Ruby Street

The list of contributors to The Best Australia Poems 2015 has been announced. I'm there (yay), amongst a big crowd. I'd prefer to call it a Big Crowd of Australian Poems, or something, rather than 'the best', because it's never gonna be that, because it can't. Still, that's an argument that's been rehashed a number of times. 'Best' is marketing speak, as we all know. There's a few names on the list that I don't know and some poets whose work I'm not yet well-acquainted with. That's all to the good. There's six (only!) South Australian poets - Steve Evans, Thom Sullivan , Geoff Goodfellow, Rachael Mead , Jude Aquilina, Jill Jones - unless one of the unknown-to-me folks is also living here. Slightly surprising, given I'm aware of good stuff published in the last year by other SA poets, or at least written, going on what I heard at the Lee Marvin readings I was in town for during 2014-15. I mean pretty damn good. But edi...

A publishing house in the Ukraine, Krok , have just released an e-anthology in English and Ukrainian featuring 20 Australian & 20 Ukrainian contemporary poets , plus a small selection of images by Ukrainian and Australian photographers. Called Contemporary Poetry of Ukraine and Australia , it has been edited by Les Wicks, Yury Zavadsky and Grigory Semenchuk. Australian poets include Susan Bradley-Smith, joanne burns, Michelle Cahill, Susan Hampton, Andy Jackson, Kit Kelen, Cath Kenneally, Anthony Lawrence and Peter Minter, and photographers include Cath Phillips and Annette Willis. Ukrainian poets include Serhiy Zhadan, Pavlo Hirnyk, Iryna Shuvalova, Natalka Bilotserkivets, Kateryna Babkina, Vasyl Makhno and Yuri Andrukhovych. The book is available as a pdf download . It's free, it's easy and it's good.

Out of the Box: Contemporary Gay and Lesbian Poets is celebrating with its second launch, this time offshore. If you are in Singapore, come along to: Books Actually Tuesday December 15, 7.30-9.30pm There will be readings by Michael Farrell (co-editor) and guest reader, Cyril Wong. *** And watch this space for more details of launches in Melbourne (2 Feb) and Sydney (26 Feb).

'Out of the Box: Contemporary Australian Gay and Lesbian Poets', edited by Michael Farrell and Jill Jones ( Puncher and Wattmann ). To be launched by Professor Susan Sheridan at Feast Festival Saturday 21 November, 11am at Saldechin, 21 King William Street, Adelaide. Readers at the launch include Michael Farrell, Jill Jones and Peter Rose. Poets in the anthology include David Malouf, Dorothy Porter, Peter Rose, Pam Brown, Chris Edwards, Lee Cataldi, Martin Harrison, joanne burns, Bel Schenk, Terry Jaensch, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, Tricia Dearborn, Javant Biarujia, Kate Lilley, and many many others. "Out of the Box is poised at the junction of the poetic moment and the queer moment in contemporary Australia – a doubly-rich rubric for reading the wonderful poems here. The collection poses complex interconnections between poetics, politics and identity: just one measure of its great achievement." - Elizabeth McMahon "These writers are amongst the best of Australian p...

Just out - a new anthology of poems and stories about Adelaide , the city where I currently work and live (most of the time).

This anthology claims to be made of poems by members of the poetryetc list. I do recall writing the poems attributed to me that are contained therein.