SA Newspapers: Literary

This early literary magazine was published by John Stephens of the Register newspaper. Police trooper George Hamilton contributed stories to its pages.

Adelaide Miscellany began as a revival to the Adelaide Musical Herald. It was published by printers Walter Simms and Joseph Elliott, and regularly included supplements of sheet music (songs), composed by Elliott. There were also articles about musical theory, history and biography. Most of the content was literary, with serials and poems by well known local amateurs: 'Ellie' (Ellen Debney), 'Clotilde', 'Myrtle' and 'Agnes Neale' (Caroline Agnes Leane). A chess column and quiz page completed the small magazine, while the back and front pages contained advertisements for Adelaide businesses. The magazine was forced to close after just one year, through lack of subscribers.

An earlier publication by John Stephens had the same title.

This was a short-lived musical and literary magazine. It was published by Joseph Elliot and Henry Pounsett. Both men were keen musicians and had newspaper connections. As well as music, the magazine also published poems, brief news items (often describing local concerts), short stories, a chess column and a fashion column.

Several local poets had work published in the Adelaide Musical Herald, in particular 'Leila', 'Frances', and 'Ellie'. Ellie was Ellen Elizabeth Turner, Frances was Emma Frances Baker (Mrs W J Anderson), daughter of the Rev. E Baker of Morphett Vale. She later died in Mauritius. Her epic poem The witness spray was published in the magazine over its final two issues.

Adelaide Review was founded by Mark Jamieson, with Gina Roncondi as editor. From the third issue, Christopher Pearson, the Advertiser arts editor, joined the team. He became editor in July. Under his leadership, the circulation quickly rose to 20,000 and the Review became a free newspaper. Contributors in this period included Peter Ward, Peter Goldsworthy, Lance Campbell, Michael Vanstone, John Bray, and later Federal politicians, Malcolm Latham and Tony Abbott. Restaurant reviews were contributed by Howard Twelftree. In 2003 the Spanish media entrepreneur, Javier Moll, took over Adelaide Review. In 2004 it became a fortnightly publication. From 2008 it returned to monthly publication. Margie Budich joined the Adelaide Review as an executive director in 2007, with Lachlan Colquhoun as editor.

This was published as a literary supplement to the Adelaider Deustche Zeitung.

The Australisches Unterhaltungsblatt was published as a supplement to the Sud Australische Zeitung.

The Critic was a popular newspaper covering the social scene of Adelaide in the late 1890s and early twentieth century, with articles, social notes, photographs and cartoons. It also covered sport, mining, fashion and the theatre, with later issues including literary news and poetry submitted by readers. The newspaper was also the official organ of the Automobile Club of South Australia, giving coverage to early South Australian motoring.

This was a literary supplement to the Neue Deutsche Zeitung fur Australien.

This was essentially a literary and satirical newspaper founded by CJ Dennis with other staff of the Critic. Novelist Alice Grant Rosman wrote for the journal as 'Aunt Tabitha'. Oswald Pryor was the cartoonist.

The Mirror was a short-lived comic paper published by the engraver Joshua Payne. The chief artist was Alfred Clint, principally known for his stage design work in Melbourne and Sydney. Clint went on to contribute cartoons to the long running Lantern.

This was South Australia's first comic magazine. It was published by the colourful early newspaper man James Allen, of the Adelaide Times. Each issue contains an almanac for the month, with phases of the moon, historic dates and weather reports. The Monthly Almanac is also filled with parodies, puns, send-ups and cartoons. It includes South Australia’s first comic depiction of Aborigines, one in which Europeans are the butt of the joke. Various character types were satirised by Allen, particularly 'new chums,' who were portrayed as impractical snobs. There are derogatory references to the reporting of Allen's newspaper rivals, the South Australian Register and the South Australian Gazette and Mining Journal. Interesting business advertisements are printed on the outer coloured wrappers. The printer was Thomas Strode, an important Australian colonial newspaper man. The engraving was probably the work of Penman and Galbraith.

This small religious newspaper was the work of the gifted but unbalanced lawyer, Paris Nesbit. With his sister Agnes Benham, he was interested in the 'new thought' movement of the 1890s, with its socialism and sexual reform. Benham contributed book reviews and articles on religious topics. Poems by local and other contributors featured largely, particularly in the early years. Nesbit took a strong political stance, advocating the nationalising of the legal profession to enable access for the poor. He also suggested divorce law reform and more employment opportunities for women. The newspaper was strongly against the 'White Australia' policy. After four months Nesbit handed the editorship to the John Newton Wood, who took an interest in spiritualism and vegetarianism. The final issue discusses socialism and the Broken Hill strikes. It includes an article about effective voting by Catherine Helen Spence.

Journalist George Isaacs produced this single issue magazine while writing plays and poems, and contributing articles to several newspapers. Isaacs usually wrote under the pen name A. Pendragon. Despite good reviews, no further issues of the magazine were published. The prohibitive cost of printing was probably the reason for the magazine's demise. The magazine contained poems, essays and short stories. Most of the content was probably by Isaacs. An interesting item is an Australian murder story, 'Who was the sixth?' by 'G.N.'. A poem by Isaacs, 'The myrtle', was later set to music. Isaacs went on to become a co-founder of the Gawler Bunyip.

The Observer was established by John Stephens with a country readership in mind. Stephens claimed it would be apolitical, and this was largely the case throughout the Observer’s long life. In 1845 Stephens also purchased the Register, and the Observer became a weekly summary of the Register’s daily news. Many articles were simply copied from the daily title. By 1852 the Observer appeared in two editions. First was an early country edition sent to Burra and other country places on Fridays. A second 'town edition' appeared on Saturday morning. As the rail network spread through the 1870s, the delivery of city newspapers to the country eroded the need for the country weekly summary and the focus of the Observer changed to week-end leisure reading. While still summarising the week's news, it included literature, a 'ladies column', agricultural articles, etc. Adelaide’s earliest women journalists and aspiring writers had work published in the Observer. This included Catherine Helen Spence, Winifred Scott and Ellen Liston. From 1902 a regular four-page photographic supplement was included. Earlier supplements had appeared intermittently since September 1895.

