Shorelines 2 shortlist announced

Six talented poets made the shortlist for Shorelines 2, a collection of works by emerging poets to be published by Fremantle Press in 2010.

Maree Dawes, Sarah French, Meredi Ortega, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, James Quinton and Emma Rooksby were selected from 36 submissions.

The three successful poets will be announced at the beginning of September. Shorelines 2 will be published in Fremantle Press Poetry Month in July 2010.

The Press’ Poetry and Fiction Publisher, Georgia Richter, said it was a privilege to be able to consider the manuscripts.

“The number of submissions exceeded our expectations and the calibre of the content was high,” said Richter.

She said the biographies of the poets showed that many were already interacting with each other, and that some were being mentored at universities or through independent community connections.

“That said, a number of ‘solo operators’ submitted impressive collections,” said Richter.

The editorial committee consisted of Wendy Jenkins, Georgia Richter and guest editor, poet and novelist, Tracy Ryan. Jenkins said the submissions represented a broad survey of emerging Western Australian poets.

“There was strong representation from rural and regional areas, a couple of expats, and exciting work coming from a variety of circumstances and approaches,” said Jenkins.

As part of the Press’ ongoing commitment to encouraging new and emerging poets, Ryan will run an invitation-only masterclass during Poetry Month 2010. Invitations will be issued to those poets who were not necessarily the most experienced or accomplished of the group, but who had submitted evocative and original raw material for consideration in Shorelines 2.

Ryan said she found reading the manuscripts exciting, sometimes surprising and even very moving.

“It’s great to know that there’s so much engagement in serious poetry out there, and I look forward to working with the masterclass group and seeing what new developments come out of that,” said Ryan.

The three successful poets whose collections will be published in Shorelines 2 will be announced in two weeks. Invitations for the masterclass will be issued after this time.

The original Shorelines 1 showcased the work of Barbara Temperton, Roland Leech and Michael Heald who have each gone on to publish individual poetry collections. Temperton’s latest collection is Southern Edge (pictured).