AustLit

The Melbourne Literary Club was founded in June 1916. Its object was the study of literature and the encouragement of Australian writers who were unable to find a place for their poetry in mainstream magazines. To this end, the little magazine Birth was inaugurated in December 1916.

Acting as the official organ of the Melbourne Literary Club, Birth printed the poetry of club members and other writers. Never rising above an eight-page publication, the magazine allowed little space for contributions and offered no payment. Nevertheless, a long list of writers contributed poems and reviews during the six years of the magazine's existence. The most prolific contributors were R. A. Broinowski, Bernard O'Dowd, Henry Tate, Louis Lavater, Frederick Macartney and Furnley Maurice. Other contributors included Mary Gilmore, Hugh McCrae, Mary Fullerton, Dorothea MacKellar and Vance and Nettie Palmer. In later issues, the magazine printed reviews of new books (often books written by members), details of the club's meetings and activities, and Frederick Macartney's series of essays called 'The Beginnings of Australian Poetry'.

The first issues were edited by William Mitchell and Gilbert Wallace. Bernard O'Dowd began his three-year term as editor in June 1917. O'Dowd was replaced in 1920 by Frederick Macartney, and Frank Wilmot (Furnley Maurice) edited the magazine in its final twelve months with the assistance of Louis Lavater. Throughout this period Wilmot printed the magazine free of charge on the small press he operated from his home.

When the Australian Institute of the Arts and Literature was formed in 1922 many Melbourne Literary Club members left for the newer organisation. Birth was subsequently published under the auspices of the Institute, but the magazine was unable to continue through these changes. The editors announced in November 1922 that the issue of Birth for that month would be the last.

In 1924 the public servant Robert Broinowski (q.v.) was poetry editor of Stead's Review. Broinowski also founded and edited the poetry magazine, Spinner, enhancing the network of literary associates first established when he was a member of the Melbourne Literary Club and contributor to the club's literary magazine, Birth.

Birth had ceased production in November 1922, but Broinowski saw the need for a magazine devoted to poetry, providing opportunities for poets who were unable to publish their work elsewhere. In the first issue of Spinner, Broinowski outlined the aims of the magazine: 'The Spinner comes before the public of Australasia to render them service, to sing them a song or two, to chant them ballads and tales of all lands, to intone the philosophy of Nature, to paint in words pictures of the city, the mountains, the plains, the farmlands, and the blue hosts of the sea.'

The Australasian scope included many writers from New Zealand and other countries, but contributors were predominantly Australian. While critics such as H. M. Green (q.v.)dismiss the value of Spinner in a few sentences, Broinowski attracted around one hundred and thirty contributors, reflecting the animation of Melbourne's literary culture in the 1920s. In addition to Broinowski, other contributors included Dorothea Mackellar, Zora Cross, Mary Gilmore, Louis Lavater, Frank Wilmot, Robert Henderson Croll, Kate Baker, George Mackaness, John Shaw Neilson, Marie Pitt and Alexander Vidler (qq.v.). The relatively high number of female contributors for the time has been noted by several commentators.

When the Federal Government moved to Canberra in 1927, Broinowski was transferred from his Melbourne base. Without the network of friends and literary associates, he was unable to continue as editor of Spinner and the magazine ceased production. The last issue of Spinner appeared in December 1927. Annual collections of Spinner were bound and published as Poetry in Australasia.