About

What we are

Djed Press is an online publication that exclusively works with and publishes Bla(c)k creatives and other creatives of colour (POC).

Djed’s main purpose is to address the insufficient representation of marginalised peoples within the Australian literary landscape today. We are committed to increasing diversity and visibility especially in a time where racial tensions around migrants, people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds, Muslims and First Nations peoples are high, both here on home soil and overseas.

We seek out, develop and present new works by Bla(c)k and other POC creatives, with a special interest in those with intersecting identities. We believe that by having greater representation within Australian publishing, an industry that drives social standards, we will collectively be able to better shape and drive the literary landscape.

Our team

Djed Press was founded by Hella Ibrahim in late 2016.

Editorial Director
Melanie Saward

Managing Director
Rafeif Ismail

Interim Submissions Editor (2020)
Jinghua Qian

Admin Co-director (2017-2019)
Dalilah Thalib

Assistant Editor (2018-2021)
Suzanne Garcia

Editorial Mentees (2018)
Tracy-Kate Watts
Suzanne Garcia
Jennifer Nguyen

Freelance editors

Poetry and The Moment series
Vidya Rajan (2017, 2018, 2019)
Jordy Buchholz (2018)
Nadia Niaz (2018)

Commentary and Prose
Jinghua Qian (2018, 2019, 2020)
Ava Amedi (2017)
Jordy Buchholz (2017, 2018)
Nadia Niaz (2017, 2018)
Lana Nguyen (2017)

Fiction and Stories We Grew Up With
Nadia Niaz (2018)
Gem Mahadeo (2017)
Sangeetha Thanapal (2017)
Marisa Wikramanayake (2017)

Who are people of colour?

We use ‘people of colour/POC’ as a solidarity term, to capture those who are neither Bla(c)k [First Nations Blak, and/or Black from the African diaspora and elsewhere] nor white/of European descent, to put it in the broadest terms. We also use the term with the understanding that, while useful, it is a term derived from American political usage and history and doesn’t always translate into an Australian context; it is also an umbrella term that can homogenise the experiences of the multitudes of people who fall under the umbrella. At Djed, while we continue to use the term, we do so while being cognisant of the fact that there is no single identity, and there is no single story.

Please note that for the purposes of this project and with the understanding that this definition is subject to improvement, people of colour means people who experience ongoing discrimination, oppression and systemic racism today because of their race and/or culture. In the slightly paraphrased words of Loretta Ross, it’s a political designation, not a biological destiny.

What’s a djed?

The djed pillar (Arabic: جد or عمود جد) comes from Ancient Egypt. It’s the symbolic backbone of Osiris, God of transition, resurrection and regeneration (more commonly, of the dead and the afterlife) and represents stability. The djed pillar is often depicted with the Ankh, the Was scepter and the Tjet. It was an important part of a ceremony called ‘raising the djed’, representing Osiris’s triumph over his brother Set.