Welcome to the inaugural 'bumper' issue of Divan,Box Hill Institute's on-line poetry e-zine. This electronic journal attempts to sample some of the wonderful, impassioned, curious, political, meditative, witty and otherwise work of Australia's finest poets, as well as providing a publishing space for newer, developing writers of interest.
Divanpublishes poetry alone - no reviews, articles, or prose pieces - and is envisioned as an annual event, with submissions closing mid-June. Although a feast of over 130 poems is presented here, future editions of Divanwill put up an average of 80.
Links have been constructed - where possible - between individual poems and poets published in Divan,and relevant sites of interest. A brief biographical note for each writer has also been provided.
The production team have gone to great effort to ensure a 'tactile' presentation of the poems: they have been formatted in HTM documents (web pages), where the parchment background, arrow image, and links have been added. In addition, we have put aside space for showcasing areas of new direction: for this issue, please view Philip Salom's website (via Contents) as an indication of some of the possibilities opening up for writers interested in multi-media.
Divancontains work from poets with recently-released books such as Catherine Bateson, Alison Croggon, Ian McBryde, Mal Morgan, Philip Salom, Hugh Tolhurst and Chris Wallace-Crabbe. There are also poems from writers about to release new collections such as Jennifer Harrison, Susan Hawthorne, KF Pearson, Dorothy Porter, Alex Skovron and Lauren Williams. We are pleased to include a number of Queensland poets - both new and established - who took part in the recent 1998 Queensland Poetry Festival, as well as poets from other states such as Mike Ladd (Adelaide) and M.T.C. Cronin (Sydney).
Take a look, for example, at some recent work from well-known Melbourne poet Tony Page, who has lived overseas for a number of years and currently resides and teaches in Thailand, or the new poem by established Victorian poet Rosemary Nissen Wade, who has had a break from publishing poetry for a while.
This edition of Divan also contains poems from various directors of literary organisations, communications, events and festivals; editors and publishers of journals and books; writers of reviews; and teachers of literature, in both the creation and the comprehension of language: note the work from Sherryl Clark, Brett Dionysius, Kris Hemensley, David Kelly, Shelton Lea, Doris Leadbetter, Earl Livings, Adrian Rawlins, David Reiter, Dipti Saravanamuttu, Ken Smeaton and Nolan Tyrell, amongst many others.
An amount of space has been actively set aside for the work of poets beginning to become established. Among these pieces you will find a variety of voice and form, from the surreal to the brief to the pantoum to the sustained narrative lyric.
Divantakes pleasure
in publishing a number of poems radical in some sense, and encourages the
work of all writers working against restrictions of any kind, in the spirit
of freedom of expression.
Jordie
Albiston
Poetry Editor
1988