Poets Union e-news 24 Nov

Dear Poets Union Members and Friends,

Please see the updated website – click here to visit www.poetsunion.com
Also see below headings for events, submission due dates, e-anthologies and poets news:

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Poetry events, festivals and readings all over Australia:
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In Sydney – 7.30 pm Wed 25th November LIVE POETS @ Don Bank– Louise Wakeling and Martin Harrison in North Sydney PARACHUTING BEES!

Date : Wednesday, 25 November
Time: 7.30 – 9.30 pm Doors open 7.30 pm.
Cost: $7 entry includes supper and drinks.
Venue: Don Bank Museum
Address: 6 Napier Street
North Sydney.

Guest Poets for NOVEMBER: Martin Harrison and Louise Wakeling

LOUISE WAKELING will read from her latest book of poetry: Paragliding in a War-Zone (Puncher and Wattmann) and
MARTIN HARRISON will feature his Wild Bees compilation from Uni of WA Press. They will be interviewed about their current projects before their performance.

+OPEN SECTION where anyone is welcome to recite, sing, tell a story or play an instrument. There will also be the annual announcement of the Un-Darwin Awards for Poetry.

Further info: Danny Gardner (02) 9896 6956. Mobile: 0422 263 373 - or at dannylivepoets@yahoo.com.au
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In Sydney – 7 pm Wed 25th November – guest poet Les Murray!
–RhiZomic Poetry party, guest poet with Christmas party and open mic.

Date: Wednesday November 25,
Time: 7.00-9.00 PM,
Venue: Kerrie Lowe Gallery,
Address: 49 King Street
Newtown
Featuring: Les Murray

Les Murrayis possibly Australia’s best known Poet. In a career that has spanned from 1965 to the present day, Murray has served as poetry reader for the publisher Angus & Robertson, edited the magazine Poetry Australia, and was literary editor of the journal Quadrant. Les Murray’s poetry publications include: The llex Tree (With Geoffrey Lehman 1965), The Weatherboard Cathedral (1969), Poems Against Economics (1972), Selected Poems: The Vernacular Republic (1976), Ethnic Radio (1977), The Boys Who Stole the Funeral (1980), Equanimities (1982), The Vernacular Republic: Poems 1961-1981 (1982), The People's Otherworld (1983), The Daylight Moon (1987), The Idyll Wheel (1989), Dog Fox Field (1990), Translations from the Natural World (1992), Subhuman Redneck Poems (1996), Fredy Neptune (1998) and his latest volume, Conscious & Verbal (2000).

RhiZomic poetry get-together on the last Wednesday of every month where we feature new and established poets and offer everyone the opportunity to share their own poetry at an open-mic.
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In Sydney – Thursday 26th November RED ROOM’S
SEA THINGS Returns to Sydney

The RED ROOM Company’s national poetry project, SEA THINGS, has spent two months on a sea odyssey around the country. Collecting poems from students, poets and members of the public at selected ports, it has hooked a swag of original maritime lyrics and shanties from Australians.

Join RED ROOMto open the traveling duffle bags and their poetic cargo! You’ll get to see the screening of documentary footage from the project, and live performances by the commissioned poets
Petra White (VIC),
Luke Beesley (QLD)
and Sandra Thibodeaux (NT)
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as well as a special guest from Thursday Island, the final location on the itinerary.
A free event at:
Journey's end

SEA THINGS - a free event
Venue: Royal Australian Naval Sailing Assoc.
Address: Sir David Martin Reserve,
New Beach Road, RUSHCUTTERS BAY NSW
Time: 6.00 - 7.30 pm
RSVP to : tamryn@redroomcompany.org
Tel : (02) 9319 5090
www.redroomcompany.org

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In Newcastle - Friday 27th November 5.30 pm Newcastle Poetry Prize
NEWS FROM HUNTER WRITERS’ CENTRE - Newcastle Poetry Prize

A whole weekend of poetry...
The announcement of the NPP prizewinners is the first event in a weekend of poetry here in Newcastle so we hope you can come along to help us celebrate!

NEWCASTLE POETRY PRIZE
Friday 27th November, 5.30pm
Newcastle Region Art Gallery,
Laman Street,
Free Entry
The announcement of the NPP prizewinners and the launch of The Night Road, the 2009 Newcastle poetry prize anthology.RSVP to Katharine at hwcadmin@optusnet.net.au or Tel. (02) 4926 3485

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In Newcastle - Friday 27th November 5.30 pm – local poets and composers
NEWS FROM HUNTER WRITERS’ CENTRE - SITESOUNDMIN(e)D

Event: SITESOUNDMIN(e)D
Date: Friday 27th November,
Time: 8.00pm
Venue: Conservatorium of Music,
Address: cnr Laman Street and Auckland Streets,
Newcastle.
Entry fee: $15 or free entry with a copy of The Night Road

SITESOUNDMIN(e)D is an exciting collaboration between local poets including Judy Johnson, Ray Kelly, Kylie Rose, Ivy Ireland, Keri Glastonbury Clarke Gormley, Brian Joyce and Rod Smith, and composers; Solange Kershaw, Stephen Wye and Justin Wolthers.

