Nine years ago Oxford University Press (UK) abandoned its vaunted poetry series, the Oxford Poets. This was a bitter business, much criticised around the world. Among the featured poets were Basil Bunting, Fleur Adcock, D.J. Enright and Gwen Harwood. Much of Peter Porter’s poetry appeared in the series, including his Collected Poems (1999), published just before the controversial sell-off. Some of the original poets, and collections, now appear in Oxford-Poets, an imprint of Carcanet Press. These include Joseph Brodsky’s Collected Poems in English and Elaine Feinstein’s great edition of Marina Tsvetaeva’s Selected Poems. Chris Wallace-Crabbe’s new collection, Telling a Hawk from a Handsaw, appears in Oxford Poets. Readers will recognise several poems which first appeared in ABR. Peter Porter is quoted on the back cover: ‘[Chris Wallace-Crabbe’s] allies are words and he uses them with the care of a surgeon and the flair of a conjuror.’

Barbara Jefferis Award 2009

Entries for the Barbara Jefferis Award 2009 are now open. The Award, valued at $35,000, is offered annually for ‘the best novel written by an Australian author that depicts women and girls in a positive way or otherwise empowers the status of women and girls in society’.