ISLAND PRESS
Publishing fine Australian poetry and other interests.
Probably the oldest still-operating poetry
press in Australia, Island Press continues to publish cutting edge work from
across the country.
Titles can be ordered. Cheques should be
made payable to Island Press and sent to 29 Park Rd, Woodford NSW 2778
Australia.
All prices are in Australian dollars.
1970
– Now
With
P. Hammial as Editor
Les
Wicks the Ambrosiacs $22 2009
Barbara
De Franceschi Strands $20 2009
rae
desmond jones Blow Out $20 2009
Philip
Hammial Wig Hat On $18,95, via
Site $16.65 2009
David
Brooks Urban Elegies $19.95 2008
Philip
Hammial Juggernaut $18.95, via Site
$15 2008
Philip
Hammial Sugar Hits $18.95 via site
$15 2007
Jutta
Sieverding A Dangerous Place $18
95,via site $15 2005
Martin
Langford Microtexts $21.95, via site
$20 2005
Philip
Hammial Voodoo Realities $18.95, site
$15 2005
Lizz
Murphy Stop Your Cryin $18, site $15 2004
Leith
Morton At the Hotel Zudabollo $16 95,
site $12 2004
Carolyn
Gerrish Dark Laughter $17, site
$12 2004
Rob
Riel Rogue Perspectives 2004
Philip
Hammial In the Year of Our Lord Slaughter’s Children 16.95, site $12 2003
Martin
Langford Be Straight with Me $16
95, site $15 2000
Martin
Langford In the Cage of Loves Gradings $16
95, site $15 1997
Lizz
Murphy Pearls and Bullets $10 1997
Barbara
Petrie Farrow Night 1997
Marcel
Freiman Monkey's Wedding $13 1995
Carolyn
Gerrish Learning to Breathe Underwater $12
95, site $10 1995
Philip
Hammial Just Deserts $15 1993
Leith
Morton The Flower Ornament 1993
Martin
Langford Great Wall of Instinct $16
95, site $15 1993
Jutta
Sieverding Uneasy Weather $15 1993
Les
Wicks Tickle $15 1993
Philip
Hammial Vehicles (Art by A Mannix) 1985
Philip
Hammial Squeeze 1985
Adam
Aitken Letter
to Marco Polo $25 1985
J.
S. Harry A Dandelion for Van Gogh 1985
Anthony
Mannix Erotomania 1984
Philip
Hammial Swarm 1979
Dennis
Gallagher Country Country hc $125 pb $95 1979
John
Tranter Dazed in the Ladies Lounge 1979
With
P. Hammial & P. Roberts as Editors
Chris
Hemensley A Mile from Poetry 1979
Andrew
Taylor The Crystal Absences 1979
J.
S. Harry Hold, for a Little While & Turn Gently 1979
Philip
Roberts Selected Poems 1978
Ken
Bolton Blond
& French 1978
With
P. Roberts as Editor
Michael
Witts Sirens 1978
Keith
Shadwick Windows & Mirrors 1978
Philip
Hammial Chemical
Cart 1977
Andrew
Huntley Minor Pageant 1977
Robert
Adamson Swamp Riddles 1973
Martin
Johnston Modern Greek Poets 1973
Philip
Roberts Crux 1973
Kevin
Gilbert End of a Dream Time 1971
The Last Poet’s Choice 1979
Poet’s Choice 1971-78
ALL PRICES INCLUDE POSTAGE
Some comments on Island
books:
The Ambrosiacs, Les Wicks, $22.00
“…intense, quite relentless, often dark and pessimistic. But this of
course is not the whole story, for within these pages are striking moments of
grace, awareness, acceptance, restitution…” joanne burns
Strands, Barbara De Franceschi, $20.00
“The poems of place are redolent with taste and sights and sounds
that she has savoured. Her subtle, knowing poems about relationships compel us
to reflect on what we know of those we live among, and with – and of ourselves.
… we recognise the way words point beyond what words can tell us, to secrets
that we understand but cannot tell.”
