JAAM (Just Another Art Movement) is a literary journal published by the JAAM Collective in Wellington, New Zealand. It was founded in 1995 by Mark Pirie and other members of a writer’s group at Victoria University.
JAAM has since grown into a popular national literary journal and receives funding from Creative NZ/Toi Aotearoa. It has a strong emphasis on promoting the work of younger and emerging Aotearoa/New Zealand writers, while still publishing the work of international writers and established New Zealand authors.
JAAM usually has a guest editor for each issue, who will sometimes have a set theme in mind. The co-managing editors of JAAM are Helen Rickerby and Clare Needham, who have both been involved with JAAM since its inception.
JAAM prints fiction, poetry, essays and artwork, including photography. It publishes a diverse mix of voices, including experimental, cutting-edge work.
Contributors to appear in JAAM have included Australia’s John Forbes, Ken Bolton, Pam Brown, John Kinsella, Malaysia’s K S Maniam, Thailand’s Pira Sudham, Zimbabwe’s Dambudzo Marechera, and from New Zealand Vincent O’Sullivan, Lauris Edmond, Fleur Adcock, Albert Wendt, David Eggleton and Sam Hunt.
At the same time it has been influential in promoting a new wave of young New Zealand writers, including Mark Pirie, Helen Rickerby, Scott Kendrick, Tracey Slaughter, Tim Jones, Jo Randerson, Anna Jackson, Nick Ascroft, Ingrid Horrocks, Jenny Powell-Chalmers, Jeanne Bernhardt.
Co-managing editors
Clare Needham is a writer and lawyer. She has worked as in-house legal counsel at Penguin Books UK, production manager for the stage show spectacular Maui: One Man Against the Gods, and a theatre and dance producer. She has been involved in JAAM since its inception.
Helen Rickerby is a poet, publisher and web editor. Her first collection of poetry was Abstract Internal Furniture (HeadworX , 2001) and her second was My Iron Spine (HeadworX 2008). She runs Seraph Press, a botique publishing company that’s gaining a reputation for publishing high-quality poetry. She can often be found blogging at wingedink.blogspot.com.
July 6th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
I teach a class at Salt Lake Community College in Salt Lake City, Utah called Pacific American Studies. I found one of your stories called “A Sister’s Story” by Lani Young and am wondering how I can obtain previous copies of your publications. I will be subscribing for future issues but would like to read previous issues to see if there are stories I can use in my Humanities class. I am also an aspiring writing and will keep checking to see when new submissions are being taken. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you!
July 7th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Thanks for your comment Michelle. We do have some back issues available for purchase. I’ll contact you directly soon to let you know what we have (once I’ve hunted through the boxes). Thanks so much for your interest.
October 3rd, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Hi I live in auckland and would like to know where can I purchase a copy of this journal.
Thanks and kind regards,
To’asavili Tele’a
October 5th, 2011 at 7:44 pm
Hi To’asavili. You can order one directly from us (just email us at jaammagazine@yahoo.co.nz) or you can pop along to one of the stockists listed on our subscribe page. In Auckland, you have a lot of choice:
Parsons Bookshop in Auckland (26 Wellesley Street East)
Time Out Bookshop, Auckland (432 Mt Eden Road)
Unity Books, Auckland (19 High Street)
University Bookshop, Auckland
The Women’s Bookshop, Auckland (105 Ponsonby Road)
Thanks!