Poetry
#28.1 Mulloway (2008)
Join our guest editor Greg McLaren as he navigates the river of Robert Adamson’s poetry. Includes work by John Tranter, Kate Fagan, joanne burns, Stuart Cooke, Adam Aitken, Adrian Wiggins, James Stuart and the mysterious Chris de Adamson.
#28 Secret Cities (2008)
So, you made of it what you would. We were all ears. We expected poems about Lego cities, imaginary cities, invisible cities, buried cities, nuclear cities in the former Soviet Union that no longer exist and pretend cities on pin-cushions. And that’s what we got. Not.
#27 Experience (2008)
After lengthy delays, our 27th issue is now online, having been uploaded over a one month period! Join our guest editor Terry Jaensch and share the experiences of some of Australia’s most innovative and savvy poets including Ouyang Yu, Paul Mitchell, joanne burns, Jane Gibian, SJ Finn and more!
#26.1 White Homes (2007)
Prose poetry is the new black. Join guest editor Kristina Marie Darling in celebrating all things prosodical with this special selection of poetry without line breaks from ten of the USA’s finest exponents of the genre including Sarah Manguso, Joshua Clover, Elizabeth Willis, Richard Greenfield and more!
#26 Innocence (2007)
For our 26th issue, our first using Wordpress, we asked guest editor MTC Cronin to select anonymously from hundreds of submissions the best poems relating to the theme of Innocence. Here are the results: poems by 31 poets including Tom Clark, Peter O’Mara, Jennifer Compton, Lee Kofman and (you guessed it) even more!
#25 Generation of Zeroes (2006)
Our 25th issue features new works by a whole bunch of digitally cool poets including Carol Jenkins, Derek Motion, Jill Jones, Joel Deane, Klare Lanson and more! Our guest poetry editor and chanteuse extraordinaire alicia sometimes balances the ones and the zeroes, with an excellent assortment of plain kooky poems.
#24.1 Candylands (2006)
In February 2004 guest editor Michael Farrell went on a one-month meet-as-many-poets-as-possible trip to the U.S.A. ‘Lucky you’, we said, and ‘bring us back some poems!’ Here is the result: an eclectic selection of works by Catherine Daly, Kevin Killian, Judith Bishop, Devin Johnston and others.
#24 Common Wealth (2006)
Our 24th issue, released in the ‘aftermath’ of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and guest-edited by Claire Gaskin, features over fifty new poems by Australian and international poets including Kris Hemensley, Ban’ya Natsuishi, Carol Jenkins, Aileen Kelly, Todd Swift and Diane Fahey!
#23 Children of Malley (2005)
Liam Ferney’s final issue as poetry editor was a triumphant tribute to Ern Malley, in the form of forty five poems by a range of Australian and international poets. Fittingly, each poet chose a nom de malley and so we find works by Dawn Fanny Malley, Maralyn Spears-Malley, Warne Malley and, our favourite, Ern Malley’s Cat.
#22 Editorial Intervention (2005)
This special editors’ issue of Cordite, edited by David Prater, featured poems by poetry editors past and present, including Adrian Wiggins, Ali Alizadeh, alicia sometimes, Alison Croggan, Ban’ya Natsuishi and many more! Plus, an interview with editor of Jacket, John Tranter. Get thee to the index page today!
#21.1 Robo (2005)
Robots have feelings too, you know. Even daleks. Well, that’s what guest editors/judges Nick Whittock and David Prater believed, after selecting the winners of the deadliest poetry competiton this side of Gallifrey, erm, we mean the Port Phillip Library’s Robo poems competition. We leave the final verdict, as ever, up to you.
#21 Domestic Enemy (2005)
Our 21st issue saw Cordite finally obtain its majority! It had been (and still is) a long and dusty road, filled with many pit-stops, refuels, driver changes, roadblocks, fake abductions, detours and [insert your own road-related metaphor here]. Unsurprisingly, Domestic Enemy is filled with the usual swag of poetry.
#20: Submerged (2004)
For our twentieth issue, we decided to get completely under it. Subterranean poets battle it out in the deeps, diving to discover hidden treasures, mystery objects and strange, transparent sharks. Okay we were making up the bit about the transparent sharks. There’s a trawler’s worth of poetry here, selected once again by Liam Ferney.
#19: Anti/Heroes (2004)
Australia, your Anti/Heroes are ready! We put the OK back in Ned Kelly, with new, brave and incendiary poetry from the likes of Nick Whittock, Emily Finlay, MTC Cronin, Barbara Cocks, Robert McLean, Stephen Oliver, Gregory Vincent St. Thomasino, Rino Palamini, Alan Wearne, michael farrell, B.R. Dionysius and Sarah French!
