Landfall Tauraka celebrates 250 issues

Landfall Tauraka is celebrating its 250th edition with a new name, a literary symposium, a special exhibition and a bumper issue. Laura Hewson talks to those involved about the evolution of Landfall and why it’s still going strong after nearly 80 years of publication.

Avid consumers of Landfall – now Landfall Tauraka – may notice that the 250th edition looks a little different.

Founded in 1947, Landfall Tauraka (published by Otago University Press) is a biannual periodical dedicated to New Zealand poetry, fiction, essays, art, criticism and reviews.

Editor Dr Lynley Edmeades says the 250th edition – which is being launched at a special event this week – will introduce an updated design as well as the new name, which ‘honours the journal’s founding principles while embracing its contemporary kaupapa as a harbour for diverse expressions of creativity, critical thought and artistic practice’.

‘This refreshed title, generously gifted to us by the Office of Māori Development, reflects our ongoing commitment to providing a vibrant gathering space for the broad spectrum of imaginative work being made in Aotearoa.’

The special 250th edition, which boasts an extra 80 pages, will also debut the Craft Interview with a kōrero between Lynley and award-winning poet Bill Manhire, and will include reflections from writers on the journal’s enduring impact.

Lynley – who also teaches creative writing at undergraduate and master’s level at Otago, coordinates the new Master in Creative Writing and is a published author and poet – has been Editor of Landfall Tauraka for four years, but was a contributor and reviewer before that.

She’s in excellent company. More than 2,500 contributors have appeared in the journal over the last 78 years, including Colin McCahon, Patricia Grace, Fiona Kidman, Ralph Hotere, Catherine Chidgey, Charlotte Grimshaw, Witi Ihimaera and Chris Tse.

But the journal isn’t the domain of established writers and artists only. Lynley actively tries to place new writers and artists alongside more established ones in the pages of Landfall Tauraka, she says.

‘I’m always looking for new voices, new ideas, new ways of representing the country we live in; but equally, I want to put these voices in conversation with those who have been working in the craft of writing for a long time.

‘I was lucky to be mentored by the late, great Vincent O’Sullivan, who really encouraged me in this way. He was always such a champion of the craft, regardless of who was writing. He taught me to trust my instincts.’

Otago University Press (OUP) Publisher Dr Sue Wootton says that after nearly 80 years of continuous publication, it’s hard to imagine Aotearoa’s literary landscape without this ‘iconic journal coursing through it’.

‘There are other journals, and each one also contributes to a healthy, vibrant cultural landscape, but Landfall Tauraka remains an essential reference point for anyone interested in the arts and literature in contemporary Aotearoa.’ – Sue Wootton

‘The 80 issues published under Charles Brasch’s editorship from 1947–1966 are like the headwaters of what has evolved to become a major awa – a river that carries with it every voice that has ever contributed to it, and that is constantly collecting new voices to enrich the evolving flow.

‘There are other journals, and each one also contributes to a healthy, vibrant cultural landscape, but Landfall Tauraka remains an essential reference point for anyone interested in the arts and literature in contemporary Aotearoa.’

Every issue is like a glimpse into the zeitgeist, Sue says.

‘Landfall Tauraka is a living thing, always growing, always evolving. It reflects Aotearoa New Zealand society in our moment even as the times are changing around us.’

Some of the changes in recent years include the creation of Strong Words – a biennial anthology of some of the best entries from the Landfall Tauraka Essay Prize – and the launch of the Landfall Tauraka Short Story Series, which aims to publish one collection a year, alternating between established and emerging writers. There has also been a concerted push for works in te reo Māori to be submitted, both with translation and without.

*For anyone interested in viewing early editions, the Landfall Archive site has free digital access to all the journal issues up to 1987, with further issues continuing to be added over time.

Landfall Tauraka 250 Symposium

To mark the 250 milestone, Lynley is hosting a one-day symposium this Friday, which has been funded by Te Kete Aronui – Division of Humanities.

‘It will be interesting to scholars and academics, but also writers, reviewers, anyone with stakes in literature and the arts more widely conceived,’ Lynley says.

‘We will hear from historians, reviewers, scholars, and creative writers about what Landfall Tauraka means to the wider literary ecosystem, how that has changed and the potential for it to continue to contribute in the future. Especially in the face of AI.

‘There will also be a good dose of gossip, I reckon!’

