Varnish is a literary journal dedicated to ensuring that exceptional written works last.

Proudly independent, we believe that a greater number of journals that are art-driven rather than profit-driven nurtures a broadening space for literary culture; more opportunities for writers to be published grants readers access to a greater diversity of voices.

Our aim is to publish evocative written art with timeless beauty, with the writer’s vision enriched and preserved beyond the moment in which it is published. We encourage writers to find joy in language and be inventive with form.

Our online collection, Varnish Online, is a gallery dedicated to exhibiting writers whose careers could falter without their first publication, those still on the outside of the constrained publishing industry.

Varnish is based on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin and we pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.