This issue of Southerly is titled 'Elemental' and isconcerned with our experience of the elements in anera of climate change. The four elements of classicalthought (earth, fire. water, air) align with what we nowcall four states of matter and hence to what is termedthe 'material turn' in contemporary debates in thehumanities. This material turn seeks new ways ofunderstanding the physical world and is motivated bythe urgency of shared vulnerability on the planet. InAustralia this experience of extreme weather, includingfloods and fires, embroils the entire ecosystemincluding literary ecologies. This issue considers arange of Australian writers who address the modernexperience of the elements in their volatility andmagnificence, raising questions, recording andresponding to matter as the matter at hand. Elemental includes essays by Angela Rockel, MorenoGiovannoni, Ian Buchanan, George Kouvaros, RoslynJolly, Michael Hooper, Gabrielle Dixon-Ritchie andothers.