Great Ocean

There have been some really wonderful surfing publications come out in the last 5 years or so. Kurungabaa: a journal of literature, history and ideas from the sea is obviously the one most close to my own heart, but White Horses and Wax Magazine are other stand outs for me. As these publications have appeared, I've been really stoked watching the surf magazine scene diversify both in form, content and contributors. The key is that they are not surf magazines in the sense that surfing is the key focus. Rather, they are focused on thing oceanic whether they be surfing, sailing, swimming, diving, art, music, science, scholarship, history, the environment, sex, culture, politics or any other manifestation of that theme. Surfing in and of itself is actually pretty boring really (Oh come on. It is!), so by broadening out the focus these publications have revived this part of culture of surfing.

So I have been excitedly awaiting the appearance of a new kid on the block, Great Ocean, the first issue of which will be available at the end of this month.

Over the winter we’ve been up to something, avoiding offshores, ducking social occasions and resisting all forms of televised sport while we worked away to bring you the launch edition of Great Ocean Quarterly, a journal of art, literature, history, science and more; a compendium of ideas and inspirations welling up from the briny deep. 

Featuring the very best writers, artists and photographers, Great Ocean seeks to explore our complex relationship with the sea, not only along our own shores, but around the globe.

Great Ocean emerged from the vision of the wonderful, clever and humble Mick Sowry, whose work I came to know through his blog and through his work on Musica Surfica and The Reef (which I will review soon, I promise!). With Mark Willett and Jock Serong on board, the venture has been in the works for some time, so it's great to see it emerge into the world with this beautiful, summery cover.

Of course, to continue, ventures like this need people to read up, so if you would like to become a subscriber, you can get involved over here on the Great Ocean website. In addition to the goodies on offer, 5% of the cover price of every GOQ copy sold is donated to the Indigenous Literature Foundation, meaning this is a publication that has a sense of humanity and social conscience, as well as good looks.

Get involved!