The Best Australian Poems 2011 (16 page)

John Tranter
is the author of more than twenty books. His 2006 poetry collection
Urban Myths: 210 Poems: New and Selected
won multiple awards, including the Victorian, NSW and South Australian Premiers' Prizes. His latest book,
Starlight: 150 Poems
, in 2011 won the
Age
Book of the Year Award for Poetry and the Queensland Premier's Prize. (
johntranter.com
)

 

Robert Adamson
is the author of many poetry volumes including
The Golden Bird
(Black Inc., 2008; C.J. Dennis Prize for Poetry 2009), and the editor of
The Best Australian Poems 2009
and
2010
. In 1995 he received the Christopher Brennan Award for lifetime achievement in poetry.

 

Ali Alizadeh
's books include
Ashes in the Air
(UQP, 2011),
Evental
(Vagabond Press, 2011) and
Iran: My Grandfather
(Transit Lounge Publishing, 2010). He lives in Melbourne and teaches at Deakin University.

 

Richard James Allen
is the author or editor of nine books. His work has been adapted for screen and has appeared widely in print and online. Dr Allen is an honorary associate to the University of Technology, Sydney in the creative practices area.

 

Chris Andrews
has published a book of poems (
Cut Lunch
, Ginninderra Press, 2002) and translated books of fiction by Latin American authors, including César Aira's
Ghosts
. He teaches at the University of Western Sydney.

 

Jude Aquilina
is an Adelaide Hills writer whose latest poetry collection,
WomanSpeak
(Wakefield Press, 2009)
,
was co-written with Louise Nicholas. She works at the SA Writers' Centre, teaches creative writing at the Adelaide College of the Arts and is Chair of Adelaide PEN.

 

Louis Armand
lives in Prague. His recent books include a collection of poetry,
Letters from Ausland
(Vagabond Press, 2011) and a novel
Clair Obscur
(Equus, 2011). He is an editor of
VLAK
magazine.

 

Peter Bakowski
's most recent poetry collection,
Beneath Our Armour
(Hunter Publishers, 2009), is comprised entirely of portrait poems of real and imagined people and is informed by two funded residencies in China.

 

Ken Bolton
was born in Sydney in 1949. He works at the Australian Experimental Art Foundation in Adelaide and edits Little Esther Books.
A Whistled Bit Of Bop
(Vagabond Press, 2010) and
Sly Mongoose
(Puncher & Wattman, 2011) are recent collections.

 

Neil Boyack
's stories and poems have been published in the collections
Black, Snakeskin-Vanilla, See Through
and
Transactions. 
Neil is the creator and director of the
Newstead Short Story Tattoo
. (
neilboyack.com
)

 

Peter Boyle
has published five books of poetry and translated three books of French and Spanish poetry. His most recent book,
Apocrypha
(Vagabond Press, 2009), won the Queensland Premier's Prize and the Arts ACT Judith Wright Prize and was shortlisted for the Australian Literary Society's Gold Medal.

 

Kevin Brophy
teaches creative writing at the University of Melbourne. He is the author of eleven books, including four books of poetry. His latest poetry book is
Mr Wittgenstein's Lion
(Five Islands Press, 2007). He is patron of the Melbourne Poets Union and former editor of
Going Down Swinging
.

 

Pam Brown
has published many books and chapbooks, and an ebook called
The meh of z z z z
. Her most recent title is
Authentic Local
(papertiger media, 2010). She lives in Alexandria, Sydney. (
www.thedeletions.blogspot.com
)

 

Joanne Burns
is a Sydney poet. Her most recent book is
amphora
(Giramondo, 2011). She is currently working on a new collection,
brush.

 

Michelle Cahill
is a Goan-Anglo-Indian migrant writer who lives in Sydney. Her collections of poetry include
Vishvarüpa
(Five Islands Press, 2011), shortlisted for the 2011 Alec Bolton Prize. She received the 2010 Val Vallis Award and the Inverawe Nature Poetry Prize (minor).

