GUNCOTTON



THE REALPOETIK MANIFESTO

[a declaration in progress] FOR TOO LONG has poetry been disregarded as a valid vehicle for the exploration of real world experience. Too often has poetry been filed in the ‘too hard’ basket and deemed ‘irrelevant’ and ‘inaccessible.’ This declaration …

Posted in GUNCOTTON | Tagged , , | 19 Comments

17 and 40

As Cordite Poetry Review approaches its 17th year and, in 48 hours from now, its 40th issue – atypical milestones – I wanted to scribble out a brief blog-post-moment to reflect on the stupendous and unlikely fact that Cordite is …

Posted in GUNCOTTON | Leave a comment

No Poetry for Stella

Beginning in 2013, a major new literary gong – The Stella Prize – will be Australia’s annual acknowledgement of great works by women authors. It carries a $50,000 purse. That’s major, as it should be. The prize was proposed, attracted …

Posted in GUNCOTTON | Tagged , | 6 Comments

BAP Reps 2012

Four poems from the past three issues of Cordite Poetry Review have been included in Best Australian Poems 2012 edited by John Tranter. Congratulations go out to Josephine Rowe for Atlantic City (Cordite 37.1), Cameron Lowe for Turkey in the …

Posted in GUNCOTTON | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Laird, Bufton and an Interlocutor Prelude

Sadly, I begin this post by announcing the departure of Emily Stewart from GUNCOTTON, and I’d like to thank her for the great posts during her time at Cordite. But the world of editing and publishing calls for Stewart with …

Posted in GUNCOTTON | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Enter Cordite Scholarly

Cordite Scholarly is a new section of Cordite Poetry Review devoted to peer-reviewed research on Australian and international poetry and poetics. Essays published in Cordite Scholarly are reviewed by at least two members of Cordite’s Academic Advisory Board (or see …

Posted in GUNCOTTON | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Submissions for Cordite 41: TRANSPACIFIC Now Open

Poetry for Cordite 41: TRANSPACIFIC will be guest-edited by Michael Nardone and Josephine Rowe. We will accept up to four poems per submission. This includes text, sound, image, video and other digital forms of poetry. We will once again be …

Posted in GUNCOTTON | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Launch of John Foulcher’s ‘The Sunset Assumption’

The Sunset AssumptionThe Sunset Assumption (Pitt Street Poetry, 2012)

At Pitt Street Poetry, a new poetry imprint in Sydney, the venture begins with the production of John Foulcher’s ninth book of poetry, The Sunset Assumption. I fell in love during the reading of this book – so strong were my feelings. But ‘in love with what?’, I kept querying. Not the expressions of love itself: human love is an assumed thing in this book.

Posted in GUNCOTTON | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Three Poems and Webb Lecture by the Inaugural CAL Chair of Poetry

Robert Adamson“Robert Adamson began his post as the inaugural CAL Chair in Australian Poetry at UTS in February 2012. Funded by the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) for three years, the Chair in Australian Poetry is the first of its kind in Australia.”

Posted in GUNCOTTON | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Words Wrought in the Rockies

George Bowering at Canmore “This week, Canadian poet Caitlynn Cummings, editor of the Calgary-based journal, filling station, gives us the lowdown on the recent Canmore artsPeak festival, which took place in the Canadian Rockies in June.”

Posted in GUNCOTTON | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Notes from Narrogin and the Great Southern

Foxes Lair Woodland

I’ve led a spoiled existence over the past few decades when it comes to living in communities with thriving programs of literary activities and writers’ festivals: firstly Perth, then Albany and Geraldton. My move last year to Narrogin has found me in much quieter environs. I’m enjoying exploring my new neighbourhood. After decades living on the coast, the landscape of the wheatbelt is slowly working its way into my poems.

Posted in GUNCOTTON | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Translating Hidayet Ceylan and the Melbourne PEN Freespeak Reading

In his introduction to The Random House Book of 20th Century French Poetry, Paul Auster quotes the great French thinker Maurice Blanchot: ‘Translation is Madness.’ Anyone even beginning to attempt such an activity (perhaps, especially, when dealing with poetry) soon …

Posted in GUNCOTTON | Tagged , , | 1 Comment