Cirrus@Austlit

'In late 2020, I casually asked Alvin Pang—newly graduated with a PhD in Creative Writing—if he might now have the time and willingness to guest edit the poetry for an issue of Rabbit. Based in Singapore, Alvin would be our first international poetry editor. He wrote back immediately to accept, and proposed ‘Asia’ as the theme. I shouldn’t have been surprised by this proposal—such an ambitious theme captured something of Alvin’s general approach to poetry: wide-ranging, provocative and generous. Asia-as-theme is a conundrum, irreducible and boundary-less as a poem itself.' (Jessica L Wilkinson: Editorial introduction)

'Best of Australian Poetry is an annual anthology collecting previously published and unpublished poems to create a poetic snapshot of the year that was. Capturing the richness and diversity of Australian poetry, across a timeframe of 1 July 2021 - 7 August 2022, the series, now in its second year, will explore how poetic responses to the contemporary moment develop with each passing year.

'The book opens with an introduction by its 2022 editors, award-winning and highly respected poets and editors, Jeanine Leanne and Judith Beveridge. Both Jeanine, a Wiradjuri poet, and Judith have extensive experience as poetry teachers, academics and poetry anthologists previously.

'The Best of Australian Poetry (BoAP) series is published by Australia's national poetry organisation, Australian Poetry, and will feature two different guest editors each year, to amplify the range of voices selected. It is funded by the Australia Council for the Arts and individual patrons.' (Publication summary)