Tensions are running high at The Australian newspaper over the editorship of its storied literary supplement, with respected helmsman Stephen Romei shunted from his position in favour of the paper’s Higher Education editor Luke Slattery.

On Wednesday, Romei announced his departure from the Australian Literary Review, a position he has held for four years, but notice of Slattery’s controversial ascension is yet to be spruiked in the broadsheet’s pages.

The switchover has led to suggestions in literary circles that the ALR could become a forum for a revival of the culture wars. As Higher Education Editor, Slattery has pursued a sustained campaign against “deconstructionism” in university courses which has proved popular with The Australian‘s conservative core.

News Limited insiders say Romei was surprised and disappointed by the decision and say that the diktat was handed down from on high with no official warning. He is apparently yet to receive a full explanation from Australian editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell.

The title had also been struggling financially. Last November, University of Melbourne Vice Chancellor Glyn Davis declined to renew a three-year funding deal worth $350,000 per annum. ALR‘s other main source of funding came from the Australia Council although that $150,000-a-year sum expired on June 30.

The removal of Romei may have been based on a quid-pro quo arrangement Slattery had struck with Mitchell. Crikey can reveal Slattery was a key player in a recent, yet-to-be-announced, $500,000-a-year deal with the Group of Eight universities to keep the title afloat. It is believed his higher education contacts were a crucial factor in getting the deal done.

Group of Eight Policy Director Bernadine Caruana told Crikey that as part of the pact, negotiated at the organisation’s last two board meetings, ALR content would henceforth be sourced from academics aligned with sandstone institutions around the country.

The ALR was founded in September 2006 under the editorship of Stephen Matchett before Romei took over in 2007 as a joint venture between News, the University of Melbourne and the Australia Council. Further financial support was provided by the Pratt Foundation, which pays for a monthly philanthropy column.

In a blog post announcing his departure, Romei said: “I am sad to be leaving the ALR, which I have invested a lot in, and which I believe fills an important gap in mainstream Australian journalism, but that’s life in this business (and in most businesses for that matter).”

Romei has taken over as Literary Editor from Miriam Cosic at the national broadsheet, overseeing the Saturday Review section and day-to-day happenings in the literary world. Cosic will now take on a senior writing role.

A number of senior Australian literary figures were reluctant to talk about the fracas to Crikey, citing their keenness to land a future writing gig.

Romei was also reluctant to talk, and was this morning preparing to chair two sessions at the Brisbane Writers Festival, including an interview with star of the moment Jessica Rudd.

“I’ve been moved from the ALR to take over as Literary Editor, responsible for the weekend books pages and day-to-day coverage of the literary world and any questions need to go to Chris Mitchell,” said Romei.

Over his four year tenure, Romei was renowned for his ability to source exclusive musings from around the world before they appeared elsewhere. Geoffrey Blainey, Inga Clendinnen and Germaine Greer were all regular contributors.

In one famous coup, he managed to woo Princeton University-based critic Michael Wood to review a Thomas Pynchon novel that later appeared in the Times Literary Supplement.

Slattery previous edited the ALR‘s pre-cursor publication, the Australian Review of Books, which shut-up shop in 2001. He succeeded Shelley Gare and current Australian feature writer Kate Legge and was generally regarded as the standout in that trio.

Melbourne University Press chief Louise Adler said that the university withdrew funding partly because of the pressure on the publication to cut costs by employing a larger proportion of News Limited staff writers:  “It was a question of emphasis. There was always budgetary constraints around external contributors and internal staff writers and our preference was for more externals and that’s what we wanted to support. And I think the Australia Council would have shared that view too.”

“The investment wasn’t in supporting News Limited staff writers and journalists, even though some of them are magnificent writers,” said Adler.

She listed editor-at-large Paul Kelly’s recent assessment of intellectual life in Australia as a recent ALR standout.

“From the editor in chief’s point of view, there are compromises required on all sides on how you make it work financially.”

Adler described Romei’s editorship as “lively and provocative”. He’s “a very fine cultural journalist. He’s proved himself repeatedly in the literary pages of The Australian.”

Slattery and Australian editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell did not respond to Crikey‘s queries before deadline.