Every book is a privilege to publish, but we are particularly proud to present a new hand-crafted electronic edition of Dorothy Porter’s poetry collection Crete.
Dorothy is, of course, one of our most important poets and verse novelists. She is perhaps best known for her international best-selling The Monkey’s Mask (1994), which—unusually for a novel in verse—was also made into a movie. Crete is the follow-up to that phenomenally successful work: it’s both more personal and more allusive; its layers of classical and historical imagery barely contain the great tides and currents of passion that run through it. On its release it was described as “breathtaking”, and that is its enduring characteristic.
Dorothy’s death in 2008 was a terrible loss to Australian literature and Australian culture. Her influence remains enormous. I am hugely grateful to Dorothy’s partner, Andrea Goldsmith, for her generosity in helping to shape this e-book and sharing the handwritten drafts that are reproduced within this edition and underpin its design; and to her agent, Jenny Darling.
We are now working on an earlier poetry collection, Driving Too Fast, and hope to bring out more editions of Dorothy’s works in the future. In the meantime, you can buy Crete from the Ligature bookshop or from your favourite e-book retailer.