Australian Poetry took a different approach to the release of its latest edition of the Australian Poetry Journal (APJ) by launching it online.
The live streaming video session took place on 23 July hosted by Lisa Gorton, poetry editor of the Australian Book Review, who interviewed four prominent poetry editors:
- Michael Sharkey, editor of the current APJ issue;
- Kent MacCarter of Cordite;
- Michelle Cahill from Mascara Literary Review; and
- Fiona Wright of Seizure.
Each editor spoke about their job, the changing industry and most importantly what they look for in a submission.
Some said that a piece had to grab them in the first few lines and be doing something different, while others looked for evidence of reading and pleasure from reading the poem. The obvious no-nos were use of clichés, obscure formatting particularly for online publication and a certain spilling of the guts!
The conversation can be viewed in full at www.digitalwritersfestival.com, an insightful and entertaining discussion, and invaluable to anyone wanting to break into the Australian poetry scene.
J V Birch 
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