Advances: Literary News - February 2007

Filial Calibrations In December we reported on the Inaugural Calibre Prize for an Outstanding Essay, which was won by Elisabeth Holdsworth. We feel sure that ABR readers will enjoy Ms Holdsworth’s essay, ‘An die Nachgeborenen: For Those Who Come After’, which we publish in full this issue. That is her mother on our front cover. The unfolding story of ‘Mother’s’ removal as a girl from her home in the countryside, of her marriage into a privileged family with close ties to Dutch royalty, and of her betrayal and subsequent incarceration in Dachau during World War II, is not easily forgotten. Once again, we acknowledge the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL), which funds this award. ABR and CAL look forward to presenting the Calibre Prize for the second time in coming months. Look out for full details in our April issue, and please note that the closing date will be later this year – August 31. Poetry at Glenfern CAL, as we all know, is active on numerous fronts, not just in the cause of essay-writing. CAL has just provided an initial sum of $140,900 to assist the Poetry Australia Foundation to establish the Australian Poetry Centre at the Boyds’ old house (well, one of them) in East St Kilda. ‘For the first time, poetry will have a fully professional organisation, enabling it to take its rightful place among the major art forms,’ commented Ron Pretty, director of the Foundation, who also remarked on the popularity of poetry readings, writing courses and competitions. He did not mention book sales – but who would? They remain largely derisory, in spite of the strength and variety of contemporary Australian poetry, which Judith Beveridge singled out for comment (‘this is a time of splendour in Australian poetry’) in the December 2006–January 2007 issue. Let’s hope the new Centre (whose board will be headed by Chris Wallace-Crabbe) will succeed in persuading more Australians to buy books of poetry. Playing with reality Keen-eyed literary aficionados may have noted a new entry onto the publishing scene with the publication of the essay collection When Books Die, a quirky, finely produced homage to books and reading. The book is the first title from Braidwood-based independent publisher Finlay Lloyd, run by Ingeborg Hansen, Phil Day, Robin Wallace-Crabbe, and Julian Davies. Hansen and Day have been hand producing books for over a decade, under the Finlay Press imprint. This is their first ‘machine-made book’. Finlay Press aims ‘to publish books that excite us without concern for whether they turn a profit’. Laudable. And viable? Time will tell. ‘We intend to remain small, doing only a couple of titles a year, but books we really believe in,’ Davies told Advances, adding that a series of essay collections will be central, with fiction a long-term focus. John Leonard This is surely one of the most contested names in Australian letters, with the John Leonard who is poetry editor of Overland regularly assuring us that he is not the noted anthologist. The other John Leonard, who produced Seven Centuries of Poetry in English and Australian Verse: An Oxford Anthology for OUP, has now ventured into the publishing caper. The John Leonard Press announces itself as ‘a new Press for the publication of new Australian poetry in single-author editions … of top production quality’. Its first titles were Claire Gaskin’s A Bud and Paul Magee’s Cube Root of Book, which Gig Ryan will review in the March issue. John Leonard aims to publish four to six collections each year, ‘some of them from a fresh generation of Australian poets’. Undercover goes online ABR’s blog has been online since late 2006. Recently, we’ve been joined by another well-known Australian literary voice. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Susan Wyndham headlines the latest addition to Fairfax’s growing stable of blogs with ‘Undercover’, an online version of her newsy books column, with invitations for reader comments and discussion. The original aspect of ‘Undercover’, though, is the ‘Undercover Book Club’, in which Wyndham selects a title (or titles) for online discussion. Initial selections have included Little Big Man (Thomas Berger), Tracks (Robyn Davidson) and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Mark Haddon). You can join (or listen to) the discussion at http://blogs.smh.com.au/entertainment/archives/undercover. Changes at ABR Sometimes it occurs to Advances that Australians, famously susceptible to wanderlust, should be a little more insular, less peripatetic – in short, more content with our pullulating cities. We have just lost another colleague, this time to Central America. Jo Case, who has been with us as Deputy Editor since early last year, has left ABR to spend some months in Central America. During her time with us, Jo – always enthusiastic and energetic – has given the place a shot in the arm. Her many innovations were especially evident in the changes to the website, which now has a real identity of its own and a much bigger readership (hitship?). If you haven’t checked it out already, be there or be square! Jo leaves us with our regretful good wishes. Fortunately, she will be back soon (next month indeed) as a contributor. Meanwhile, Rebecca Starford has joined us as Assistant Editor, having just completed an Honours degree in Creative Arts at the University of Melbourne. Rebecca has been an editorial volunteer for some time, and we have published several of her reviews in recent months. Meanwhile, we thank retiring editorial advisers Stephanie Owen Reeder and Clare Wright, and welcome Professors Jaynie Anderson and Ian Donaldson to the advisory board (whose members are listed on page 6).

From the New Issue

A Memoir of My Former Self: A life in writing by Hilary Mantel, edited by Nicholas Pearson

36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem by Nam Le

Pursuit of the New: Louise Hanson-Dyer, publisher and collector edited by Kerry Murphy and Jennifer Hill

‘When we talk about the Middle Ages: Revisiting the power of periodisation’ by G. Geltner