ABR
Poetry Competition
Earlier this year, Stephen Edgar won the inaugural
ABR Poetry Competition. He picked up a cheque
for $2000, and ABC Television made a feature
about him and other shortlisted poets —
not bad coverage for poets in a country many
of whose newspapers and general magazines
have so lament-ably and short-sightedly reduced
their coverage of poetry. Well, the competition
is on again. Its principal aim is to uncover
some of the best new poems being written in
this country. Up to six of them will be shortlisted
in the March 2006 issue; the winner will be
announced in April 2006. Full details appear
on page 8. The entry form is also available
on our website, or on request. The closing
date is December 15.
Marten
Bequest
‘Advances’ is a big fan of any
programme that encourages young artists
to travel, and thus admires the Marten Bequest
Travelling Scholarships. Every year, scholarships
of $18,000 each are offered in six different
artistic categories. This year, indeed,
the trust is able to offer two scholarships
in each category. It’s poetry’s
turn again in this round, so $36,000 will
go to two Australian-born poets aged between
21 and 35. Recent winners have included
Judith Bishop and Michael Brennan. Entries
close on October 28. For more information,
contact Petrea Salter: (02) 9332 1559 or
trustawards@cauzgroup.com.au.
Changes
at ABR
We like the people at Lonely Planet, but
we went right off them recently when they
persuaded our wonderful Office Manager,
Dianne Schallmeiner, to join their editorial
staff. Di joined us four years ago, as a
volunteer, and soon became a staff member.
As well as supervising the office, the bookkeeping
and the database, Di has commissioned reviews
and proofed each issue. ‘Very’
is a word we discourage at ABR, but Di leaves
us with our very best wishes. She will join
several ABR volunteers/interns who have
recently been appointed as editors at Lonely
Planet. Lorraine Harding, meanwhile, is
the new ABR Office Manager.
Meanwhile
at Eureka Street
There have been significant changes at Eureka
Street. Marcelle Mogg, who succeeded Morag
Fraseer as Editor two years ago, has left
the Jesuit publication to work for the Australian
Nursing Federation as a journalist on their
nursing journal. Bob Heffner, former literary
editor of the Canberra Times, is Acting
Editor. In a surprising move, Eureka Street
is now a bimonthly publication (hitherto,
like ABR, it appeared ten times per annum).
Ms Mogg, in her final editorial, stated:
‘This change is part of a more general
restructuring of Jesuit Publications …
It also offers the opportunity to expand
Eureka Street and to choose writing of an
even higher quality and reflectiveness …
The support of the Jesuit Order for this
goal also remains firm.’
Special
events
It’s not every day you get the chance
to hear a Nobel Laureate for Literature,
but this month you will have a couple of
opportunities. As announced last month,
on October 23 ABR will present ‘An
Afternoon with J.M. Coetzee’ at the
National Library of Australia (bookings:
02 6262 1271). ABR subscribers are entitled
to a single free ticket; others pay $15.
Wole Soyinka, the first African writer to
win the Nobel Prize for Literature, will
deliver the PEN Lecture for 2005. The lecture
will be held first in Melbourne on October
25 at the State Library of Victoria (bookings:
03 9654 9068), then in Sydney on October
26 at the Sydney Theatre in The Rocks (bookings:
02 9250 1999).
Regional
harmony
PEN Australia, the national branch of the
international organ-isation lobbying for
imprisoned writers and for freedom of expression
more generally, is having a busy time as
it is also involved with a series of events
organised by the Asia and Pacific Writers’
Network, ‘Beyond Borders: Creative
Strategies for Global Harmony’. A number
of writers from the Asia–Pacific region
have been invited to take part, including
Alvin Pang (Singapore), Yu Jie (China) and
Mohit Prasad (Fiji). They will participate
in various discussion panels and readings
on Sunday, November 6, at the Trades Hall
Bar in Carlton, Melbourne. More details
can be obtained from the Victorian Writers’
Centre: (03) 9654 9068.
Cosmos
Australia needs all the independent bookshops
it can get, and can ill afford to lose any
more, so, although ‘Advances’
was sorry to learn that Helen and Jack Halliday,
after twenty years at the helm, are selling
Cosmos, in St Kilda, it was relieved to
learn that the redoubtable Readings Books
& Music is the purchaser, meaning that
bookworms will still be able to indulge
their literary tastes on Acland Street,
not just Sachertorte and every New Age crystal
and scent imaginable. Readings co-owner
Mark Rubbo has commented: ‘With five
shops in Melbourne — Carlton, Hawthorn,
Malvern, Port Melbourne and now St Kilda
— we remain extremely passionate and
committed to maintaining the strong independent
voice and supporting Australian authors,
musicians and film-makers’.
