Australian Poetry Journal
The Australian Poetry Journal (APJ) is the flagship publication of Australian Poetry. Now in its fifth year, the journal continues to build on its status as the leading Australian print-publication dedicated to poetry.
APJ aims to bring contemporary Australian poetry and poetics into the spotlight, publishing the best Australian poetry across multiple genres and allowing for deep and engaged criticism of new works by established, mid-career and emerging poets.
Ensuring that our flagship publication remains vibrant and dynamic in its evolution, the editorship is rotated every three years. From 2011 to 2013, the journal was edited by Dr Bronwyn Lea, who created an outstanding journal incorporating poetry, a featured spotlight, as well as criticism and reviews showcasing the finest contemporary Australian poetry. Dr Michael Sharkey became editor in 2014.
APJ is expanding to embrace multiple platforms for the publication of poems. The inclusion of audiovisual, multimedia and experimental poetries ensures that APJ remains engaged with the full spectrum of Australian poetries as they are currently practised. The digital and online versions of the journal embrace possibilities of media that display the varieties of performative and visual poetries.
The contents of the print-based platform has been expanded to foster greater general readership as well as increased appeal to professional poets by:
- increasing number of poems published (journal length has increased to 160 pages from a maximum of 120 in previous issues)
- increasing number of poets represented (in 2014, the journal contained work by poets from every Australian State and Territory)
- maintaining cultural memory (feature articles introduce readers to poets whose work, formerly celebrated, is less well-known)
- reflecting cultural diversity and practice (commissioned interviews with poets of all ages, whose cultural and artistic heritage reflects the diversity of Australian experience)
- increasing awareness of the varieties of poetic forms and variety of people engaged in poetry (encourages essays from poets and informed readers on unusual aspects of poetic practice)
Over the next six years, Australian Poetry aspires to steadily increase publication of the Australian Poetry Journal. APJ will continue biannually in 2016; increase to three times per year from 2017; and then quarterly from 2020. As publications per year increase, so too can the mix of poets, poetry, contributors, editors, themes, and theoretical perspectives.
Australian Poetry Journal Creative and Editorial Team
The editorial standards are based on broad knowledge of the historical and contemporary range of Australian poetry and its place in the world. The production quality of the journal is overseen by the Australian Poetry editorial team, lead by Michael Sharkey, and supported by Bronwyn Lovell and Robert Wood.
Michael Sharkey
Michael was appointed editor of the Australian Poetry Journal in 2014. He first started working in publishing over forty years ago and has since then written, published, edited, reviewed and otherwise promoted poetry. He holds a PhD on English Poetry, and he has taught Australian Literature and Culture at universities across Australia as well as in China, Ireland, England and Germany. Michael was Chair of the New England Writers Centre from 1993 to 2012 and is well known as a mentor for the workshops he has conducted across the country and internationally. Michael is widely published and awarded with work including poetry, essays, biographies and anthologies and has edited a number of magazines and journals including the literary journal Ulitarra.
Bronwyn Lovell
Bronwyn has worked in and around the publications industry for more than a decade — as a bookseller; an editorial assistant, a feature writer and reviewer for several magazines; an editor of children’s books for Penguin group in the UK; and most recently as Publications Officer at Writers Victoria. Over the years, Bronwyn has volunteered for several non-profit organisations including writing festivals and literary journals; worked as a poetry mentor for people with disability; and facilitated poetry workshops for both children and adults. Her poetry has appeared in national and international publications, including Best Australian Poems, Award Winning Australian Writing and the Global Poetry Anthology. She has won the Adrien Abbott Poetry Prize and been shortlisted for the Newcastle, Bridport, and Montreal prizes.
Robert Wood
Robert has worked in universities and cultural management in Australia, the United States and India in a variety of roles including research, outreach and teaching. He has volunteered with Perth Writers Festival and interned with a variety of journals and publishers, including Overland and the Small Press Network. Robert’s passion for poetry was stimulated by Charles Bernstein who was his teacher at the University of Pennsylvania, where Robert completed a masters as Benjamin Franklin Fellow in 2008. Robert has had his writing published in numerous academic peer review journals and literary publications including JASAL, Foucault Studies, Interdisciplinary Literary Studies, Southerly, Jacket2 and Best Australian Poems 2013.
National Advisory Council
Additionally, Australian Poetry has invited a number of professional poets, publishers and academics across Australia to sit on its National Advisory Council:
Jennifer Compton, VIC
Brett Dionysius, QLD
Brook Emery, NSW
Steve Evans, SA
Vivienne Glance, WA
Sarah Holland-Batt, QLD
Jill Jones, VIC
John Knight, NSW
Roland Leach, WA
Geoff Lemon, VIC
Paul Magee, ACT
Geoff Page, ACT
Robyn Roland, VIC
Candy Royalle, NSW
Angela Stretch, NSW
Donna Ward, VIC
Terry Whitebeach, WA
Australian Poetry Journal Vol 4 No 2
In the latest APJ, read about the tension between politics and poetics, topics from the far left to the far right and the links between ideology and ideal words.
Leading off in his witty essay, Mitchell Welch reflects on the place of poetry in Australian political life. Surprising though it may seem, some Australian political figures have honed their poetic skills while holding power.
Editor Michael Sharkey: “APJ4.2 showcases poets you’ve heard of and many you’ll wish you knew better.”
Australian Poetry Journal Vol 4 No 1
After three years under the guidance of founding editor Bronwyn Lea, the Australian Poetry Journal relaunched with a new editor, new designer, and a digital extension to bring poetry into larger conversations about Australian life and literature.
Together, the new team created a journal that is spacious and generous, giving voice to a diverse range of poetic styles and incorporating for the first time multimedia and audiovisual work.
With a range of essays and reviews complementing its poetry pages, the Australian Poetry Journal is an intelligent and engaging read for specialist and general audiences alike.
Australian Poetry Journal Vol 3 No 2
In her fifth and final volume as the editor of the Australian Poetry Journal, Bronwyn Lea shines a light on the Australian and international poets who are bringing language in all its iterations to the forefront of their work.
For the first time, the journal also includes colour pages, highlighting the importance and effectiveness of the visual aspects of concrete poetry.
Australian Poetry Journal Vol 3 No 1
Humans may prefer to distinguish themselves from all other multicellular, eukaryotic organisms, but ‘humans’ live only in the philosopher’s imagination.
In the eyes of biologists we are homo sapiens of Kingdom Animalia. Questions of taxonomy come under the microscope in this edition of the Australian Poetry Journal.
Australian Poetry Journal Vol 2 No 2
This issue features new poetry by renowned Australian and international poets, including Christian Bök, Luke Davies, Diane Fahey, Sarah Holland-Batt, Carmen Leigh Keates, Anthony Lawrence, Rosanna Licari, Nikola Madzirov, Iman Mersal, Peter Rose, Philip Salom and others.
Australian Poetry Journal Vol 2 No 1
Australian Poetry Journal 2.1 includes new poetry from poets across the country including Margaret Bradstock, Amy Brown, Michael Farrell, John Kinsella and Maria Takolander as well as international poets Sudeep Sen, Alvin Pang and Ron Winkler.
Also featured is Felicity Plunkett’s spotlight on the poetry of Gwen Harwood, a review of Australian poetry from 1788 – 2012, and book reviews of recent poetry collections along with criticism by Martin Duwell and Michael Sharkey.
Australian Poetry Journal Vol 1
The inaugural issue of the Australian Poetry Journal contemplates what poets talk about when they talk about beginnings: fifty poems by celebrated as well as new voices, poetry reviews and criticism, spotlight on the past, publishing news, and more.
