''The Shit Creek Review'' is an online literary and art magazine (webzine or

e-zine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer magaz ...

). Its content is mostly related to poetry, and includes work belonging the differing styles of

formalism Formalism may refer to: * Form (disambiguation) * Formal (disambiguation) * Legal formalism, legal positivist view that the substantive justice of a law is a question for the legislature rather than the judiciary * Formalism (linguistics) * Scient ...

and

free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French ''vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Definit ...

by established authors and new writers. It draws on the authors and resources of a number of online poetry forums, such as Eratosphere and The Gazebo.

History

It was founded by Australian poet Paul Stevens in 2006, who was soon joined by Nigel Holt and Angela France, who also edits the U.K. print magazine iota as its poetry editors, Don Zirilli as its art editor, and Patricia Wallace Jones as artist-in-residence. The journal is archived by the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

. The e-zine was originally started by Stevens as a joke based on its name ''Shit Creek Review'', which is a not-so-subtle ironic allusion to the many literary magazines which use the formulaic title "X Creek (or River) Review," as well as incorporating a play on the Australian colloquialism "Up Shit Creek in a barbed wire canoe without a paddle" (to be in serious difficulties), made by Australian comedian

Barry Humphries John Barry Humphries (born 17 February 1934) is an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He is best known for writing and playing his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He is also a film prod ...

through his persona of the ocker "

Barry McKenzie Barry McKenzie (full name: Barrington Bradman Bing McKenzie)Rebecca Coyle and Michael Hannan, La Trobe University, 2005 is a fictional character created in 1964 by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries (but suggested by Peter Cook) for a comic st ...

." Paul Stevens chief-edited the first ten issues until health problems caused him to step down in late 2009, at which time he was replaced by Rose Kelleher. Editors Patricia Wallace Jones and Don Zirilli also left the editorial team at this time. Holt, Kelleher and France co-edited issues 11 and 12, Holt subsequently leaving the team; Kelleher, Angela France and Paul Stevens co-edited issue 13, and Kelleher and France were joined by Ann Drysdale and R. Nemo Hill as co-editors for issue 14. Kelleher relinquished the post of editor in July, 2011, and Stevens resumed chief-editing for issue 14 (December, 2011), rejoined by original editorial team members Zirilli and Jones, who, along with Angela France and Ann Drysdale, produced the "End of Days" themed issue 14. It is uncertain whether there will be future issues of the journal.

Style

''The Shit Creek Review'' combines poetry with art which seeks to reflect somehow the content or feel of the poem. The look and layout changes fairly comprehensively from issue to issue, so there is no real continuity of visual style, apart from the fact that each new issue seems to create a new self-contained narrative appropriate to its theme. Much of the poetry uses the traditional forms of

New Formalism New Formalism is a late 20th- and early 21st-century movement in American poetry that has promoted a return to metrical, rhymed verse and narrative poetry on the grounds that all three are necessary if American poetry is to compete with novels an ...

, though there is also a strong representation of

Free Verse Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French ''vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Definit ...

. ''The Shit Creek Review'' also publishes reviews and articles from time to time. Rose Kelleher's essay on 'Edgy vs. Nice' attracted the interest of ''The Guardian's''

Tim Radford Tim Radford (born 1940) is a British–New Zealand freelance journalist, born in New Zealand in 1940 and educated at Sacred Heart College, Auckland. At 16, he joined ''The New Zealand Herald'' as a reporter. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1 ...

. Kelleher's book, ''Bundle o' Tinder'', published by Waywiser Press, includes many poems first published in ''The Shit Creek Review''; the book was selected for the 2007

Anthony Hecht Anthony Evan Hecht (January 16, 1923 – October 20, 2004) was an American poet. His work combined a deep interest in form with a passionate desire to confront the horrors of 20th century history, with the Second World War, in which he fought, an ...

Poetry Prize by

Richard Wilbur Richard Purdy Wilbur (March 1, 1921 – October 14, 2017) was an American poet and literary translator. One of the foremost poets of his generation, Wilbur's work, composed primarily in traditional forms, was marked by its wit, charm, and gentle ...

. Publication in ''The Shit Creek Review'' is frequently cited by poets such as Larry L. Fontenot, Rachel Bunting, Kirk Knesset, John Milbury-Steen, Janet Kenny, Tammy Ho, Julie Carter, Eve Anthony Hanninen, Robert Clawson, C.P. Stewart, and many others.

Blog

Information about ''The Shit Creek Review'' can be found on The Shit Creek Review Blog, where discussions of literary and other matters take place, as well as links to poetry and art-related sites of interest.

The Chimaera

''The Shit Creek Review'' spawned a subzine called II which was somewhat more text-based (rather than emphasising the art component). In October, 2007, II was detached from ''The Shit Creek Review'' and renamed ''The Chimaera'', now edited by Paul Stevens and Peter Bloxsom of NetPublish. ''The Chimaera'' is a literary miscellany, publishing verse, short stories, articles, essays and interviews with prominent or rising poets, including

Alison Brackenbury Alison Brackenbury (born 1953 Gainsborough, LincolnshireAlison Brackenbury , poe ...

