela McGuire, Liam Pieper, Romy Ash, Luke Ryan, Tao Lin, Benjamin Law, Benjamin Kunkel, Christos Tsiolkas, Tom Cho, Alice Pung, and Elspeth Muir. The second volume[7] of The Best of The Lifted Brow was published in November 2017 and included contributions from Eileen Myles, Wayne Macauley, Paola Balla, Peter Polites, Margaret Atwood, Margo Lanagan, Darren Hanlon, Upulie Divisekera, Fiona Wright, Safia Elhillo, Ellena Savage, Ryan O'Neill, Briohny Doyle, Chris Somerville, Adam Curley, Rosanna Stevens, Shaun Prescott, Pip Smith, Nic Low, Rebecca Harkins-Cross, Wendy Xu, Matthew Hickey, Sam George-Allen, Zora Sanders, Nic Holas, Regrette Etcetera, Oscar Schwartz, Dion Kagan, Jana Perkovic, Danez Smith, Eugenia Flynn, and Khalid Warsame.[citation needed]

In 2015, The Lifted Brow launched its annual Prize for Experimental Non-fiction,[8] which first went to Oscar Schwartz for his piece 'Humans Pretending to be Computers Pretending to be Humans', judged by John D’Agata, Daniel M Lavery, and Rebecca Giggs. The 2016 prize judges were Helen Macdonald, Kate Zambreno, Dodie Bellamy and Maria Tumarkin, and they declared W.J.P. Newnham's piece 'Trashman Loves Maree' the winner. In 2017 the judges were Eileen Myles, Wayne Koestenbaum, Leslie Jamison, Fiona Wright and Claudia La Rocco, and the winner was 'An Architecture of Early Motherhood (and Independence)’, by Stephanie Guest and Kate Riggs. In 2018 judges Nadja Spiegelman, Ander Monson and Ellena Savage chose 'big beautiful female theory' by Eloise Grills as the winner. In 2019 Timmah Ball, Chris Kraus and Quinn Eades judged, with 'TRETINOIN' by Jean Bachoura the winner.

In 2015, The Lifted Brow won the inaugural 'Best Original Non-fiction' prize,[9] judged by Shazna Nessa and Lynn Barber, at the Stack Magazines awards,[10] beating out over 170 other titles. After being shortlisted several more times over the years in several of the award's categories, they won 'Best Original Non-fiction' again in 2019.[11]

As of March 2020 there had been 45 issues of The Lifted Brow published. In April 2020 The Lifted Brow announced a pause in operations following the global COVID-19 pandemic and also an investigation by the board into sexual misconduct and unprofessional conduct by a TLB worker, which found the allegations either untrue or unable to be resolved.[2] Following this process, the board resigned en masse; a new board consisting of staff members installed themselves in mid-2020.[3]

## Brow Books[edit]

In 2015, The Lifted Brow announced that it was expanding into book publishing.[12] Brow Books was created in 2016 to publish the authors and books that established publishing houses were largely ignoring due to perceived lack of commercial viability.[13]

In 2018, the Brow put out a call soliciting manuscripts translated by Australians. "If you are translating a work from a language that is underrepresented, we want to hear from you."[14] The Brow also entered into a co-publishing agreement with Tilted Axis, a nonprofit dedicated to publishing contemporary Asian literature. The agreement gives Brow right of first refusal in Australia and New Zealand for Tilted Axis titles.[15]

### Published works[edit]

2016[16]

* The Island Will Sink[17], the debut novel of longtime Lifted Brow contributor Briohny Doyle[18]

2017

* Shaun Prescott's debut novel The Town[19]
* Law School by Benjamin Law and Jenny Phang, with illustrations by Beatrix Urkowitz[20]
* The Best of The Lifted Brow: Volume Two[21]

2018

* Axiomatic[22] by Maria Tumarkin, a Stella Prize shortlisted novel
* Apple and Knife, a collection of short stories by Indonesian writer Intan Paramaditha, translated by Stephen J Epstein of Victoria University of Wellington[23]
* Pink Mountain on Locust Mountain[24], Jamie Marina Lau's Stella Prize shortlisted debut novel
* Han Yujoo's The Impossible Fairytale, translated from Korean by Janet Hong[25]
* One Good Turn[26], the first book of Mary Leunig's illustrations to be published in 25 years[27]
* Small Beauty, by debut author Jiaqing Wilson-Yang[28]
* Balancing Acts: Women in Sport, edited by Justin Wolfers with Erin Riley.[29] Contributors to this non-fiction work include Brunette Lenkic, Imogen Smith, Jodi McAlister, Nicole Hayes, Danielle Warby, Kasey Symons, Emma Jenkins, Erin Stewart, Ellen Van Neerven, Kate Doak, Holly Isemonger, Gina Rushton, Charlotte Guest, Katerina Bryant, Nadia Bailey, Savannah Indigo, Stephanie King, Laura Buzo, Roslyn Helper, and Rebecca Slater.
* Going Postal: More Than 'Yes' or 'No', edited by Quinn Eades and Son Vivienne[30]

