Editorial

Peter Porter (1929–2010)

June 2010, issue no. 322

Editorial

Peter Porter (1929–2010)

June 2010, issue no. 322

Poetry in English has lost one of its paragons, Australian literature one of its finest ambassadors, and Australian Book Review a beloved friend with the death in London of Peter Porter, aged eighty-one. He died on 23 April – Shakespeare’s birthday – by which time our May issue had already gone to print.

Peter Porter’s first collection, Once Bitten, Twice Bitten, appeared forty-nine years ago. His awards were many, notable among them the Duff Cooper Prize for his first Collected Poems (1983) and the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2002. He lived to see an advance copy of his new Selected Poems, titled Rest on the Flight, which Picador UK has just published, and which Allen & Unwin will publish here in October.

Peter Rose

In 2001 Peter Rose became the Editor of Australian Book Review. Previously he was a publisher at Oxford University Press. He has published several books of poetry, an award-winning family memoir, Rose Boys, and two novels, the most recent being Roddy Parr (Fourth Estate, 2010). His latest poetry collections are Rag (Gazebo Books, 2023) and Attention, Please! (Pitt Street Poetry, February 2025). His extensive criticism appears in a variety of publication, including ABR. Rose writes and performs short absurdist plays with The Highly Strung Players.