, John Whitworth (poet),

R.S. Gwynn Robert Samuel "Sam" Gwynn (born 1948, Eden, North Carolina) is an American poet and anthologist associated with New Formalism. Life Gwynn is married and lives in Beaumont, Texas. He graduated from Davidson College in 1969, where he won the Ver ...

and

Stephen Edgar Stephen Edgar (born 1951) is an Australian poet, editor and indexer. Background and education Edgar was born in Sydney, where he attended Sydney Technical High School. After time spent living in London, he later returned to Australia, going o ...

Notable Contributors

''The Shit Creek Review'' has published poets from the U.K., U.S. and Australia, including: *

Nicolette Bethel Nicolette Bethel is a Bahamian teacher, writer and anthropologist. She was the Director of Culture in The Bahamas, and is now a full-time lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at the University of the Bahamas. Education Nicolette Bethel stud ...

Alison Brackenbury Alison Brackenbury (born 1953 Gainsborough, LincolnshireAlison Brackenbury , poe ...

Maryann Corbett Maryann Corbett (née Zillotti, Washington, D.C.) is an American poet, medievalist, and linguist. She grew up in northern Virginia. She did her undergraduate work at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and graduated with ...

Louie Crew Erman Louie Clay (né Erman Louie Crew Jr.) (1936–2019) was an American professor emeritus of English language, English at Rutgers University. He was best known for his long and increasingly successful campaign for the acceptance of gay and l ...

Denise Duhamel Denise Duhamel (born 1961 in Woonsocket, Rhode Island) is an American poet. Background Duhamel received her B.F.A. from Emerson College and her M.F.A. from Sarah Lawrence College. She is a New York Foundation for the Arts recipient and has been ...

Rhina Espaillat Rhina Polonia Espaillat (born January 20, 1932, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a bilingual Dominican-American poet and translator who is affiliated with the literary movement known as New Formalism in American poetry. She has published ele ...

* Andrew Frisardi * M. A. Griffiths *

* Bill Knott *

J. Patrick Lewis J. Patrick Lewis (born May 5, 1942) is an American poet and prose writer noted for his children's poems and other light verse. He worked as professor of economics from 1974-1998, after which he devoted himself full-time to writing. Awards Lewis ...

Kei Miller Kei Miller (born 24 October 1978) is a Jamaican poet, fiction writer, essayist and blogger. He is also a professor of creative writing.Kevin Andrew Murphy Kevin Andrew Murphy is an American novelist and game writer from Northern California. Education He is a graduate of University of California at Santa Cruz and has a Master of Arts from University of Southern California. Career He has written g ...

* Timothy Murphy * Lee Passarella *

Craig Raine Craig Anthony Raine, FRSL (born 3 December 1944) is an English contemporary poet. Along with Christopher Reid, he is a notable pioneer of Martian poetry, a movement that expresses alienation with the world, society and objects. He was a fellow of ...

* Charlotte Runcie * A.E. Stallings * Wendy Videlock *

Richard Wakefield Richard Wakefield is an American poet, literary critic, and a Professor of Humanities. He is the author of three collections of poetry (see below), as well as hundreds of articles published both in print and online. He has taught at the Universi ...

* John Whitworth *

Kirby Wright Kirby Michael Wright is an American writer best known for his 2005 coming-of-age island novel ''Punahou Blues'' and the epic novel ''Moloka'i Nui Ahina'', which is based on the life and times of Wright's paniolo grandmother. Both novels deal with t ...

* Peter Wyton

Related E-zines

Paul Stevens also edits a "metaphysicalzine" called '' The Flea'' (after

John Donne John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's ...

's poem of that name), which publishes poetry loosely in the Metaphysical Poetry tradition. Peter Bloxsom publishes an online journal devoted to the

Sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...

form, called ''14 by 14''. Paul Stevens died in March 2013. As at September 2015 the three online journal sites remain inactive. No new content has been added since 2011, so as they stand these are archives. Should any of them cease to be available at their current URLs, they will be accessible indefinitely in archives maintained by the Australian National Library in its Pandora system, http://pandora.nla.gov.au/. The online literary journal Angle (http://anglepoetry.co.uk/) publishes mainly poetry, on an annual cycle, in PDF format. Its founding Editor, Philip Quinlan (originally supported by Janet Kenny) was an admirer of the Paul Stevens journals. His taste is similar and Angle can be considered as more or less in the line of descent. It publishes poets from all over the planet, as did The Chimaera, The Shit Creek Review and The Flea.

References

External links

* http://shitcreek.auszine.com * http://shitcreek.auszine.com/author-index/ * http://theshitcreekreview.blogspot.com/ * http://www.the-chimaera.com/ * http://the-chimaera.blogspot.com/ * http://www.the-flea.com/ *http://www.14by14.com/
Nic Sebastian interviews Paul Stevens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shit Creek Review 2006 establishments in Australia Literary magazines published in Australia Australian literature websites Magazines established in 2006 Poetry literary magazines