It is a new visionary work of contemporary music theatre exploring site, history and the pluralistic voice, about the James Fletcher Hospital site in Newcastle.
From ballads to new opera aria, from multi character libretto to spoken text accompanied by a range of music including; brass band, string quartet contemporary rock and avant sound scape this promises to be one of Newcastle's most innovative performance events for some time.
RSVP to Katharine at hwcadmin@optusnet.net.au or Tel. (02) 4926 3485

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In Melbourne – 27 Nov. Melbourne Poets Union
Annual International Poetry Compeition - Awards Night
from *Melbourne Poets Union

Event: Judges Report and Awards night
Date : Friday 27th November, 2009
Time: 7.15pm for 7.30pm,
Venue: Trades Hall - Bella Union Annexe,
Address: Victoria Street,
Carlton

Judges Report and Awards night of Annual International Poetry
Competition,
* Christmas and other celebrations, Santa’s Seduction Sack and Raffle.
Further detail to come.

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In Newcastle - Saturday 28th November a workshop with Philip SalomNEWS FROM HUNTER WRITERS’ CENTRE -

Workshop: THE PROCESS OF THE POEM
With: Newcastle Poetry Prize Head Judge, PHILIP SALOM
Date: Saturday 28th November,
Time: 10.00am – 12 noon
Venue: The Lockup,
Address: 90 Hunter Street
Newcastle,
Fee: $15
Want to try something different? Instead of a workshop of frowning over the micro-managing of poems - a few lines cut here, a metaphor altered there, a sharper look at verbs, a confused poet left at the end of it all - Philip will read and talk through a variety of his own poems. Informative but informal.
Questioning and interaction are both welcome. Philip will address, quite frankly, the origins and draftings, the problems and surprises and the insights learnt by persistent and rigorous attention to firstly the creative rush and later the poem as its own source of inspiration.
RSVP to Katharine at hwcadmin@optusnet.net.au or Tel. (02) 4926 3485

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In Newcastle - Saturday 28th November: Poets’ Lunch

Event: POETS’ LUNCH
Date: Saturday 28th November,
Time: 12 noon – 2pm
Venue: The Lockup,
Address: 90 Hunter Street
Newcastle,
Cost: $15
Come and have lunch and a glass of wine with us in the exercise yard at the Lockup. This will be an opportunity to hear the anthology poets read from The Night Road so please feel welcome to come along and bring your friends.

Please RSVP for all events to Katharine at hwcadmin@optusnet.net.au or Tel. (02)4926 3485 and feel free to forward to your networks.

We hope to see you there,

Brian Joyce and Katharine Gillett

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In Perth Sat. 28th November “Perth Poetry Club” at The Moon Café
guest poet Barbara Templeton

28 Nov: Barbara Temperton (Geraldton) at Perth Poetry Club this Saturday 28 Nov
A rare treat this week:
BARBARA TEMPERTON is in town. Barbara is Geraldton's unofficial poet laureate, has published three collections, and was a favourite at the 2009 Queensland Poetry Festival

Guest poet: Barbara Templeton
Date: SATURDAY 28th November, 2009
Time: 2-4pm
New Venue: The Moon Cafe,
Address : 323 William Street,
Northbridge (near the corner of Newcastle Street).
Time: from 2-4pm every Saturday.
Enquiries: perthpoetryclub@gmail.com or Janet 0406 624 578
More info at www.perthpoetryclub.com

Plus open mike. Professional sound. Come listen and hang out with poetry lovers in the comfy back room of The Moon. 2-4pm. 323 William Street, Northbridge.

Who's on?5 Dec: Peach (a theatrical and entertaining Adelaide poet)
12 Dec: lush ladies: Jazmin & Sally Clarke
19 Dec: Janet Jackson and Neil Pattinson, plus Coral Carter reading the greats
26 Dec, 2 Jan: break, for obvious reasons
9 Jan: watch this space

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In Hobart – Sunday 29th November - Writing into Place: a nature writing workshop with Maureen Scott Harris(Wildcare Tasmania Nature Writing Prize winner).
… there is a way of writing about a place, in which the place itself — becoming part of you as you reach out into the world you witness — seems to participate. – Mark Tredinnick

An inspiring new workshop!

Date: Sunday 29 November,
Time: 10am - 4pm,
Venue: Legacy House,
Address: 159 Macquarie Street (down laneway by St Joseph’s Church)
Hobart
Cost: Members $45, non-members $70 (including lunch! courtesy Parks and Wildlife partnership).
RSVP: Bookings: admin@tasmanianwriters.org or phone 6224 0029.

Writing into Place: a nature writing workshop with Maureen Scott Harris (Wildcare Tasmania Nature Writing Prize winner).
A day of conversation and writing, for writers at all levels. What is nature writing? Do humans have a place in nature? What constitutes place, and why care about it? Does nature writing make a difference in, or to, the world? Bring writing materials. Weather permitting, we will spend some time outdoors in St. David’s Park.

Maureen Scott Harrisis a Toronto-based poet and essayist whose essay, Broken Mouth: Offerings for the Don River, Toronto, won the 2009 Wildcare Tasmania Nature Writing Prize and was published in Island 118. She has just completed a three-week writing residency at Cradle Mountain through Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service. Maureen has two collections of poems, A Possible Landscape (Brick Books 1993) and Drowning Lessons (Pedlar Press 2004), which was awarded the Trillium Book Award for Poetry. In 2008 she won the The LBJ Avian Life Literary Arts journal Sparrow Prize for Prose. The Tasmanian Writers’ Centre presents this workshop in partnership with the Parks and Wildlife Service.

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In Bacchus Marsh - Sunday 29th November at 3 pm “Poetic Desserts”

An invitation from Melbourne Poets Union member Jennie Fraine…

Event: Poetic Desserts poetry readings
Guest poets: Robyn Rowland and Connie Barber

Date: Sunday November 29
Time : 3 pm on Sundays,
Venue: Baby Black Cafe,
10 Church St,
Bacchus Marsh. VIC

Nowadays Bacchus Marsh is a 40-minute drive from Melbourne along roads free of traffic lights. Too easy! The venue is heritage-listed, has a lovely ambiance, and provides great food, coffee and wine.