2019

* Comic artist Mandy Ord's When One Person Dies The Whole World is Over[31]
* This Young Monster by Charlie Fox[32]
* Bright by Duanwad Pimwana, the first English language novel by a Thai woman to appear outside of Thailand.[33] The text was translated by Mui Poopoksakul

2020

* The Relationship is the Project: Working with Communities, edited by Jade Lillie with Kate Larsen, Cara Kirkwood and Jax Jacki Brown[34]
* Apsara Engine by Bishakh Som[35]
* Dizzy Limits: Recent Experiments in Australian Nonfiction, an anthology edited by Sam Cooney and Freya Howarth

### Signed works[edit]

Brow Books had signed several books for publication before its hiatus began in early 2020. Most authors elected to leave and sign their books with other publishing houses in 2020, including:

* Gunk Baby by Jamie Marina Lau, a novel now with Hachette Australia
* Dropbear by Evelyn Araluen, a poetry collection now with University of Queensland Press[36]
* Big Beautiful Female Theory by Eloise Grills, a narrative non-fiction work now with Affirm Press
* Stone Fruit by Lee Lai, a graphic novel not yet signed by another Australian publisher
* Anam by André Dao, an autofiction/autotheory work not yet signed by another publisher
* Traumascapes by Maria Tumarkin, a new edition of this non-fiction work
* Vietnamatta by Stephen Pham, a collection of writings not yet signed by another publisher
* Happiness by Nicky Minus, a graphic novel/book-length comic not yet signed by another publisher
* At Night He Lifts Weights by Kang Young-sook (translated by Janet Hong), a short fiction collection not yet signed by another publisher
* Fuji by Jamie Marina Lau, not yet signed by another publisher

## See also[edit]

* List of literary magazines

## References[edit]

1. ^ "'The Lifted Brow' to partner with 'McSweeney's' | Books+Publishing". Retrieved 13 May 2023.
2. ^ a b "A Message from the Board of TLB Society Inc".
3. ^ a b "Sex scandals push literary mag to brink". The Australian. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
4. ^ "Masthead". The Lifted Brow. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
5. ^ ""Fuck Australia": Blak women take over The Lifted Brow magazine". STACK magazines. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
6. ^ "The Best of the Lifted Brow: Volume One | Penguin Books Australia". Penguin. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
7. ^ "THE BEST OF THE LIFTED BROW: VOLUME TWO". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
8. ^ "PRIZES". The Lifted Brow. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
9. ^ "The Stack Awards 2015: The winners! – STACK magazines". STACK magazines. December 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
10. ^ "The Stack Awards". STACK. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
11. ^ "The Lifted Brow wins 'Best Original Non-Fiction' at international Stack Awards (for the second time)!". The Lifted Brow. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
12. ^ "The Lifted Brow Expands into Book Publishing". The Lifted Brow. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
13. ^ ""Brow Books", MPavilion". Archived from the original on 23 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
14. ^ "Sunday Submissions: Brow Books". ARABLIT & ARABLIT QUARTERLY. 8 July 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
15. ^ "Tilted Axis partners with Australian press Brow Books". The Bookseller. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
16. ^ "Shop". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
17. ^ "THE ISLAND WILL SINK by Briohny Doyle". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
18. ^ Vaarwerk, Alan (1 December 2016). "First Book Club: An interview with The Lifted Brow's Sam Cooney". Kill Your Darlings. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
19. ^ "THE TOWN by Shaun Prescott". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
20. ^ "LAW SCHOOL by Benjamin Law and Jenny Phang". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
21. ^ "THE BEST OF THE LIFTED BROW: VOLUME TWO". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
22. ^ "Tumarkin, Maria. Axiomatic, New South Books". Archived from the original on 23 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
23. ^ ""Brow Books Book Launch: Apple and Knife", New Zealand Festival". Archived from the original on 23 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
24. ^ "PINK MOUNTAIN ON LOCUST ISLAND by Jamie Marina Lau". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
25. ^ "THE IMPOSSIBLE FAIRYTALE by Han Yujoo". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
26. ^ "ONE GOOD TURN by Mary Leunig". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
27. ^ "Review: One Good Turn by Mary Leunig, Brow Books". ArtsHub Australia. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
28. ^ "SMALL BEAUTY by Jiaqing Wilson-Yang". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
29. ^ "BALANCING ACTS: WOMEN IN SPORT". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
30. ^ "GOING POSTAL: MORE THAN 'YES' OR 'NO'". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
31. ^ "WHEN ONE PERSON DIES THE WHOLE WORLD IS OVER by Mandy Ord". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
32. ^ "THIS YOUNG MONSTER by Charlie Fox". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
33. ^ "BRIGHT by Duanwad Pimwana". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
34. ^ "THE RELATIONSHIP IS THE PROJECT: WORKING WITH COMMUNITIES". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
35. ^ "APSARA ENGINE by Bishakh Som". BROW BOOKS. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
36. ^ "UQP acquires Araluen poetry collection 'Dropbear'". Books+Publishing. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2022.

## External links[edit]

* The Lifted Brow website
* Brow Books website
* Review of Issue 7 on Crikey
* Review of Issue 29 on TEXT Journal
* Publication overview in The Times Literary Supplement
* S. Cooney profile