 

Grant Caldwell'
s latest collection of poetry is
glass clouds
(Five Islands Press, 2010). He is a lecturer in the creative writing program at the University of Melbourne.

 

John Carey
is a Sydney poet, ex-teacher of French and Latin, and a former part-time actor. He has been published in
Meanjin
,
Quadrant
and
Southerly
, among others. His latest poetry collection is
The Old Humanists
(Puncher & Wattmann, 2008).

 

Bonny Cassidy
is a Melbourne-based poet and writer. Her most recent collection is
Certain Fathoms
(Puncher & Wattmann, 2011). Bonny is currently undertaking the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship for poetry.

 

Julie Chevalier
lives in Sydney. Two books of her poetry are forthcoming from Puncher & Wattman: 
linen tough as history
, and
Darger: his girls
. A collection of short stories,
Permission to Lie
, was published by Spineless Wonders in 2011.

 

Justin Clemens
's books of poetry include
Me 'n' me trumpet
(Vagabond Press, 2011). His latest book is a collection of art criticism,
Minimal Domination
(Surpllus, 2011); he is also co-editor of
The Jacqueline Rose Reader
(Duke, 2011) with Ben Naparstek. He teaches at the University of Melbourne.

 

Sue Clennell
is the author of
The Ink Drinkers
and has recently released a poetry CD ‘The Van Gogh Cafe'. She was placed in the 2006 and 2007 Josephine Ulrick Poetry Prize.

 

Jennifer Compton
was born in New Zealand and now lives in Melbourne. Her book of poetry –
This City
(Otago University Press, 2011) – won the 2010 Kathleen Grattan Award in New Zealand. Her new play –
The Third Age
– was recently shortlisted for the Adam New Zealand Play Award.

 

Michael Crane
's poetry collections include
A Dog Called Yesterday – Selected Poems and Prose
(Ninderry Press, 2003) and a chapbook,
Poems from the 29th Floor
(Picaro Press, 2007). He runs the Poetry Idol series at the Melbourne Writers' Festival and publishes the
Paradise Anthology
.

 

Fred Curtis
is a Melbourne writer. His works include the booklet
Prosody: a Poetry Workshop
(Melbourne Poets Union, 2007)
.
He holds a master's degree in creative writing from the University of Melbourne.

 

Toby Davidson
is a West Australian poet who lectures in Australian literature at Macquarie University. He edited Francis Webb's
Collected Poems
(UWA Publishing, 2011) and his book
Born of Fire, Possessed by Darkness: Mysticism and Australian Poetry
is forthcoming from Cambria Press in 2012.

 

Bruce Dawe
is the author of twenty books, including thirteen volumes of poetry. He was awarded the Order of Australia in 1992 for his contribution to Australian Literature. His latest book is
Slo-Mo Tsunami and Other Poems
(Puncher & Wattmann, 2011).

 

Sarah Day
's most recent book is
Grass Notes
(Brandl & Schlesinger, 2009). Awards for her work include the Queensland Premier's Judith Wright Calanthe, the ACT Judith Wright, the University of Melbourne Wesley Michelle Wright Prize and the Anne Elder Award.

 

Suzanne Edgar
's poetry collection
The Painted Lady
(Ginninderra Press, 2006) was
shortlisted for the ACT's Best Book of the Year, 2007. Her forthcoming collection is
Talking Late
.

 

Brook Emery
directed the Australian Poetry Festival in 2008 and 2010. Awards for his poetry include the Judith Wright Calanthe Prize for poetry, the Bruce Dawe National Poetry Prize and the Max Harris Award. His most recent collection is
Uncommon Light
(FIP, 2007).

