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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Since its inception in 1977 Social Alternatives has had a long-running commitment to poetry. During this time the journal has published well over two thousand poems (Synott 2018: 46)1, including work by Judith Wright, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Les Murray, Judith Beveridge, Samuel Wagan Watson and Dorothy Porter (Morgan et al. 2007: 58). Alongside such luminaries, Social Alternatives has published hundreds of relatively unknown poets, many of whom had their first poems published in the journal. Certainly, when I began writing a quarter of a century ago it was one of the places you sent to. Many of the poets featured in the journal's early years were active in various social movements from anti-conscription and nuclear disarmament to Aboriginal land rights, women's liberation, and environmental protection (Synott 2018: 45). The poetry in Social Alternatives has often been slanted towards political and social themes but the work has usually been thematically broader (Morgan et al. 2007: 58), relating more abstractly to politics.' (Aidan Coleman Publication abstract)

Notes

Only literary material by Australian authors individually indexed. Other material in this issue includes

Fine by Matt Rader:

Signing and Styx, Central Otago, Late Summer by Gregory O'Brien

Roddy and Saul, Visited by and Evil Spirit by Chris Davidson

Glass and The Carver Chair by Martin Figura

Late Ghazal and Potential is Kind of Wink Beyond the Heavens we Can Barely See by Sheila E Murphy

Roethke and Crackabrick by Aaron Belz

The Chaste and The White Death by L. S. Klatt

We the People, We Were the Parkers and Dust by Nathan Parker

Queen of Cups by Helen Ivory

Miyana by Gopika Jadeja

Review : Law and poetry: Promises from the preamble (2021) by Christine V Lao

* Contents derived from the 2021 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.

Life with Headphones"I walk with red headphones, buffered against strict frost. A Nocturne strokes my stride", Penelope Layland , single work poetry (p. 7)

Pomegranate, Four Ways"The seeds snick free and freely fall", Penelope Layland , single work poetry (p. 8)

Donkey"in my twenties I found you limp in a box", Tricia Dearborn , single work poetry (p. 8)

Buffoons and Jongleurs"Clothed in bees, dressed as an emperor", Angela Gardner , single work poetry (p. 9)

White Goods"Across, sweeping an arm, there are the homes", Angela Gardner , single work poetry (p. 9)

Pretty Vacant"A reluctance, almost a reluctance", Jill Jones , single work poetry (p. 10)

Eternity"A young woman hands out", Jill Jones , single work poetry (p. 11)

Neoliberal Limerick with Hashtags"To think that the think tanks of fate", Justin Clemens , single work poetry (p. 12)

Imperatives"Be frugal with your morning moans", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 12)

River Heights"Five years past the age he reached", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 12)

On a Quiet Day..."another world awaits its birth", Nicola Bowery , single work poetry (p. 12)

Mud"For several months in 1841 the poet John Keats lived in New Plymouth. Not long after the unfortunate", Bill Manhire , single work poetry (p. 13)

Kinesis, Kenosis"a good coffee’s", Thom Sullivan , single work poetry (p. 14)

To The Tune Of “Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground”"More snowflakes falling now than stars I’ve seen", Kevin Hart , single work poetry (p. 14)

The Last Carthusian"“As bridegrooms to their marriage” they went west,", Kevin Hart , single work poetry (p. 15)

Nefertiti and the Nile"The Goddess of Scribes I knew as a child", Jane Frank , single work poetry (p. 16)

The Bees"Bees buzz with brio in abelia — I kneel near them", Jane Frank , single work poetry (p. 16)

Interlocutor"I awoke last night only to realize that I was already awake. I was surrounded by tiny little containers.", Janice Rieger , single work poetry (p. 17)