The website of the same name has existed since September 2009 and features a vibrant mix of reviews, author interviews, literary anecdotes and industry news. This first hard-copy issue goes a step further by including short fiction, cartoons and non-fiction commentary.

“Most readers equate literary journals with medicine: they’re good for you, but they taste awful,” says editor Rebecca Starford. Her mission is to publish “literature that bites back”.

Fortunately, KYD lives up to its editorial hype.

A wide variety of literary journals are published in Australia, but they do often live up to the medicinal comparison. KYD is fresh and entertaining, featuring witty and enthusiastic new voices.

I may be a little cynical in suggesting it is also a clever marketing ploy to feature an article on the “Demise of Australian literary reviewing” as its first piece. Gideon Haigh writes about the woeful state of the current reviewing scene, suggesting reviewers no longer provide adequate insight into what makes a book “good” or “bad”.

Fans of local publication Wet Ink will recognise similarities with KYD. The short fiction pieces are fine examples of the work our PhD writing students produce these days. My favourite piece is Emmett Stinson’s Clinching; Stinson just happens to be fiction editor of Wet Ink. The literary publishing world is indeed a small one.

Tracy Crisp’s Whatever Works: Abu Dhabi, Edinburgh and Stand-up Comedy had me laughing out loud on the bus, as did Georgia Gowing’s Talk Derby To Me: The All-Grrl Underground Roller Derby Scene.

An interview with Sarah Waters, who is appearing at Writers’ Week, was a nice touch – budding writers always want to read about the writing life and, let’s face it, it’s usually only writers who read journals like KYD. But for those of you reading this review who do not have any literary bent of your own, let me assure you that KYD is every bit as enjoyable as its website promises: “Kill Your Darlings is independent, smart and ridiculously good-looking. Just like you.”

– Samantha Bond

Writers’ Week is at the Pioneer Women’s Garden from February 28-March 5. Guests include overseas authors Sarah Waters, Audrey Niffenegger, William Dalrymple, Irvine Welsh and Marina Lewycka, alongside Australian writers such as Tom Keneally, Markus Zusak, Michelle de Krester and Peter Temple.