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Peter Rose

Peter Rose

In 2001 Peter Rose became the Editor of Australian Book Review. Previously he was a publisher at Oxford University Press throughout the 1990s. He has published several books of poetry, a family memoir, Rose Boys, and two novels, the most recent being Roddy Parr (Fourth Estate, 2010). He edited the 2007 and 2008 editions of The Best Australian Poems (Black Inc.). His newest book of poems is Rag (Gazebo Books, 2023). Peter Rose’s long experience in publishing and the literary world complements the magazine’s history of central involvement in Australian letters.

'Editorial' by Peter Rose

November 2001, no. 236 08 August 2022
The forbearance of those writers who entered the Australian Book Review and Reader’s Feast Short Story Competition has been as exemplary as their commitment to short fiction. I am pleased to be announce the shortlist: Ian McFarlane: ‘A Balance of Probabilities’ Katarina Mahnic: ‘Flying Recipe’ B.E. Minifie: ‘There Has to be a Resemblance’ Carrie Tiffany: ‘Dr Darnell’s Cure ... (read more)

‘Il Trovatore: A tawdry production of Verdi’s opera’ by Peter Rose

ABR Arts 20 July 2022
Whenever you hear a good performance of any one of at least half a dozen operas by Giuseppe Verdi, it’s tempting to think: this surely he can never have surpassed. Il Trovatore, from his fecund middle phase, is one such opera. But then one recalls La Traviata and Don Carlo and Otello – on the list goes – and simply marvels at the variety and richness of his oeuvre. Trovatore followed Rigo ... (read more)

‘Lohengrin: Richard Wagner’s music of hypnosis’ by Peter Rose

ABR Arts 16 May 2022
Black milk of morning we drink you at nightwe drink you at noontime Death is a gang-boss aus Deutschlandwe drink you at dusktime we drink and drinkDeath is a gang-boss aus Deutschland his eye is bluehe hits you with leaden bullets his aim is true … (from ‘Todesfuge’ by Paul Celan, translated by Jerome Rothenberg) Not long before the 1845 première of Tannhäuser, Richard Wagner was h ... (read more)

‘La Traviata: A revival of Elijah Moshinsky’s production’ by Peter Rose

ABR Arts 09 May 2022
Opera Australia’s Melbourne season began on 4 May with a revival of Elijah Moshinsky’s 1994 production of La Traviata, often seen here before. The season ends on 28 May, with eight more performances. It’s a short work, with four scenes each about thirty minutes long, ideal for those new to opera or keen for melodic relief from election discord. The opera is based on the play La Dame aux cam ... (read more)

Editorial

July 2001, no. 232 01 July 2001
For any editor, one of the attractions and challenges of shaping a magazine is the unexpected submission that arrives at the eleventh hour. When the author happens to be someone of the stature of Raimond Gaita, one is indeed fortunate. This month, we are pleased to be able to bring you Professor Gaita’s incisive, yet anguished, contribution to the debate about reconciliation and genocidal impuls ... (read more)

'Editor’s Diary 2021' by Peter Rose

March 2022, no. 440 21 February 2022
All my life I’ve kept a daily journal. I’m not quite sure why I do it, but I can’t imagine not doing it – if that makes sense. Some writers’ diaries are highly literary, analytical, indeed philosophical. Mine is different – much more social – a kind of record of my work at ABR, my friendships, and the literary scene. In a way it’s a kind of group biography. Early on it was certainl ... (read more)

'Editorial' by Peter Rose - August 2001

August 2001, no. 233 01 August 2001
As recently as May, Frank Kermode, writing in the London Review of Books, had the temerity to say, ‘Some writers really are better than others’. This may come as a surprise to the odd professor of English, it seems. You will recall that Raimond Gaita, our La Trobe University Essayist in the previous issue, cited one vigilant professorial leveller who, having purportedly disposed of the illusio ... (read more)

'Editorial' by Peter Rose

December 2001–January 2002, no. 237 01 December 2001
Welcome to our final issue for 2001! Our summer issue – arrestingly illustrated on the cover – is a double one, and longer than previous ones this year. Funds permitting, we hope to be able to publish more eighty-page issues in 2002, especially in the second half of the year, when so many Australian books, both general and scholarly, are published. This expansion allows us to add new features: ... (read more)