Bruce Marlowe, Sydney
Seeing Red, the new magazine of social, political and cultural dissent recently initiated by the Socialist Alliance, is going through its launch phase. Last week the magazine "blasted off" in four east coast cities — Sydney, Wollongong, Lismore and Brisbane.
The upper floor at the well-known Sydney inner-city bookshop Gleebooks was the site of the ANZAC Day Sydney launch of Seeing Red. A crowd of 70 people was treated to a witty presentation on the new magazine by University of Western Sydney lecturer and writer Scott Poynting.
He welcomed the arrival of a magazine that would "see red" in a world where Rosa Luxemburg's choice "socialism or barbarism" was more pressing than ever, and where it was necessary to "see red" in a serious, open and informed way.
The first issue of the magazine had met this test of seriousness, openness and readability, Poynting said. Discussion at the launch centred on the sorts of themes the magazine should tackle in future issues, especially with regard to the coming federal election.
In Wollongong, the Old Court House was the site of the April 28 launch of Seeing Red. Editorial board member Humphrey McQueen and managing editor Dick Nichols told an audience of 40 about the conception of the magazine, and how it had been born.
McQueen stressed the wide variety of contributors to the first issue, as well as its status as a symbol of the commitment and dedication which is the hallmark of the left at its best.
Nichols outlined the editors' ambition to use the magazine bring together a new, broader left public. He emphasised that this would not happen unless Seeing Red's readers also became its contributors.
Bill Mason reports from Brisbane that 40 people crowded into the upstairs room of the Broadway Hotel in Woolloongabba on April 30 to hear McQueen launch the new magazine. McQueen spoke warmly of the reception the publication had received in his tour of cities over the past few weeks. He said that "working together with other members of the Seeing Red editorial collective was a model of collaboration for the Socialist Alliance; articles were edited but not censored".
McQueen added: "With our 2000 or so members of the Socialist Alliance, we can reach out with this magazine and learn from the 20 million other Australians out there" as part of rebuilding the socialist movement in this country. He urged the audience to become contribute articles and artwork, and help distribute the new magazine. Discussion at the launch focussed on ideas for getting Seeing Red out to a wider public.
In Lismore, Tom Flanagan reports, 30 people came to the Seeing Red launch, held on April 28. The main speaker was McQueen, fresh from a Socialist Alliance Southern Cross University forum on "The business of war".
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, May 5, 2004.
Visit the