About HEAT

HEAT is a controlled intensity. Noise is our enemy, and rubbish, and imposture. We stand for a simple integrity. And for writing which is committed, passionate, innovative and adventurous.

HEAT is a distinguished Australian literary journal renowned for its dedication to literary quality, and its commitment to publishing innovative and imaginative poetry, fiction, essays, criticism and the hybrid forms.

The first issue of HEAT was published in July 1996, in the wake of the Demidenko Affair, in which an Australian author of English background posed as Ukrainian in order to gain credibility for her Holocaust-inspired novel. The anger provoked by this hoax accounts in large part for the magazine’s name, and a commitment to the publication of genuinely diverse writing.

The aim of the magazine has always been to publish innovative Australian and international writers of the highest standard. Fifteen issues were published in the first series, from 1996 to 2000, with internal design by Toni-Hope Caten and covers by Harry Williamson. It was followed by the new series of HEAT, designed by Harry Williamson, with twenty-four issues published between 2001 and 2011. The editor for the first two series was Ivor Indyk.

The third series of HEAT commenced publishing bimonthly in 2022, in a new design by Jenny Grigg. It is edited by Alexandra Christie, with the support of a distinguished editorial board. Rather than appearing as a magazine in book form with a large cast of contributors, as was the case with the first two series, the third series appears in a more intimate format, intended primarily for circulation to subscribers by mail, with individual issues available from selected independent bookstores. The new design throws the focus more sharply on the individual writers featured in each issue, and allows for more flexibility in the presentation of prose works of shorter or greater length, and longer poems or poetry sequences.

HEAT’s contributors have included Murray Bail, John Berger, Judith Beveridge, Tony Birch, Roberto Bolaño, Brian Castro, Inga Clendinnen, Gao Xingjian, Helen Garner, Lisa Gorton, Jorie Graham, Gail Jones, Kapka Kassabova, Etgar Keret, Deborah Levy, David Malouf, Charles Mann, Herta Müller, Gerald Murnane, Les Murray, Π.O., Dorothy Porter, Gig Ryan, Charles Simic, Alexis Wright and Xi Chuan. 

Writing and artworks from past issues of HEAT will be freely available to browse on our website, with additions made regularly. We are committed to making this rich archive of literary practice accessible to a new generation of writers and readers.

HEAT is open for submissions. Learn more here.

Editor

Alexandra Christie

Designer

Jenny Grigg

Copy Editor

Aleesha Paz

Marketing

Kate Prendergast

Editorial Board

Chris Andrews
Mieke Chew
J.M. Coetzee
Lucy Dougan
Lisa Gorton
Bella Li
Suneeta Peres da Costa
Tamara Sampey-Jawad
Alexis Wright
Ashleigh Young

Publishers

Ivor Indyk
Evelyn Juers

Associate Publisher

Nick Tapper