Philament is a refereed journal of arts, literature and culture (online ISSN 2652-3299; print ISSN 1449-0471), founded in 2003 by postgraduate researchers at the University of Sydney.
The journal brings together scholarship, criticism and creative work across disciplines and institutions. It published until 2020, and its published scholarship and creative work remain freely available in the archive.
Editorial tradition
Philament emerged in 2003 from the postgraduate student community in the University of Sydney’s Department of English. Edited and published by students, it provided a free online forum for scholarship, critical discussion and creative practice in the literary arts and cultural studies. Its ambition extended beyond Sydney: the first issue brought together postgraduate researchers and other writers from several universities, including Indiana University.
That breadth shaped the journal’s contents. The first issue grouped work under Commentary, Critique and Creativity, with poetry and fiction appearing alongside scholarly articles. In later issues, the Excursions section provided a home for creative and experimental work. Academic articles underwent blind peer review, while reviews and Excursions were selected and edited by the editorial collective.
The journal’s roots in English connected it with a wider arts community at Sydney. During its publication history, the department sat within the School of Letters, Art and Media, subsequently named the School of Literature, Art and Media. English is now part of the School of Art, Communication and English.
Open access and support
Philament made its contents freely available to support the exchange of knowledge. The journal received financial support from the Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA).
Future publication
Philament welcomes expressions of interest from scholars interested in forming a new editorial collective and renewing the journal as a voluntary, open-access scholarly venture. Building on its postgraduate origins and interdisciplinary remit, this would be a shared commitment to supporting emerging scholarship and creative work. To discuss taking part, please contact Christopher Rudge.
Original website archive
Earlier versions of Philament’s website are preserved by the National Library of Australia through PANDORA, now accessible through Trove. The archive lists issues 1–18, preserving earlier web presentations and, for issue 16, a complete-issue PDF. Browse the archived website by date.
Early editorial collective
The archived About page from February 2004 names the following postgraduate students as the editorial collective.
- Rebecca Beirne
- Kate Flaherty
- Samar Habib
- Caroline Hamilton
- Michelle Kelly
- Kieryn McKay
- Stephen Sheehan
- James Smith
- Timotheos Roussos
- Helen Young
Past editors and editorial collective
- David Adams
- Shumille Arif
- Mark Azzopardi
- Sophia Barnes
- Kate Barnsley
- Rebecca Beirne
- Jacinta van den Berg
- Christopher Black
- Bernadette Cantrall
- Meegan Capsopoulos
- Bonny Cassidy
- Jo Chipperfield
- Radhiah Chowdhury
- Emma Cole
- Karen-Anne Coleman
- Kate Colleran
- Patrick Condliffe
- Stephanie Constand
- Patrick Cronin
- Diana Denley
- Sam Dickson
- Robin Dixon
- Stephanie Downes
- Angie Dunstan
- Kate Flaherty
- Ariana Grabrovaz
- Samar Habib
- Emma Halpin
- Caroline Hamilton
- Luke Harley
- Dreu Harrison
- Miranda Heckenberg
- Shyamalika Heffernan
- Jessica Ison
- Sue Johnson
- Michelle Kelly
- Aziza Kuypers
- Roberta Kwan
- David Large
- Alexandra Lewis
- Deirdre Linkiewicz
- Stephen Mansfield
- Patrick Marland
- Kieryn McKay
- James McLeod
- Elaine Minor
- Lachlan Montgomery
- Alys Moody
- Natasha Moore
- Robbie Moore
- Estelle Noonan
- Will Noonan
- Julian Pinder
- Phoebe Poon
- Natalie Quinlivan
- Sabina Rahman
- Lydia Saleh Rofail
- Timotheos Roussos
- Jessica Sands
- Rebecca Santos
- Kirsten Seale
- Stephen Sheehan
- Liz Shek-Noble
- James Smith
- Lucas Thompson
- Lindsay Tuggle
- Anna Wallace
- Kim Wilkins
- Helen Young
- Christopher Rudge
- Evelyn Corr
- Jonathan Dunk
- Ella Collins-White
- Jennifer E. Nicholson
- Samantha Poulos
- Ben Eldridge
- Isabelle Wentworth
- Blythe Worthy
- Tegan Schetrumpf
- Nanda Jarosz
- Annalise Pippard
- Megan Buys
- Sydney Nicholas
- Vivien Nara
- Ruby Kilroy
Past advisory board
The early advisory board comprised Don Anderson, Judith Barbour, Judith Beveridge, Drusilla Modjeska and Margaret Rogerson. Later advisers included the following.
- Judith Barbour
- Judith Beveridge
- Guy Davidson
- Laura Ginters
- Melinda Harvey
- Ivor Indyk
- Ivar Kvistad
- Kieryn McKay
- Margaret Rogerson
- Timotheos Roussos
The 2021 advisory board comprised Peter Marks, Lucas Thompson, Sarah Gleeson-White and Laura Ginters, of the University of Sydney.
Website contributors
Caroline Hamilton designed the original website, with Hugh Blair credited as technical officer in 2004. Caroline Hamilton, Miranda Heckenberg, Alys Moody and Patrick Condliffe maintained successive versions. The website launched in 2019 was designed and developed by Elle Williams. It was subsequently lost following a hosting server crash. Christopher Rudge is restoring the archive and developing a redesigned website in 2026.
Contact
For archive corrections, guest-edited issue proposals or expressions of interest in the editorial collective, please contact Christopher Rudge, University of Sydney.