This was a free literary supplement published with the Adelaide Observer from 1875. The small 16 page magazine lasted for five years. Its content consisted of stories, articles, poems, puzzles, riddles and a chess section. The amount of material contributed by local writers varied, but was often as much as half of the content. The rest consisted of poems and serials copied from English and American magazines. All the items in the 'Riddler' section were contributed by local readers. Some well-known South Australians of the time were contributors. This included Catherine Helen Spence, Catherine Martin, George Wilkinson and Nathaniel Hailes. The Miscellany ceased at the end of 1879 as part of the re-vamping of the Adelaide Observer. From January 1880 the new look Saturday newspaper included an extensive literary section, still with many of the Miscellany regulars, including Atha, Maurice, G.B.W. (George Wilkinson) and Robert Bruce.

The word 'pasquin' refers to a lampoon, or satire, but also to criticism or protest against a government. This journal was owned and largely written (in its first two years) by Eustace Mitford. Mitford was a keen critic of Adelaide society and politics, usually through allegory. He also wrote about colonial literature, the theatre and horse-racing. Such was the admiration for his work that the journal was reprinted in London in 1882. The original journal included cartoon supplements. Three of these cartoons are held in the State Library pictorial collection.

Only one issue of William Cawthorne's illustrated newspaper is known to have survived. Cawthorne previously published the Illustrated Adelaide Post, a local version of the Illustrated Melbourne Post. His obituary claimed he was ‘the first to introduce illustrated newspapers for regular sale in the colony’ (Adelaide Observer, 2 October 1897, p. 35). The Review was largely an advertising medium for his shop, but also contained reviews of English periodicals sold by Cawthorne. The editorial contained comments on Adelaide religious happenings, in particular Bishop Shiel's denouncing of the Irish Harp during ongoing debate involving Mary MacKillop and her order of sisters.

In 1863 the Advertiser purchased Adelaide's first evening newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, and began a new title, the Adelaide Express. This eventually became simply the Express, but varied its title at different periods. As an evening newspaper it contained condensed news from the columns of the morning Advertiser, and brief more recent news items. It also published the literary work of both established and budding writers and poets. In many respects the evening press came into its own during the First World War, as the telegraph for the first time was used to provide continuous updates of the conflict. Through this period Adelaide’s two evening newspapers (the Express and the Journal) published up to four editions per day. In 1923 the weekday publishing rights of both the Express and the rival Journal were purchased by the newly established News. However, the separately published Saturday Express continued until 1929, when it merged with the Register’s Saturday Journal to become the Express and Journal.

The Journal (originally titled Evening Journal) was established by the Register in 1869 as an afternoon newspaper. It summarised the morning headlines and printed sports results. It was also published as competition to the Advertiser’s evening newspaper, the Express. During the First World War the Journal was an important means of disseminating information about the conflict by publishing various editions, including a ‘special cable edition’. The Saturday edition was a larger issue with week-end reading matter, including sports and humour. The Journal was a place where hopeful writers and poets might have their work published. In 1923 the weekday publishing rights of both the Journal and the rival Express were purchased by the newly established News. However, the separately published Saturday Journal continued until 1929, when it merged with the Advertiser’s Saturday Express to become the Express and Journal.

The Saturday Mail was an offshoot of the (Sunday) Mail, published by Clarence Moody. This was one of three titles Moody founded in 1912, the third being the Sporting Mail. Early issues of the Saturday Mail were largely devoted to sport, the theatre, cinema news and short stories. The advent of the First World War saw a major change to reporting, with ongoing updates as news of events poured down the telegraph lines. In 1915 Herbert Syme took over the Mail newspapers.

South Australia's first literary journal was published by the newspaper editor/owner James Allen. At the time Allen was editor of the Southern Australian. Later he owned the South Australian Register and Adelaide Times newspapers. He published several small journals. The South Australian Magazine was arguably the best of these. Later it was edited by Thomas Young Cotter.

This magazine was largely for members of the Odd Fellows Lodge, proceeds went towards their fund for widows and orphans. As well as news for members it included literary contributions and scientific and other articles.

This early literary magazine was published by John Stephens of the Register newspaper. Police Trooper George Hamilton was a contributor to this journal.

This was a short-lived ultra-conservative political journal. Abraham Davis was the publisher and created much comment during its two-year life. Davis was opposed to South Australia's democratic government, universal suffrage and the secret ballot. Adelaide's two daily newspapers lampooned their new ‘adversary’, "The policy of our contemporary is out of date and impracticable." (South Australian Advertiser, 7 January 1860, p. 2-3) Davis was also accused of being prejudiced against the working classes. (Thursday Review, 5 January 1860, p. 3) Apart from political comment, the most regular feature was poetry. A number of local poets had work published in the journal, in particular 'Ellie' (Ellen Debney).

This newspaper was published by George Howell for the South Australian Branch of the Independent Order of Good Templars. The order was established in Adelaide in 1872 by journalist Edwin Derrington. Apart from its fellowship and mutual support aspects, the Good Templars also promoted abstinence from alcohol. Articles in the newspaper discuss this and the work of the various branches across South Australia. There are also reports of the Independent Order of Rechabites and other lodges. 'Agnes Neale' (Caroline Agnes Leane), a well-known local writer, provided a serial story for the newspaper about the affects of drinking. The Tribune appears to have been a continuation of an earlier newspaper, the South Australian Templar.