Cordite Poetry Review, now in its eleventh year, and its eighth as an online magazine, seeks submissions of poetry for its 27th issue, due for publication in late 2007. As in previous issues, we seek poetry related to a specific theme. While not necessarily twinned tributes to William Blake, we hope that this year's two themes of Innocence (online July 2007) and, now, Experience, will stimulate and inspire poets to submit energetic, contemporary and (as ever) previously unpublished work.
Guest Poetry Editor: Tony Birch
Tony Birch is a lecturer in the Department of English with Cultural Studies at the University of Melbourne. He is a writer who has published widely in the areas of short fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction. He has also worked as a writer and curator in collaboration with photographers, film-makers and artists. He was the senior curator on the 'Koori Voices' exhibition at Melbourne Museum's Bunjilaka Centre. He has a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne and and a PhD in Urban cultures and histories. His work has been published in antithesis, Meanjin, Heat, Overland, Best Australian Poetry 2005 and many other magazines and journals.
So what do we mean by Experience?
While it's tempting to riff randomly on Jimi Hendrix's masterpiece “Are You Experienced?” perhaps it's wise, for the time being, to reflect upon the fact that Experience is the twin of Innocence, at least in the world-view of William Blake. Thus polar opposites such as war and peace, love and hate, Sonny and Cher and fish and chips come to mind when thinking of ways to inspire contributors. Use your imagination. Are you experienced? What about work experience, religious experiences, putting the ex- in experience, o-or even inexperience! Yowsers, we're on a roll. So let's stop it right there.
Remember that while responding to the theme is not compulsory, it will probably help. Bear in mind also that our poetry editor is likely to assess all of the poems submitted for the issue as a group, so a poem that does not necessarily address the theme may well be chosen for its relation to other poems selected for the issue. Clear as mud?
