Feeding the Ghost: Criticism on Contemporary Australian Poetry

by Andy Kissane (Editor), David Musgrave (Editor), Carolyn Rickett (Editor)

This book is aimed at providing criticism on contemporary Australian poetry in a form that is accessible to general readers. It is intended to be the first in a series which will grapple with the bewildering diversity of the contemporary poetry scene. Australian poetry deserves a criticism that accompanies the astonishing momentum and luminosity that has developed, which both elucidates the scale of poetic achievement and is also not afraid to evaluate that achievement through a rigorous and disinterested critical lens. Australian poets have been feeding the ghost with extraordinary energy and acumen over the last quarter of a century; it is now time for Australian poetry criticism to catch up. Andy Kissane has published a novel, a book of short stories, The Swarm , (2012) and four books of poetry. Radiance (2014) was shortlisted for the Victorian and Western Australian Premier's Prizes for Poetry and the Adelaide Festival Awards. His essay on the Indigenous poet, Dennis McDermott was the winner of the inaugural BTG - Blue Dog Poetry Reviewing Prize. David Musgrave teaches English and Writing at the University of Newcastle. He was a co-editor (with Martin Langford, Judith Beveridge and Judy Johnson) of Contemporary Australian Poetry (2016). He has published six collections of poetry, the most recent being Anatomy of Voice (2016) which was awarded the Arts Queensland Judith Wright Calanthe Award for Poetry. Carolyn Rickett is an Assistant Dean (Research), Senior Lecturer in Communication and creative arts practitioner at Avondale College of Higher Education. Her research and teaching interests focus trauma and bereavement studies; writing as therapeutic intervention; memoir and autobiographical writing; medical humanities; journalism ethics and praxis; literary and poetry studies; chaplaincy, and the psychosocial and spiritual care of patients.

362 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2018

About the author

Andy Kissane is originally from Melbourne and now lives in Sydney with his partner and daughter. He writes fiction and poetry and has published one novel and two collections of poetry. He has worked as an editor, a producer of audio books and has taught creative writing at four universities.