#18: Roots (2004)
We’re pleased as punch to announce that Cordite has come of age, with our 18th issue online! As befits this new maturity, Roots contains a whole party bus of poems, with one responsible driver (Liam Ferney). Check out new works by Vernyce Dannells, Emily Finlay, Kate Fagan, Alan Wearne, Joel Deane, Jaya Savige and moooooore!
#17: Driver (2004)
Turn ignition, buckle up, check rear view mirror, shift gears, release hand brake, indicate left and move slowly out. Our Driver issue, Liam Ferney’s first as poetry editor, is all about road trips, pit stops and poetry. In that order. Poems by Sarah French, Eli Jones, Ingrid Ruthig, Alan Wearne, Simon Hall and (possibly) Peter Brock.
#16: Search (2004)
Our Search Poetry issue, published online after having been distributed via the Poetry Espresso mailing list, contains poems constructed entirely from search engine results. Join guest poetry editor David Prater as he charts a plethora of cached and similar pages. Entirely unapproved by Google. What is it that you are searching for?
Terry Jaensch’s last issue as poetry editor was, fittingly, a tribute to Mariah Carey. Okay, not even close. In this issue, we dusted off the party frock, applied the Bedazzler and had a virtual Cordite party, as cocktail levels rose and creative juices flowed from beer taps. Hmmm. Now indexed together with #14: Zombie (see below).
Zombies and pop divas make for strange bedfellows, we know. Nevertheless, years after the fact, we can’t help but notice a similarity between the glitter and lace of #15 and the speckled pule of #14. So, like the famous doctor, we decided to join them at the hip. Warning, this issue may contain braaaaaaiiiiiiiiinnnnnnssss!!!
More like a quiet moment between drinks than an issue per se, Interim National has now been indexed together with Test Match (see below). It’s got poetry in it, of that we’re sure. There’s also some interviews and other ephemera. Other than that we suspect there’s nothing to see here. Mova along. Move along, please.
Terry Jaensch’s first issue as poetry editor coincided with our move from a static HTML format to an (at that time) open source blog platform (Movable Type). As the title suggests, this is our special cricket issue. It’s no surprise then that Test Match contains more than one poem by our resident cricket tragic, Nick Whittock!
Our last issue to be published in static HTML format, Copyleft was a turning point in more ways than one. With more poetry, feature articles and reviews than ever, it propelled Cordite into the unknown world of open source content systems. Outgoing poetry editor Carlie Lazar left a trail of blithering ASCII code in her wake.
#10: Location: Asia-Australia (2002)
Our 10th issue was devoted to dis-locations between and within the terms Asia and Australia. Poetry editor Carlie Lazar’s block rocking stanza-selections included haiga by Ban’ya Natsuishi, a selection of Chinese poets in translation by Ouyang Yu, plus new poems by Andy Jackson, Liam Ferney, Sally-Ann McIntyre and many more.
Our ninth issue introduced the intertubes to the poetic editorial prowess of Carlie Lazar. Features poetry by Ivy Alvarez, Angela Costi, Adam Ford, Sarah French, Jill Jones, Patrick Jones, Cassie Lewis, Kate Middleton, Ethan Paquin, Brendan Ryan, Sean Whelan, Nick Whittock, Ouyang Yu and more.
David Prater’s first issue as editor was an interim issue, with poetry selections by Bruce Williams. Poets in this issue included Robert Adamson, Ian Bell, Rory Harris, Richard Hillman, Catherine Mair & Patricia Prime, Bill Pitt and Matthew Power (All poems from issues 8 through to 11 will be uploaded to the current Cordite site in the near future).
Adrian Wiggins’ final issue as editor was a biggie: a double issue, namely #6 & #7: Poetry of the Northern Territory (2000). The issue was published both in print and online. Features and reviews from this issue have now been re-posted on the Cordite site. One day we will have the time and energy to also re-post the one hundred or so poems that make this issue a landmark in Australian poetry. For serious! Any volunteers? Issues 1-5 were published in print only but have been archived as PDFs by the National Library of Australia.
#5: PERFORMANCE POETRY SPECIAL (1999)
#4: EXPERIENCE AND TRANSCENDENCE (1998)
#3: NEXT WAVE FESTIVAL EDITION (1998)
#2: THE CRIMES THAT RHYME (1997)
#1: DOGGEREL AND GRACE (1997)
Cordite is archived at least once every year by the NLA’s Pandora Archive, which features copies of every issue of the magazine since 1997. While the Pandora archives are regular, they are also slightly confusing, as the pages for several issues have been duplicated. Nevertheless these archives are worth a look for the way in which they document the development of the Cordite site in all its ragged glory!