 

Kate Fagan
is a poet, editor and songwriter whose books include
The Long Moment
(Salt Publishing, 2002). A new collection,
First Light
, is forthcoming from Giramondo in 2012. Kate lectures in literature at the University of Western Sydney. (
katefagan.com
)

 

Diane Fahey
's latest book is
The Wing Collection: New & Selected Poems
(Puncher & Wattmann, 2011). Her collection
Sea Wall and River Light
(Five Islands Press, 2006) won the ACT Judith Wright Poetry Award.

 

Jeltje Fanoy (jeltje)
has authored collections including
Catching worms
(1993) and
Poetry Live in the House
(2004). She convened poetry performances at La Mama Poetica from 2004 until 2010 and is writing an account of her family's Dutch colonial experience.

 

Michael Farrell
has written a Master's on the billycan in Australian poetry. His most recent publication is
thempark
(Book Thug, 2011). He is the current commentator on Australian poetry for
Jacket2
.

 

Johanna Featherstone
is the founder and artistic director of The Red Room Company. Her most recent chapbook is
Felt
(Vagabond Press, 2010). She is a research associate with the University of Western Sydney.

 

Liam Ferney
is a Brisbane poet. His most recent poetry collection is
Popular Mechanics
(Interactive Press, 2004). He has lived in the United States, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

 

Toby Fitch
is an author and musician who was born in London and raised in Sydney. His poetry collections include the chapbook
Everyday Static
(Vagabond Press, 2010) and a forthcoming volume through Puncher & Wattman. (
tobyfitch.blogspot.com
)

 

William Fox
is a Melbourne poet whose work has appeared in the
Age
,
Meanjin
,
Overland
, and various other print and online journals.

 

Andrew Galan
has been published in
BLOCK
,
The Delinquent
, the
Eve's Harvest
anthology,
Streetcake
,
Verity La
and
REM Magazine
. He co-founded and runs Canberra poetry slam
BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!
at the Phoenix pub.

 

Angela Gardner
is the author of two poetry collections:
Views of the Hudson
(Shearsman Books, 2009), written during a Churchill Fellowship visit to New York, and
Parts of Speech
(UQP, 2007), winner of the 2006 Arts Queensland Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize. She is also a visual artist.

 

Carolyn Gerrish
is a Sydney poet. She has published five collections of poetry. Her most recent is 
The View from the Moon
(Island Press, 2011). She currently teaches creative writing at the WEA and is working on her sixth collection.

 

Jane Gibian
's publications include her collection
Ardent
(Giramondo, 2007) and
small adjustments and other poems
(
Wagtail
poetry magazine, Picaro Press, 2008). Her work has been widely anthologised.

 

Geoff Goodfellow
's latest collection is
Waltzing with Jack Dancer: a slow dance with cancer
(Wakefield Press, 2011). This is his tenth book, most of them going into multiple print runs. (
geoffgoodfellow.com
)

 

Lisa Gorton
lives in Melbourne. Her first poetry collection,
Press Release
(Giramondo, 2007), won the Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry. Her second poetry collection,
Hotel Hyperion
, is forthcoming from Giramondo in 2012.

 

Robert Gray
is co-editor of the anthology
Australian Poetry Since 1788
. His
Collected Poems
will be appearing early next year.

 

Kathryn Hamann
lives in Blackburn with her family. Her seventh collection is
A Slight Fuzzing of Perspective
(with photography by Leonard O'Brien and paintings by Sue Watson; Mono Unlimited, May 2011). (
www.shardlight.com
)

 

Jennifer Harrison
's fifth poetry collection,
Colombine: New & Selected Poems
(Black Pepper, 2010), was
shortlisted for the 2011 Western Australian Premier's Poetry Prize. In 2009 she co-edited the Puncher & Wattmann anthology
Motherlode: Australian Women's Poetry 1986–2008. 

 

Paul Hetherington
's eight collections of poetry include
It Feels Like Disbelief
(Salt Publishing, 2007). His poetry awards include the 1996 ACT Book of the Year Award. He teaches at the University of Canberra and is a founding editor of the online journal
Axon: Creative Explorations
.