There is some variance in quality, the essays often more assured than the fiction, but collectively the writing feels risky and entertaining. If the range of thought on display is united by one theme it is a sense of fragmentation, often represented formally. Many describe a sense of impending loss, or coping with loss. Yet the anthology is also concerned with what comes next, where hope glimmers.

Shaun Prescott, in his essay on Sydney’s now-on-life-support counter-culture scene – described through an examination of the city’s path-breaking but underappreciated metal band Sadistik Exekution – hopes for a resurgent rebellion. ‘It doesn’t have to be the most heavy,’ he writes, ‘but it should be the most something.’ This anthology suggests that The Lifted Brow shares this philosophy. Australia is lucky to have a literary journal pursuing its program with such fierce enthusiasm.