Michael Sharkey
Wig Hat On, Philip
Hammial, $18.95
"I have always thought he (Hammial) was an
exhilarating poet and I have no doubt that he is a very major one. He is also
fantastically enjoyable to read." Martin Duwell
Blow Out, rae desmond jones, $20.00
“While maintaining the often raw energy and
evocativeness of his earlier work, this collection has a new, deeper vision:
the past is a constant presence in this book.” S K Kelen
Urban Elegies, David Brooks, $!9.95
"I read Urban Elegies right through in one
sitting. There was a suspense in what the next page might hold, and on the way
to the end of the book, I encountered the best and most uplifting poetry that I
have experienced in years." Robert Adamson
Voodoo Realities, Philip Hammial $18.95, Site $15.00
"Hammial's technique - in terms of language
and structures - is astonishing: he leads us to believe that truth can be
spoken."
Judges' comments, 2001 NSW Premier's Literary
Awards
a dangerous place, Jutta Sieverding
“The poems are sharp, direct and understated, with a restraint that
suggests more than it says. There is an edginess and insight into the unstated
or buried, the beneath the surface of life; a tension between quiet observance
and angry, rebellious participation.”
Brook Emery
Microtexts,
Martin Langford
"a
collection of aphorisms and condensed argument about poetry and poetics"
Sugar Hits, Philip Hammial $18.95, Site $15.00
"His work deserves a place at the front of any
future anthology of language-based writing as a significant precursor and major
practitioner." John Hawke
Juggernaut, Philip Hammial $18.95, Site $15.00
"Hammial lived Blade Runner before the movie
was made." Adam Aitken
Dark Laughter , Carolyn Gerrish
continues her ironic/lyrical exploration of the
self and contemporary culture.
Monkey’s
Wedding, Marcelle Freiman $13
“The poetry
becomes a way of gaining focus, balancing diverse elements,fashioning something
aesthetically beautiful, emotionally sharp out of human experiences.” Peter Boyle
Stop Your Cryin Lizz Murphy $18
"… a talent for expression in a distinctive
and variable voice …" API Review
In the Cage Of Love's Gradings , Martin
Langford, $16.95 (via site $15)
"a quite different touch and voice in
Australian poetry" Jack Bedson
Pearls & Bullets, Lizz Murphy
“...arrestingly
simple and yet profoundly memorable...” The Canberra Times
Uneasy Weather, Jutta Sieverding
“The style is
spare and succinct, the language unadorned yet assured in its effect… These are
poems of understatement, which reach their point of revelation with an enviable
economy of words.” Judith Beveridge
Tickle, Les Wicks $13.00
“...personal & engaging, accessible & immediate.” Warwick Wynne, Aust. Book Review
Be Straight With Me, Martin Langford, $16.95 (via site $15)
" at its best, equal to anything now being
written in Australia" Brian Purcell
Letter to Marco Polo, Adam Aitken $25
“nuanced textures of meaning that pull you inside
the words rather than merely to them…consistently remakes the language on the
page” - JA Wainwright, Antipodes
Blond & French, Ken Bolton
“amply
repays the debt to O'Hara &, through him, to Apollinaire" David Malouf
Country country, Denis Gallagher
" ... the
sort of conversational ease most of us sadly lack except in talking." Carl Harrison-Ford
ISLAND PRESS CO-OPERATIVE: A
HISTORY
Island Press was founded in 1970 by
Canadian poet, musician and Sydney University lecturer Philip Roberts. He lived
on Scotland Island at that time, hence the name. In 1973 Philip moved to
Bundeena. The first ten Island Press books were printed on expensive paper on
an old hand-operated press, with hand-set lead type. In the mid seventies this
press was sold to Sydney University where it was used to print diplomas for a
few years. In 1979 Philip Roberts returned to Canada and gave Island Press to
Philip Hammial. PH moved to Woodford in the Blue Mountains in late 1994. In 1993 Island Press became a co-operative
with nine members, now eleven. Over its
long career Island has published over 50 titles.
Island Press is not open to unsolicited
manuscripts at this stage.
LINKS
www.australianpoetrycentre.org.au
Island Press Co-operative
Ltd