Readers of Westerly will expect the inclusion of two weighty survey essays. Michelle Cahill’s contribution on Australian poetry is an illuminating, theoretically nuanced account of the state of that diverse art. Nigel Krauth’s provocatively adamant ‘ahead/behind, winners/losers’ take on prose fiction at the end of 2012 flies the flag of experimentation across genres. Clearly there is cause for optimism about Australian writing, the variety of which this edition of Westerly demonstrates.

It is satisfying to see careful critical attention being given to the work of Gail Jones (Fiona Duthie) and Simone Lazaroo (Paul Giffard-Foret). In ‘Lives in Abeyance on Rottnest Island’, Alexandra Ludewig’s exemplary historiography details the internment of German seaman and other nationals after the outbreak of World War I, a resonant reminder. Paul Genoni’s appraisal of narrative accounts of Perth at the time of Eric Edgar Cooke is an insightful revisiting of those events.

Something always has a particular impact. This time it is the poignant short story ‘Retribution’ by Ann Lohner, capturing as it does a theme of war and its impact on children, which is loosely at work throughout the volume. It exemplifies the readerly and intellectual pleasures to be found here.