As the newly appointed Editor of a well-respected magazine, I feel a speech coming on. ABR is the result of hardworking commitment by John McLaren, John Hanrahan and most recently Kerryn Goldsworthy, who has left me with what she calls a thriving baby.

It is now my job to push ABR into adolescence with all the controversy and disruption that this may bring to our current readers. Any outbreaks (dermatological or otherwise) should not be seen as disregard for these readers, but rather as an attempt to bring a more varied choice of Australian books to the attention of the general reading public. ABR will aim at a more up to date response to the publishing of new books. We want to be part of the debate, at the time of the book's publication when the first newspaper reviews appear.