Guest Poets in coming weeks:
December 20: Rosemary Nissen-Wade, Leah Kaminsky and Jennie Fraine, and Ruth Stewart

Contact person:
Jennie Fraine (03)5367 6976 or 0447 695 205
Email jennief@westnet.com.au

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In Adelaide – last Sunday of the month: 29 November – poets working group
Time : 2-4 pm
Poets Group @ Mostly Books
Details: mostlybooks@internode.on.net
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In Newcastle – Poetry at the Pub - Monday 30th Nov.
(blue moon reading - 5th Monday of the month)

Event: Newcastle Poetry at the Pub
Venue: Northern Star Hotel,
Address: Beaumont Street
Newcastle
Time: from 7.00 p.m.
Reading: open mike and guest poets
Dates: the first, third and blue moon fifth Monday of each month.

Message from Debbie Robson… Find out about the GI war bride love story inspired by real events at: www.tomareebook.com
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In Sydney - in Glebe on Dec. 1st : WordinHand @ The Friend in Hand
G'Day WordinHand Community,

Event : WordinHand December gathering
Date: 1st December
Venue: Friend in Hand Hotel
Address: 58 Cowper Street
Glebe
Format: all open mike...with 5 featured spots of 15 minutes each.

Register: If you'd like one of these spots, reply to this email Jack Peck jack@wordinhand.org
If there are more than 5 I'll do a hat slip draw mid-November and alert the performers.

Main action: The main activity on the night, apart from the few featured performers, will be stories, anecdotes, humour and maybe even some poems from whomever feels moved to contribute from the floor or the stage.

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In Sydney on 1st December – Wilderness Society holding Poetry in the PubThe Wilderness Society is holding a 'Poetry in the Pub' night

Venue: The Hotel Clarendon,
Address: Devonshire Street
Surry Hills
Date: Tuesday Dec 1st

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In Southern Highlands, NSW “ POETRY ON A PLATE” Friday 4th Dec. with guest poet Robert Gray

After the success of the first two Poetry on a Plate series hosted by acclaimed poets Mark Tredinnick and Judith Beveridge, and the wonderful third in the series with Anthony Lawrence, we are proud to announce Robert Gray is the next guest poet in the series scheduled for Friday 4th December 2009.

The atmosphere is casual and friendly and there is the opportunity for discussion afterwards with Robert, along with Mark Treddinick who mediates the luncheon.

A little bit about Robert Gray..
Robert Gray grew up in Coffs Harbour on the NSW north coast and trained there as a journalist. He then worked in Sydney as an editor, advertising copywriter, reviewer and buyer for bookshops and his first book of poems, Creekwater Journal, was published in 1973.
Gray was a writer-in-residence at Meiji University in Tokyo and at several universities throughout Australia. He has also won many writing and poetry awards including:
- The Adelaide Arts Festival
- The New South Wales Premiers' Awards
- The Victorian Premiers' Awards
- The Patrick White Award

With Geoffrey Lehmann, Robert Gray edited two anthologies, The Younger Australian Poets and Australian Poetry in the Twentieth Century. He edited Selected Poems by Shaw Neilson and Drawn from Life, the journals of painter John Olsen.
After Images is his latest collection of poetry and his much anticipated memoirs, The Land I Came Through Last.

Poetry on a Plate is $40.00 per person and places are limited and filling fast.
Bookings are essential on (02) 4877 1877 or email to cellar@bluemetalvineyard.com

Media Contact: Louise Horsley
Ph: 0438 377727
wine@bluemetalvineyard.com
www.bluemetalvineyard.com

Bluemetal Vineyard is located on the beautiful NSW Southern Highlands region and produces premium single estate, award winning wines including Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Fumé Blanc, Sangiovese Rosé, Petit Verdot, and The Cabernets.
The Cellar Door is open Thursday to Monday from 10am to 5pm. Bluemetal Café is open from Fridays until Mondays until Xmas. The vineyard will then be closed from 21 December 2009 until 2 January 2010.
Bluemetal Vineyard and Cafe - 112 Compton Park Rd, Berrima, NSW Ph: (02) 4877 1877

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In Melbourne 2,30 pm Dec 5th launch of MOK 5 - magazine 40th anniversary editionMok: a magazine of contemporary ink & paper

The influential poetry/art magazine Mok issue 5, first published in Spring 1969, is being re-issued in a limited edition to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

Mok will be launched in Melbourne.
A poetry reading and discussion including Kris Hemensley, Richard Tipping, John Jenkins, Rob Tillett (TBC) and a tribute to Vicki Viidikas.

Event: Mok 5 anniversary 40th re-issue
Time: 2.30pm
Date: Saturday 5th December

Venue: Collected Works bookshop
Address: Level 1 Nicholas Building
37 Swanston Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Phone: (03) 9654 8873
Enquiries: Richard Tipping phone 0415 292 939

Mok was the first of what became a wave of alternative magazines in the late 1960s, introducing new ideas of what poetry could be. The fifth issue was
national in reach, with the co-editors in Adelaide (Rob Tillett) and Sydney (Richard Tipping) attracting contributions from across the country. This was
“when Adelaide / Melbourne / Sydney took a formal step towards the New Australian Poetry we felt in our bones!”, as Kris Hemensley has written.

