History

From 2013 to 2015, TSR published a quarterly print zine, before moving to an annual print anthology alongside a rolling program of digital publishing from 2015 to 2016. 

We adopted our current model of quarterly digital publishing in 2017, developing a themed issue of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, comics, and visual art every three months. Issues are distributed directly to TSR subscribers, and are also available to purchase individually through our website.

TSR has been the work of many hands throughout its history. Our past staff members, including guest editors, are T.J. Robinson, Anupama Pilbrow, Zoe Kingsley, Andie Browne, Josie/Jocelyn Deane, Chris Gooch, Holly Isemonger, Dinu Kumarasinghe, David Mahler, Panda Wong, Maya Pilbrow, Megan Payne, Mikayla Bamford, Svetlana Sterlin, LinLi Wan, and Erin McFadyen.

Programs 

Our internship program was established in 2020, offering a paid pathway into publishing for early-career editors. While we tailor each internship to the interests of the individual, interns with TSR generally learn the ropes of digital publishing across copy-editing, proofing, production, web management, and any other areas of interest. We open applications to this program every six months via our website and social media channels. 

Our Jumpstart a Journal program is an annual workshop for emerging editors, writers, designers, and anyone keen to learn how journal publishing works. Established in 2021, the program is digitally delivered across three weeks in winter. From each iteration of the workshop emerges an issue of Hills Hoist, a digital journal edited primarily by participants in the Jumpstart a Journal program.

Board

In 2021, we became an incorporated association, and began operating as a membership organisation (which you can join!) led by a Committee. 

We’re grateful for the guidance of our first and current Committee Directors: Sarah Runcie (President), Anupama Pilbrow (Vice President), Mirela Cufurovic (Secretary), Celina Lei, Panda Wong, and Luke Patterson.

Partnerships 

We’ve been pleased to partner with organisations and individuals in our local publishing sector throughout our history, including: 

• Red Room Poetry
• The Stella Prize
• NIDA
• Jinghua Qian
• Kingston Arts’ Artz Blitz, an initiative of Kingston Council, and
• Story Factory
• National Young Writers Festival

Editor-in-Chief: Alison J Barton

Alison J Barton’s poetry is widely published in Australian and international literary journals. Her work has been recognised in numerous prizes, and appeared in Best of Australian Poems. She was the inaugural winner of the 2023 University of Cambridge First Nations Writer-in-Residence Fellowship, and been granted several other residencies around the world. Her first full-length collection of poetry, Not Telling, was published by Puncher & Wattmann. She is a Wiradjuri woman based on Wadawurrung Country, and is currently completing a PhD at The University of Cambridge.

Deputy Editor: Sarah Pearce

Sarah Pearce is a poet, editor and researcher living and working on unceded Kaurna Country (South Australia). Her work appears in Aeternum, Outskirts, Meniscus, Writing from Below, TEXT, The Suburban Review, Overland, Cordite, Rabbit and various anthologies, including Best of Australian Poems 2023. She has held residencies at Adelaide City Library, FELTspace gallery, Gunyah (NSW) and Island View Writers’ House (SA), performed at Blenheim and Adelaide Fringe Festivals, and was the recipient of a 2024 Literary Fellowship at the State Library of South Australia. She writes about embodiment, queer experience, mental and physical health, and the environment.

Art Editor: Tahney Fosdike

Tahney is a writer and editor from Pomberuk living in France. Her arts criticism and non-fiction bylines can be found in Artshub, Australian Book Review, Metro Magazine, Art Almanac, Zee Feed, Mamamia, and Archer Magazine, among others. She works as a content specialist supporting creative & cultural individuals/organisations while also curating and critiquing arts writing in her monthly newsletter Sticky Teeth.

Editor The Regional Review: Claire Albrecht

Claire is a poet and editor from Mulubinba (Newcastle) now based on Wiradjuri Country (Parkes NSW). Her work has been published widely in Australia and internationally. She was the 2019 Emerging Writers Festival fellow at the State Library of Victoria, a 2020 Varuna ‘Writing Fire, Writing Drought’ fellow, the 2021 West Darling Arts Writer in Residence, and a 2022 resident at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in New Mexico, USA. Claire’s published books include pinky swear and handshake, and her poem ‘The Anabranch’ won the 2022 Newcastle Poetry Prize. Claire is Editor of The Regional Review.

Associate Editor: Ruby Hillsmith

Ruby Hillsmith is a writer, editor and poet living on Wurundjeri land. She was a Writers Victoria Writeability Poetry Fellow, a Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellow, and co-editor-in-chief of the 31st edition of RMIT’s Visible Ink. She has mentored local and national Writeability groups on behalf of Writers Victoria.

Associate Editor: Grace Duval

Grace is a Kamilaroi and Dunghutti writer and editor living on Yugambeh land. Mostly self-published, her work explores themes of Indigenous identity, the pain and pleasure of nostalgia, and the universal experience of connection. Her pieces My fear of death hit me at the casino, The End Never Comes As Expected, and She Always Takes It Back were featured in an indie exhibition, End of Our World in Meanjin in 2024.

Associate Editor: Maki Morita

Maki is a writer, editor and performance-maker living on Wurundjeri country. For theatre, she has written 月を見る夜 Moongazing (La Mama), and Trash Pop Butterflies, Dance Dance Paradise (Theatre Works). Her prose and poetry have appeared in Cordite, Island Magazine, The Suburban Review, Mascara Literary Review, Portside Review, and more. She has exhibited work at Linden New Art. Maki was a 2022 Wheeler Centre Playwright Hot Desk Fellow, resident at Sapporo Tenjinyama Art Studio, and artist at Emerging Writers Festival and National Young Writers Festival. 

Submissions Manager: Alisha Brown

Alisha Brown is a writer, editor, and musician born on Kamilaroi land with ties to Wonnarua, Yuin, and Gadigal Country. She won the 2022 Joyce Parkes Women’s Writing Prize, placed second in the 2021 Woorilla Poetry Prize, and was nominated for the 2025 Pushcart Prize. You can find her work in Westerly, Griffith Review, Cordite, the Australian Poetry Anthology, and Blue Bottle Journal, among others. She was a featured artist in the 2024 Emerging Writers’ Festival and her website is alishabrown.com.au.