Plunkett, Brooker named new ABR editors

The Australian Book Review (ABR) has announced the appointments of critics Felicity Plunkett and Ben Brooker to the roles of poetry editor and arts editor respectively.

Plunkett is a poet and critic who has written long-form titles including A Kinder Sea (UQP), Vanishing Point (UQP) and Seastrands (Vagabond), as well as a range of shorter review and essay works in publications including the Sydney Review of Books, the ABR and the Irish Times. She has previously worked as a poetry editor at UQP, where she also edited the collection Thirty Australian Poets. She holds a PhD from the University of Sydney. Plunkett was awarded the ABR Patrons’ Fellowship in 2019.

She replaces outgoing poetry editor John Hawke and assistant Anders Villani.

Plunkett said: ‘I’m excited to have the opportunity to bring some of the glorious new poems I discover to ABR’s readership.’

Brooker is a writer, editor, critic, playwright, essayist and dramaturg whose work has appeared in the Guardian, Overland, the ABR, Crikey, the Saturday Paper, Kill Your Darlings, Meanjin and Griffith Review. He received an inaugural Sydney Review of Books Emerging Critics Fellowship in 2016–17. His most recent play, All I’m Saying, ran at La Mama as part of the 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

His role with the ABR is newly created.

Brooker said: ‘Having contributed to ABR Arts since its inception, it’s an honour to now lead and grow this vital platform for incisive, wide-ranging arts coverage at a time when fearless cultural criticism is more necessary – and more under pressure – than ever.’

The ABR said that Brooker’s new arts editor role ‘marks the magazine’s commitment to arts criticism at a moment when many publications are retreating from quality, long-form engagement with the arts’.

These changes at the publication follow Georgina Arnott’s promotion to editor and CEO of the publication earlier this year, after Peter Rose retired, ending his 24-year stint in the role.

Arnott said of the appointments: ‘As ABR enters a new era, I couldn’t be more pleased with our team and its commitment to and capacity for enhancing Australian cultural and intellectual life. Look out!’

Category: Local news