The re-issue is 100 laserprinted , numbered copies. Scanning and design have been supervised by Warren Taylor at The Narrows, collaborating as co-publishers with Richard Tipping’s Artpoem press.

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In Melbourne – Tues 8 Dec. Christmas Reading from Melbourne Poets Union */MPU: A public voice and opportunities for all poets!
POETS@WATSONIA. Poets@Watsonia (Branch of Melbourne Poets Union)

Date: Tuesday December 8th
Event : Christmas Reading and celebration
+ open readers and music
Cost: $4 Light Refreshments.
Contact: Wendy 9467 8249 Christina 9432 7484

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In Sydney – Poets Dinner – Tues 8th December
Theme: Christmas Cheer

Time: 6.00 – 8.00 pm
Venue: Club Swans, (100 metres from Kings Cross Station)
Address: 28 Darlinghurst Road,
Kings Cross
Cost: $15 pp covers finger food and a glass of vino
Payment: in person, cash only and before 4th December
$15 in cash to Macleay Bookshop,
103 Macleay Street,
Potts Point NSW

The Poets Dinner was initiated by Narelle Ryan with some help from her friends – all those interested in poetry are welcome to read their own or others’ work.
There is a different theme and voluntary convenor for each dinner.
Newcomers to the Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay and Kings Cross area (and even those new to the suburb of Poetry) are most welcome.

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In Sydney on Sunday 13th December – DiVerse poets reading specially written poetry on the artworks of Nora Heysen

Venue: The SH Ervin Gallery – National Trust of Australia
Address: Watson Road, Observatory Hill, The Rocks, NSW 2000

Date: Sunday the 13th of December
Time: 3.00pm

Cost $7 general admission
$5 seniors & concession card holders
$4 national trust members
Enquiries Phone: (02) 9258 0123 Contact: Leah Haynes

DiVerse will perform their specially written poetry on the artworks of Nora Heysen, from her exhibition Light and Life. Receive a free booklet of the poetry and images.
Poetry transcribed from painting and drawings, known as an Ekphrasis has a long tradition, going back to the ancient Greeks. Think of Homer’s writings, Keats and his Ode on a Grecian Urn.
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In Hobart – Tuesday 15th December
LITERARY LARK – The Tasmanian Writers' Centre End-of-Year Literary Lark!
You are all welcome for free drinks and refreshments, to hear works from the fabulous Tasmanian writers who launched new books during 2009. Celebrate the strength of Tasmanian writing with the official launch of the Writers' Centre Summer Reading broadsheet. (By the way, it's not too late to include your 2009 book in our broadsheet! Just email bravo@tasmanianwriters.org.)

Date: Tuesday 15 December,
Time: 6pm - 8.30pm –
Event: The Tasmanian Writers' Centre End-of-Year Literary Lark
Venue: The Lark Distillery,
Address : 14 Davey Street,
Hobart.
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In Adelaide - 26th January 2010 with Friendly Street Poets - poetry relevant & responsive to John Brack’s work - Friendly Street Poets at the Art Gallery of SA
Iconic, Australian artist John Brack’s major retrospective exhibition is showing at the Art Gallery of SA until January 31st 2010. It covers all the eras of Brack’s amazing working life. Friendly Street Poets are presenting poetry relevant & responsive to Brack’s work.

The final reading is on:
Date: Tuesday 26th January 2010
Time: 2– 2.30 pm
Venue: Art Gallery of SA, North Terrace in the City.

Please come along & see the work of this brilliant artist and hear Friendly Street Poets perform poetry directly related to paintings & the times when they were created.

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In Sydney – 2010 on the 4th Sunday of every month
The Poets Union monthly poetry reading at the Brett Whiteley Studio

Venue: Brett Whiteley Studio
Address: Raper Street, (off Devonshire Street and Esther Lane)
Surry Hills
Date: 2010 first reading guest poets will be Harbour City Poets
- 4th Sunday of the month -
Time 2.00 – 3.30 pm

Convenor: Angela Stretch for Poets Union Inc.
Enquiries for 2010 : 0438 898 578

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Competitions and due dates for submissions:****************************************************
Submissions invited from new and emerging poets – due 7 December, 2009

Due 7 December, 2009 OVERLAND JUDITH WRIGHT POETRY PRIZE
FOR NEW AND EMERGING POETS

Judith Wright, one of Australia’s greatest poets, had a long and fruitful connection with Overland, and her last published poem (which appeared in Overland in 1999), was entitled ‘To Younger Poets’.

Overland and the Malcolm Robertson Foundation have joined forces to create the Overland Magazine Judith Wright Prize for New and Emerging Poets.

Eligibility: Poets are eligible if they have not yet had a collection of their work commercially published.
Poems: A maximum of three unpublished poems is allowed per entry.
Two copies of each poem must be submitted.
The poet’s name must not appear on the manuscript, as all poems will be considered
anonymously.
Entry fee: The entry is to be accompanied by a $9.90 ($5.50 for Overland subscribers) administration fee.
Prize: In 2009 the prize money is $3000, with two minor prizes of $500 each.
Judging: The poems will be judged by Overland’s poetry editor Keri Glastonbury, and the winning poems will be published in the magazine.
Publication: All submissions will be considered for publication in Overland.
Entry form: The entry form and guidelines are available at: www.overland.org.au

Entries should be sent to:
‘Overland Judith Wright Poetry Competition’
VU–Footscray Park Campus
PO Box 14428
MELBOURNE VIC 8001

Entries due by 7 December 2009.
Winners will be announced at the 2010 Melbourne Emerging Writers’ Festival.