Special guests include authors Tina Makereti, Paula Morris and some of the contributors featured in Landfall Tauraka 250. Sue will also host a panel interview with Lynley and three previous editors – Chris Price, David Eggleton and Emma Neale – called ‘Landfall’s Living History’.

‘I will be asking them what they think of the journal now and what they had hoped to impart when they passed the baton on. I am also looking forward to asking them how they see Landfall Tauraka in the larger literary context, in New Zealand, and in the future of print journals,’ Sue says.

Landfall by design

Otago University Press Production Manager Fiona Moffat estimates that she’s designed around 40 Landfall covers during her time at OUP.

‘I started doing the covers around issue 214, and took over typesetting the whole journal from 225, after I moved back to Dunedin and returned to working full time.’

Landfall is a valuable archive of art and typography in Aotearoa from the mid-twentieth century, she says.

‘It’s a great way to show what’s turning heads in the visual arts scene here. It’s always exciting to see what’s been selected and then come up with a design to support and showcase that.’

The Editor chooses the art for the cover, the two portfolios and the back page, and representation is always at front of mind, Lynley says.

‘I always look for something fresh and interesting. I have a great love for photography, so many of my chosen covers have been photographs, except for Landfall 248, which was the incredible portrait of Vincent O’Sullivan by Simon Richardson, published a few months after Vincent passed away.

‘After deciding on the artist and inviting them to send me some work, I work with Fiona and the artist to decide what image would make the most striking cover. Fiona has a great eye.’

For Fiona, the process of designing Landfall Tauraka is led by the artwork that features inside that particular edition, she says.

‘The covers really design themselves. The artist and editor normally suggest one or two, and I mock up some different ideas for colour and text placement. These are circulated and a favourite emerges.

‘It’s interesting that we usually all agree pretty quickly.’

Spines, apparently, are crucial, Fiona says.

‘Often that’s all that’s visible to browsing customers. Landfall Tauraka has had various cover styles – and generally great typography – over the years, with colour on the spines first appearing on issue 158.

‘Since 2000 we’ve gone for bright and bold colours and, 50 issues later, a shelf of Landfall Tauraka is a joy to behold.’

And while she loves them all, she does have a few favourites, she says.

‘To my eye there’s something very pleasing about Landfall 222 with art by Miranda Parkes; 235 with a painting by Kathryn Madill, and 242 – Lynley’s first issue – featuring work by Conor Clarke in collaboration with members of the blind and low-vision community, with Braille text and accompanying audio links.

‘I do, however, love Leo Bensemann’s graphic design for 81 perhaps the most.’

‘There have been a few redesigns over the years, including the last one in 2000. The latest redesign being introduced with Landfall Tauraka 250 has a slightly smaller format, so it’s easier to slip in your jacket pocket,’ she says.

‘While the previous design was great – especially the generous format that allowed for wide lines of text and plenty of white space – tech updates were causing problems with fonts, and we felt issue 250 was cause to celebrate and declutter.

‘There are still 208 pages though, and still 16 pages of full-colour art.’

Fiona’s hope for Landfall Tauraka is that it continues to attract fresh and strong voices from all around the region.

‘The design supports the thought-provoking themes and creative work contained within Landfall Tauraka, and should present that work at its best, within the constraints of the page.’

The Landfall Tauraka 250 Exhibition

You can get the inside story on the oldest living arts magazine in Aotearoa New Zealand at a special exhibition opening this week.

Head Curator Published and Special Collections (Hocken/University of Otago Library) Kirstie Ross says the Landfall Tauraka exhibition will ‘explore facets of this foundational literary journal, which has been both an agent provocateur and a safe harbour for Aotearoa’s writers, artists and thinkers throughout the years’.

‘It’s a real privilege to mark this milestone with displays of literary and artistic taoka from Hocken Collections, as well as texts from the library of the first Editor housed in Special Collections, and Otago University Press’s own collection of Landfall Tauraka.

‘While curating the exhibition, I’ve enjoyed reading unique archival items that show how the idea and reality of Landfall evolved, and stumbling upon some juicy correspondence related to judging Landfall’s first poetry award held in 1953, written by famed short story author Frank Sargeson.’

Kirstie says the vintage typewriter, which featured in the Critic exhibition earlier in the year, is coming out again.

‘For anyone who feels inspired to use old tech to type a literary masterpiece – maybe a submission for issue 251 of Landfall Tauraka?’

When: Friday, 17 October 2025 to Friday, 27 February 2026
Where: Special Collections, de Beer Gallery, First Floor, Central Library