There hasn’t been, to our knowledge, a major survey of this kind in recent years. In 2004 the Australian Society of Authors determined their members’ forty favourite books, but poetry, non-fiction and children’s literature made the cut, whereas we have decided – in the first instance – to stick to novels written by Australians (with no restrictions concerning genre, publication date, subject matter or pesky geography, we hasten to add).

Accordingly, we now seek votes in the ABR FAN Poll. All you have to do is email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the title of your single favourite Australian novel, write to us at the usual address, or visit www.australianbookreview.com.au where a voting form is available.

Don’t forget to add your name, so that you can be in the running to win one of three great prizes. Our friends at Penguin Books have given us a full set of 99 Popular Penguins, valued at a shade under $1000. That should keep someone enthralled all summer. No desk is complete without the mighty Shorter Oxford English Dictionary; Oxford University Press is offering one copy of the deluxe leather-bound edition, worth $410. ABR’s contribution is a free three-year subscription.

Voting closes on December 15. The winning novel, and the names of the three lucky voters, drawn at random, will be announced in our February issue, along with a feature article on the top ten favourite novels.

Lobbying has already begun at ABR, with some audacious suggestions in the tearoom. It’s always tendentious to nominate individual contenders, but we can report that the Editor’s choice begins with the word ‘But’. Dvorak’s New World emerged, rather inevitably, as the ABC’s top symphony. Worthy though it is, this had the surprise factor of an election result in the old Soviet bloc. We suspect (hope) the ABR FAN Poll will turn up a few unexpected titles, surely a good thing as readers seek new voices, new styles, new insights – and in a world over-calibrated to the new.

Digital personae

ABR’s website has been fully redeveloped in keeping with recent scrutiny of the magazine’s design. The new www.australianbookreview.com.au is a breeze to navigate and boasts several new features; including streamlined online subscription options and a free archive of recent reviews. We intend our new digital personae – ABR now has a Facebook page, too – to bring you closer to the magazine by means of instant access to content, easy methods of subscription, opportunity for comment and all the bells and whistles of our etherised age. Visit the site so as not to miss out on updated content and the latest competitions. Those interested in advertising online should contact the Assistant Editor for full details and rates: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Signed books by David Foster

David Foster became one of our most prolific and celebrated novelists in his thirties and forties – his first novel, The Pure Land (1974), published when he was thirty, shared the Age Book of the Year Award – but his publications have been fewer since The Glade within the Grove won the 1997 Miles Franklin Award. Now there is a new novel for Foster’s admirers. James Ley, reviewing Sons of the Rumour on page 15, concludes with a rousing affirmation of Foster’s particular genius. This month, the first ten new subscribers will receive a signed copy of Sons of the Rumour, courtesy of the author and Picador.

Free film tickets to boot

We have seventy-five other reasons to subscribe or to renew your subscription: that many complimentary double passes to the film Genova, directed by Michael Winterbottom (Wonderland, Tristram Shandy, A Mighty Heart), are available, thanks to Palace Films. Genova, a familial drama set in the eponymous Italian city, stars Colin Firth and Catherine Keener, and is in cinemas from November 5. Watch the trailer at www.genova.com.au.

Hofmann’s office at the Judy!

It is pleasing to welcome Michael Hofmann to the pages of ABR. His early 1980s collections, Nights in the Iron Hotel and Acrimony, quickly established him as one of the most gifted new poets. In recent years he has become a notable and influential translator, specialising in the German modernist school. Born in Germany and educated at Oxford, Hofmann now divides his time between London and the United States. A regular visitor to Oz, last year he was Poet in Residence in the state of Queensland, mixing with ‘the pre-owned and the pre-loved, the much-travelled / and the want-away’, characterful phrases drawn from his poem ‘Judith Wright Arts Centre’, which first appeared in the TLS of 7 August 2009, and which we are delighted to be able to publish on page 36.