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Submissions invited for an anthology of poetic responses to the ‘settlement’ and exploration of Australia

Opportunity…
Puncher & Wattmann and the Poets Union are planning an anthology of poetic responses to the ‘settlement’ and exploration of Australia (tentatively entitled Antipodes).
Indigenous responses especially welcome.
Please send hard copy (up to 3 poems) to Margaret Bradstock .
Margaret Bradstock
Address: 2/302 Alison Road,
COOGEE NSW 2034

Due date for submissions: 18th December for consideration.
Enclose an SSAE for the outcome, contact details (including email) and a brief biography (5 lines).

Pre-published work will be accepted and may be submittedwith a short acknowledgement of previous name and date of publication.

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Submissions invited for 2010 Mary Gilmore Poetry Prize
Mary Gilmore Poetry Prize Entries are invited for the 2010 Mary Gilmore Poetry Prize.

The Prize is awarded every two years by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL) for the best first book of poetry published by an Australian in the preceding two years – in this case the calendar years 2008 and 2009.

This is a prestigious poetry prize which has helped the careers of many now well-known poets, including Jan Owen, Judith Beveridge, Alison Croggon, Lucy Dougan, and David McCooey; the prize also draws attention to their publishers. ASAL will meet the cost of the winning poet attending and providing a reading of his or her work at its conference to be held in early July 2010.

Eligible publishers or poets are asked to submit three copies of each eligible book to:
Dennis Haskell
English & Cultural Studies (M202)
University of Western Australia
35 Stirling Highway
CRAWLEY WA 6009

Any queries about the prize can be sent to Dennis Haskell at the above address or dhaskell@cyllene.uwa.edu.au

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Submissions invited - Mascara has expanded…



Call for submissions for Mascara Literary Review
Mascara Poetry has recently expanded into Mascara Literary Review and is now accepting submissions of short fiction and essays (as well as poetry).
We also have a new website: www.mascarareview.com.

Mascara Literary Review is an online literary journal particularly interested in the work of contemporary Asian (as well as Australian and Indigenous) writers.
We are able to pay: $75 for two or more poems, $50 for reviews and essays.

For full submission details visit: www.mascarareview.com/submissions.html.

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Submissions invited for Goolwa Festival in South Australia next April 23-26, 2010Message from the Australian Poetry Centre seeking submissions and ideas for the Goolwa Festival
Dear Members/Subscribers,
As you may be aware, we are holding a National Poetry Festival in Goolwa, South Australia next year (April 23-26).
We are currently finalising the program, which includes a number of international and local poets (from all over Australia) reading and discussing their work, as well as participating in forums, panels and discussion about poetry and poetry-related activity.
And we would like to involve YOU and your ideas!
We are seeking proposals for events, activities, talks, workshops, launches and ideas for the program - for people of all ages, interests and backgrounds. The APC would like to make the festival completely inclusive to involve as many people interested in poetry as possible, so we need ideas, though there are some criteria we would love you to consider:
1. Your event/activity/idea should be held in Goolwa (or surrounding area) between April 23-26 (Friday-Monday inclusive) or at least involve people who will be in Goolwa during that time (online ideas are welcomed)
2. It must be self-sufficient requiring minimal external resources (other than the venue, which we will provide). The resources required for your event or activity (including people to run it) need to be sourced by you or your organisation/team.
3. It must be something you are passionate about and believe people will be interested in or want to attend (and thoughts about how/where you will attract your audience should be noted in your proposal).
4. It must be financially viable and thoughts about this should be noted in your proposal. The APC has funds to support events during the festival, but these funds are limited and we would like to work with you to combine/share resources for the mutual benefit of you, your event, the APC and people attending the festival.
Please email your proposal to paul@australianpoetrycentre.org.au, supplying your contact details along with your reasons for wanting to be involved.
Look forward to hearing your ideas.
Paul Kooperman, Acting Director, Australian Poetry Centre
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Submissions invited to Short and Twisted – due 30th November


Short and Twisted - an anthology of short stories and poetry with a twist at the end, is seeking submissions of poetry for the 2010 issue.

Submission guidelines are on the website: www.celapenepress.com.au
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Call for submissions for new on-line magazine: Islet
Islet: a free online journal of micro works from emerging writers and visual artists.
An initiative developed and supported by Island magazine.
Call for submissions
Islet is a new online companion to Island magazine's existing print journal, and will publish a free quarterly collection of works by emerging writers and visual artists. Islet accepts poetry, fiction, and reviews, with size the only limitation: we are committed to publishing small works.

Maximum lengths: poetry -- 25 lines; fiction -- 600 words; reviews -- 400 words. Our pay rates are $50 per poem and $75 per prose work (fiction or review). For submissions or more information, contact the editor at islet.online@utas.edu.au . Until the website is live, detailed submission guidelines will be temporarily available, from the end of October, at http://www.islandmag.com
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Submissions now open for Cordite Poetry Review
Writing haikus, snryus or other ultra-short poems?
Submissions are now open for the 31st issue of Cordite – EPIC.
Details available at www.cordite.org.au

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Submissions invited from November 15
The Margaret Reid Poetry Contest will re-open on November 15!
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Poetry Competition for School Students – submissions due by 8 Jan 2010.
It's that time of the year again - Adelaide Plains Poets are seeking poems for our annual poetry competition. There is a $500+ prize pool, with no entry fee for Primary School or Secondary School students.
$5.00 entry fee for the Open Section,

Entries close 8 January 2010.
Entry form and guidelines are available at the website below,
or contact Carolyn Gordon on (08) 85272412; jeebers@bigpond.com ;
30 Germantown Road
REDBANKS SA 5502.
The theme is Life, the Universe and Everything.
and winners will be announced in early March 2010

