Note: The following article originally appeared in Bookseller + Publisher
Island Magazine will continue to be produced in 2012 following the announcement by the Australia Council's Literature Board that it will fund the publication in 2012 with a one-off grant of $60,000 in addition to annual program funding the publication receives through the board.
In a statement, Dennis Haskell, chair of the Literature Board, said the literary journal needed ‘time to develop a new business model'.
The Australia Council said in its statement that Island Magazine will explore new sources of funding and ‘opportunities offered by digital production and distribution' as part of its funding agreement with the Literature Board, in order to ‘work towards a higher level of self-sufficiency'.
Until the one-off grant was announced the journal's future had looked uncertain, following the news that support from Arts Tasmania, which represented two thirds of the publication's funding, would not continue after this year.
‘Island has a distinctive character presenting a Tasmanian perspective on Australian issues and Australian writing, and highlighting eco-criticism and environmental creative writing,' said Haskell. ‘The Literature Board does not want to see this important magazine slip from view.'