From the Editor

Abstract

From the Editor Brenda Machosky Growth and Change This issue marks another significant moment of this journal's evolution. Just a few years ago, Nicholas Birns moved on from the editor position, after eighteen years of dedicated service. As you can see in this issue, with an interview with Donna Coates, he remains a vital contributor to Antipodes—and behind the scenes, he continues to be a valuable resource for this editor. For thirty-four years, the term of the journal's natural life thus far, Antipodes has benefited from the nurturing hand of Paul Kane, its first and only poetry editor, and his brilliant career as a poet, scholar, teacher, and past president of AAALS. (He also nurtured along this editor in her first years with the journal.) After suggesting the name for the journal in our inaugural year (1987), Paul acquired poems by Judith Wright, A. D. Hope, Gwen Harwood, and Les Murray. In this issue of Antipodes, Paul shares his discovery of a never-published broadcast poem by Anne Elder and another unpublished poem by Dennis Nicholson, which references Elder, along with his personal commentary about its provenance. At the 2021 AAALS conference, we were mesmerized by Paul reading his own powerful poetry. Paul's work with critics and theorists at Yale, his friendships with seminal American and Australian poets, and his regular travel to Australia created the foundation for a well-regarded poetry collection in this journal. The current volume is his final curated issue. The journal is fortunate that the poetry editor position smoothly passes to long-time AAALS member and past president Nathanael O'Reilly, who begins his term as of issue 35.1. Nat is a prolific and well-known poet in both the US and Australia, with seven books of poetry (and another just accepted) and many individual scholarly publications. AAALS conference attendees have enjoyed Nat's poetry readings for many years. Now an assistant professor of creative writing in poetry at the University of Texas–Arlington, Nat is well connected in the current poetry scene. On behalf of the AAALS executive board and the editorial board of Antipodes, thank you, Paul, for your decades of service and dedication, and welcome, Nat, as we grow into the next many years. In producing this journal, we acknowledge the Native Hawaiian and Native American peoples on whose rightful lands many of us live and work, including the Ojibwe, Ottawa, and Potawatomi tribes of the Detroit area, where this journal is published. We acknowledge elders past, present, and future of the Aboriginal and Māori Peoples, acknowledging our respect for these traditional owners on whose lands we work and whose culture and literature are often the objects of our study. Copyright © 2020 Wayne State University Press