Carolyn Cordon
http://carolyn-poeticpause.blogspot.com/
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e-zines and e-anthologies for poets

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The Compulsive Reader News
maggieball@compulsivereader.com
http://www.compulsivereader.com/html

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Call for submissions to Islet
- new online publishing space from Island Magazine
A message from Anica Boulanger-Mashberg, the editor of Island magazine's new online publishing space. They are hoping to have the first issue up by the end of the year, and while they are commissioning writers for this issue, they're welcoming submissions now for future issues.
Islet: a free online journal of micro works from emerging writers and visual artists.
An initiative developed and supported by Island magazine.
Islet is a new online companion to Island magazine's existing print journal, and will publish a free quarterly collection of works by emerging writers and visual artists.
Islet accepts poetry, fiction, and reviews, with size the only limitation: we are committed to publishing small works.

Maximum lengths: poetry -- 25 lines; fiction -- 600 words; reviews -- 400 words.
Our pay rates are $50 per poem and $75 per prose work (fiction or review).
For submissions or more information, contact the editor at islet.online@utas.edu.au .
Until the website is live, detailed submission guidelines will be temporarily available, from the end of October, at http://www.islandmag.com

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A new web anthology saunters the sand with some of Australia’s leading poets.
Guide to Sydney Beaches - http://sydneybeaches.tripod.com/guide.htm - is aimed at an audience that may not normally access this artform.
This is a driftwood concept – people seeking information about a certain beach stumble across this collection & discover fine Aust poetry. 20 great beaches, 30 superb poets. Hit numbers indicate it is already a huge success. This will increase as we move into Spring.
The anthology is from Meuse Press, edited by PU member Les Wicks.

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Jacket Magazine- Message from Editor, John Tranter and Assoc. Editor, Pam Brown -
Announcing Jacket 37 -- Early 2009 Like the 2004 Hubble Ultra Deep Field image, http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2004/07/image/a/format/large_web/
... Jacket glitters with constellations and galaxies of luminous and sometimes bewildering insights: Catch it now, before it swims out of your ken: http://jacketmagazine.com/37/index.shtml
Visit their new Jacket Notes pages: readings, new books & magazines, blogs, etc. http://sites.google.com/site/jacket-notes/Home
Message from John Tranter: “PS: I'll be away until early December, so the news sections are closed until then. “
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Poetica Radio National program
www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/poetica/
Australia-wide Poetry program- every Saturday at 3.05 pm and repeated Thursdays at 3.05 pm POETICA PRESENTED BY BRENT CLOUGH AND MIKE LADD,
SATURDAY AT 3.05 PM, REPEATED 3.05 PM THURSDAY.

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MELALEUCA
Melaleuca is a free e-zine of Australian poetry, delivered monthly
through your email in-box. For submissions and subscriptions, contact
the editor, Phillip A. Ellis, at phillip.a.ellis@gmail.com
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From PU member and WA poet Janet Jackson
'Coracle: Selected poems 1991-2007' by Janet Jackson now has a webpage
Read a sample poem from Janet Jackson's first full-length collection, 'Coracle: Selected poems 1991-2007', and find out where to get it or order your copy online.

www.proximitypoetry.com/coracle.html
Janet Jackson: Words with attitude & soul Poems Performances Workshops Courses
Creative, technical and corporate writing. Editing.
www.proximitypoetry.com (Poetry)
Perth Poetry Club: www.perthpoetryclub.com

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PressPress Chapbook Award winner 2009,
WA writer Scott-Patrick Mitchell - songs for the ordinary mass.
Mitchell’s chapbook songs for the ordinary mass is available now online from www.presspress.com.au or Planet Books in Mt Lawley in Western Australia.
News from Fremantle Press
NEWS: Shorelines 2 - poetry winners announced
Scott-Patrick Mitchell, James Quinton and Emma Rooksby will feature in Shorelines 2, a collection of works by emerging poets to be published by Fremantle Press in 2010. Guest editor and poet Tracy Ryan said the editorial committee was spoilt for choice ...
Read More
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Keep up with Aesthetica and the latest arts and culture happenings at aestheticamagazine.blogspot.com
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if: book Australia - new Australian centre of excellence for digital literature

The Queensland Writers Centre Management Committee Chair, Theodora Le Souquet, and CEO, Kate Eltham, announced the launch of the Australian Institute of the Future of the Book or “if:book Australia” at the Melbourne Writers Festival The State Of Digital Publishing industry seminar on Thursday 27 August.

Based in Brisbane, if: book Australia is only the third centre of excellence of its kind for digital literature established in the world, after the New York and London Institutes. It is a Queensland Writers Centre international initiative. You can check out the UK branch here and US branch here.

if: book Australia will promote new forms of digital publishing and explore ways to boost connections between writers and audiences.

The first project for if:book Australia will be a national seminar series delivered in 2010 called Writers and Digital Markets. Supported and funded by the Literature Board of the Australia Council, the program will inform Australian writers about new opportunities to create and publish digital content.

if:book Australia will function as a ‘think-and-do tank’ and Queensland Writers Centre is seeking partners from across the publishing, education and media sectors who are interested in collaborative programs and research.

Queensland Writers Centre works to advance the recognition and enjoyment of Queensland and Australian writers throughout Australia and the world.

