AustLit

Interviewed while editing the first issue, Lena Skipper stated: 'Pandemonium will endeavour to approach world and Australian affairs from a realistic angle. It will look at art, literature and drama from a sane viewpoint. It has no policy other than the quest of truth, and it will try to provide intelligent Australians with what we lack at present - a window unclouded by propaganda.' (All About Books, 6(2) 1934: 45)

In 1933 Mervyn Skipper briefly left his job as the Melbourne representative to the Bulletin to establish the short-lived monthly magazine Pandemonium, returning at a reduced rate of pay when it failed. Beginning in February 1934, Pandemonium 'satirised a wide range of contemporary topics from capitalism and imperialism to Australian censorship and communist peace movements.' In addition the magazine included book reviews, theatrical notices, articles on Australian literature and short stories by Skipper, Percy Leason and Vance and Nettie Palmer. Failing to attract enough attention to become economically viable, Pandemonium did not last a year, ceasing production after the January issue of 1935. (Oxford Companion to Australian Literature)