NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW ON-LINE

FAMOUS REPORTER is a Tasmanian journal that contains something for everyone no matter what their taste: poetry, prose, one hundred words segment, interviews, haiku, reviews, comment and a miscellany of other writing. Many of the contributors come from Australia and Tasmania, but there is also material from New Zealand, the UK, USA, Yugoslavia, and elsewhere. The writers reflect on their personal and cultural histories, their battles for recognition and the myriad literary, political and cultural influences on their writing.

Each genre is given several pages. The journal begins with haiku and short poems and are given six pages. Ralph Wessman, the overall editor, publishes his interview with Australian poet, Anthony Lawrence, Lawrence's poems interspersed between the pages of the interview. There are also several prose pieces, four reviews and various other items.

In this issue there is poetry of a classical kind of lucidity — a clarity of focus that the reader can feel in the weight and wording of the poems. Richard Hillman's poem THE PIPELINE is a good example of this kind of poem with its strong consonants. We hear him a little differently from some of his peers who adopt a more casually conversational tone. Many of the poems are entirely contemporary; with free verse rhythms and an imaginative gaze that explores our human culture.

My feeling is that the journal's main purpose is as a showcase for new fiction and poetry and to demonstrate how it was influenced by — and in turn influenced — the fast changing popular culture of the twenty first century. Taking a selection from across genus, the journal demonstrates the work of some of the creative writers who are emerging from all over the world. In many ways they are a diverse group, coming from different cities, countries and cultures. However, these writers are united in breaking down old barriers and exploring new territory. They are writing cultural history as it is happening, but they write in fiction and poetry, not in the language of sociology, history or politics. They use all kinds of forms of story telling — haiku, poems and prose — to tell the fascinating tale of the twenty first century. Although poetry may be touted as the new rock and roll, many of the writers featured in FAMOUS REPORTER tell their criss-crossing stories, individually, of how they got here and where they are going, in their own very different styles, languages and accents. This is Generation X live.

FAMOUS REPORTER is a magazine of much strength. It succeeds in supporting writers of various genres: haiku, poetry, prose and interviews. An immensely enjoyable and satisfying journal, it is carefully considered, well edited, lively and engaging. It does not attempt any grand generalisations but aims instead to unsettle our stereotypical images of writers. I finished the journal wanting to read more of certain poet's work. Wessman, and the collective, succeeds in bringing a variety of writers together, in all their facets.