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Australia Council’s publication: The writer’s guide to making a digital living
The Australia Council has been getting a great response to the Writer’s guide both locally and internationally since its publication in December 2008. You can read the guide online or download it for free from our site. http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/writersguide Explore the interactive New Writing Universe! http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/writersguide/newwritinguniverse/
Make use of the 300+ links on delicious, referenced throughout the guide. http://del.icio.us/Writersguide Also includes a link to the promo video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRueQ1Q6NGA
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Submissions from poets invited to monthly newsletter for HIGHWAY NEWS which promotes the re-introduction of rail, aware that investment must go to large-scale low carbon projects - without expecting a carbon price to be a substantial factor.

What does this have to do with poets?

At the end of HIGHWAY NEWS , Carolyn van Langenberg likes to promote a poet. Thus far, she has drawn attention to local resident and internationally renowned poet Pam Brown. In True Thoughts, the poem train, train is about travelling from Blackheath to Central. Spot on!

Then, in a manner of absolute serendipity, she discovered Les Wicks is going west, sponsored by CountryLink. Les will liaise with rural poets and learn the far horizon gaze. That’s a privilege!

So if you have any connection with rail, a low carbon sponsorship, a book of poems or a poem in a book about rail, she’ll draw attention to you and your work at the end of the e-newsletter. That means one poet per month is advertised in an unlikely spot. At present, HIGHWAY NEWS circulation is 300+. It goes to politicians as well as those converted to a more sustainable way of life.

Send your rail poems to Carolyn van Langenberg cjrml@ozemail.com.au
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Other news for poets
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Congratulations to PU member Jean Kent
MEANJIN names JEAN KENT inaugural WINNER of
THE DOROTHY PORTER POETRY PRIZE
Meanjin is delighted to announce that the inaugural winner of the Dorothy Porter Poetry Prize for 2009 is Jean Kent, for her poem ‘The Polish Guitarist’s First Paris Concert’ (Vol 68/4).
The prize was run this year as a tribute to much-loved Australian poet, Dorothy Porter, and her legacy of work, and is co-sponsored by Porter’s agent, Jenny Darling & Associates. Kent’s poem was chosen by judges Andrea Goldsmith and Kristin Henry out of all the poems accepted for publication in Meanjin throughout 2009. She was presented with a $1,000 cash prize at an awards ceremony to be held at Gleebooks in Sydney on Saturday 14 November at 4pm. The event featured readings from Porter’s most recent collection, The Bee Hut, which was published by Black Inc. in September 2009. ‘The Polish Guitarist’s First Paris Concert’ will also be published in the forthcoming December edition of Meanjin.
Jean Kent has released three books of poetry, including Verandahs, which was recently republished by Picaro Press in its Art Box Series. Her fourth collection, Travelling with the Wrong Phrase Books, was highly commended for the 2008 Alec Bolton Prize. She lives at Lake Macquarie in NSW.
Meanjin is pleased to announce that the Dorothy Porter Prize will run again in 2010
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Congratulations to Christine Paice
poet and long term member of the Poets Union who was the winner of the 2009 Josephine Ulrick Poetry prize with her poem The Ministry Of Going In. Sorry we are so late in acknowledging it Christine – it’s wonderful news!
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VOICEWORKS MAGAZINE TURNS 21
The Words We Found: the best writing from 21 years of Voiceworks magazine available from November 16.

Express Media’s flagship publication and Australia’s premier youth literary magazine Voiceworks is celebrating more than a generation of writers who have made their forays into publishing through Voiceworks.

Edited by Lisa Dempster, The Words We Found: the best writing from 21 years of Voiceworks magazine is Express Media’s coming-of-age anthology and, like all good 21st celebrations, it’s a fierce, flirtatious and furious record of our life so far.

The Age Journalist, Marieke Hardy says, ‘What resounds through each page is the song each writer sings through their craft – a dizzying cavalcade of thoughts, a profusion of wit. Breathtaking not only in its scope but in its ambition.’

The Words We Found will be available through all good bookshops and online at www.expressmedia.org.au from November 16. Extract rights are also available.

For all media enquiries, please contact Bel Schenk, Artistic Director on 0431 054 190 artisticdirector@expressmedia.org.au

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In Florida, USA Palm Beach Poetry Festival January 18-23, 2010
Palm Beach Poetry Festival,
Delray Beach, Florida

The Palm Beach Poetry Festival has grown from a weekend event at Lynn University in January 2005 into a six day series of events including eight workshops with individual conferences; craft lectures, panel discussions, readings and performances, open to the public.

Because the festival will be participating in the Miami Book Fair, we are extending our application deadline from November 2 to November 16, 2009. Workshop acceptances and assignments will be emailed shortly thereafter.

Those who have already applied, or who apply by midnight, November 2nd, will be given preference in workshop placement compared to those who apply during the extension period.

Thanks to a generous donation, a limited number of partial scholarships may be available for the Intermediate Workshop with Mary Cornish, and the Advanced Workshops with Kevin Young and David Wojahn. Scholarships are for those who are unable to participate in a workshop without financial assistance.

Participants will have time to focus on their work with a brilliant poet as a guide and teacher, in the company of other talented poets. Participant tuition includes the workshop, a one-on-one conference with the workshop leader, attendance at the gala and admission to all festival readings, panel discussions and social events. For details, see the guidelines on our website.
This year's workshops are:
The Poem's Intention with Stephen Dobyns
Toward New Poems with Carolyn Forché
Discovery and Power with Marie Howe
Word By Word, Line By Line with Thomas Lux
Enhanced Techniques with David Wojahn
Poems Of Praise with Kevin Young
Poetry and the Visual Image with Mary Cornish
Masters As Models with Ilya Kaminsky
Apply before the November 2nd deadline. Review the application guidelines. A limited number of partial scholarships may be available. Email srw@palmbeachoetryfestival.org to request more information. The festival week is an extraordinary opportunity. Don't miss out!
Please visit their website, www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org for complete workshop descriptions, faculty biographies, application guidelines and an easy-to-use online fill-in application form.
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CONTEMPORARY POETICS

"Redefining the Boundaries of Contemporary Poetics, in Theory & Practice, for the Twenty-First Century"

Edited by Louis Armand

ISBN 0-8101-2359-2 (paperback). 384pp.

