The ambit of Offset is broad; the journal includes not only fiction, poetry, and artwork, but also music, short film, and photography. The latter three are presented on an accompanying CD and DVD, though perhaps a more interesting choice would have been to see these forms showcased digitally, given the many ways that journals can now create ancillary online presences.

Too many of the pieces rely on death or trauma or surrealist kicks to provide drama; after a while, the cumulative effect can be repetitious. But others stand out for their surety and their restraint. Among these is Zoe Simbolon’s ‘In Footscray is Pleasure’, a fragmentary piece about growing up between Indonesia and Australia. Simbolon has a keen eye for detail and the prose is beautifully observed, recounting flashes of life both in Medan and Melbourne’s western suburbs. Fotina Musumeci’s ‘Absent in Three Parts’, equally resonant, charts a young girl’s slow, troubled withdrawal from the world with both confidence and vulnerability. Of the photography, Micah Garfinkel’s gritty urban pieces are a highlight, as is the music of Gabriela Haddad.