Publisher: Northwestern University Press, Evanston.

http://nupress.northwestern.edu

Exploring the boundaries of one of the most contested fields of literary study--a field that in fact shares territory with philology, aesthetics, cultural theory, philosophy, and even cybernetics--this volume gathers a body of critical writings that, taken together, broadly delineate a possible poetics of the contemporary. In these essays, the most interesting and distinguished theorists in the field renegotiate the contours of what might constitute "contemporary poetics," ranging from the historical advent of concrete poetry to the current technopoetics of cyberspace. Concerned with a poetics that extends beyond our own time, as a mere marker of present-day literary activity, their work addresses the limits of a writing "practice"--beginning with Stephane Mallarme in the late nineteenth century--that engages concretely with what it means to be contemporary.

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Congratulations to Lucy Holt - The 2009 NSW Premiers Literary Awards were announced at the Sydney Writers Festival.
Congratulations to Lucy Holt on her receipt of the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry for her collection ‘Man Wolf Man’. Lucy was a 2004 Poets Union ‘Australian Young Poets Fellowship’ holder and was mentored by the Poets Union. In 2005 the Poets Union published a chapbook of Lucy’s poems ‘Stories of A Bird’. The Poets Union is committed to raising funds to develop our mentoring, Poetry Fellowships, Poetry Scholarships, Residencies and Prizes. The full list of winners of The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and more information about the awards can be found here: http://www.pla.nsw.gov.au/

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Congratulations to Jean Valentine - Jean Valentine has been selected as the recipient of the 2009 Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets. The $100,000 prize recognizes outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry.
and to Harryette Mullen Harryette Mullen has been selected as the recipient of the 2009 Academy Fellowship. The Fellowship is awarded to a poet for distinguished poetic achievement and provides a stipend of $25,000. The Academy’s Board of Chancellors, a body of sixteen eminent poets, selects the Wallace Stevens Award and Academy Fellowship recipients. Who says poetry isn’t profitable? Full story is here: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21013
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Congratulations to Forward Prize Winner: Don Paterson Scottish poet Don Paterson has triumphed over one of the strongest poetry shortlists in years to take the Forward prize for best collection with Rain. Paterson, 45, beat a line-up of acclaimed poets including Peter Porter, Sharon Olds and Glyn Maxwell to win the £10,000 award for Rain, a continuation of his personal and philosophical exploration of the world around him.
and to Emma Jones Emma Jones's The Striped World, inspired by her home country of Australia, was named winner of the £5,000 best first collection prize. Hart called her "an ambitious and intriguing new voice" whose poems "are both elliptical and visionary – inhabiting a parallel world of strange disjointed images within which we nevertheless find echoes of familiar experience".
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UQP is delighted to announce the appointment of academic, critic and poet Felicity Plunkett as its new poetry editor. Plunkett takes over from Bronwyn Lea who has been in the role since 2003. Since UQP started publishing poetry in the 1970s, its poetry editors have included Roger McDonald, Martin Duwell and Thomas Shapcott.

Felicity Plunkett will be sourcing and commissioning new work by emerging and established Australian poets for the UQP list.

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Best wishes,
Cathy Bray
for Brook Emery and the Poets Union committee,
Poets Union Inc,
PO Box 755,
POTTS POINT NSW 1335

Tel. (02) 9357 6602
Email: info@poetsunion.com
Please visit the Poets Union website: www.poetsunion.com

River Road - poet Caddy

zSHARE - River Road Sample.wmv

What is the duende?

In a speech to the audience before public readings from his collection 'Poet in New York' (first published in 1940) Federica Garcia Lorca insisted that

as a poet

"the first thing one must do is invoke the duende. This is the only way all of you will succeed at the hard task of understanding metaphors as soon as they arise, without depending on intelligence or on a critical apparatus, and be able to capture, as fast as it is read, the rhythmic design of the poem. For the quality of a poem can never be judged on just one reading, especially not poems like these which are full of what I call "poetic facts" that respond to a purely poetic logic and follow the constructs of emotion and of poetic architecture. Poems like these are not likely to be understood without the cordial help of the duende."

'Poet in New York' by Federico Garcia Lorca
(First published 1940) Penguin edition 1988.

Poets Union Inc. now has a group on Facebook

As well as this Poets Union Inc. blog we have created a Poets Union Inc Facebook group.

The Poets Union Inc. blog and Poets Union Inc. group on Facebook - members and friends can post and access poetry, audio podcasts, photographs, videos and information on poetry events, competitions, fellowships, scholarships and tours.

Poets Union Inc. open house

The comrades over at the Poets Union Inc. have just been handed the keys to the kingdom i.e. the office administrator got the password to our website and she's not giving them back (well not yet). Via this shiny new Poets Union blog we plan to offer you your own set of keys to poetry in Australia.

The Poets Union aims to open up the world of poetry to Australian poets and in fact to anyone interested in poetry. Please visit the Poets Union at www.poetsunion.com

For more info. please contact us by email at info@poetsunion.com