'I was struck ... by just how many poems depended on the ancient devices of the storyteller ... Many have a lyrical or meditative feel, but most have a story to tell, captured in a brief glimpse of the meaning of life, or a dramatic climax.'-JOHN TRANTER

In this impressive anthology John Tranter weaves many threads into a portrait of Australian poetry in 2012. Emerging poets sit alongside the celebrated, travelling from Lake Havasu City to Graz, and nursing homes to fairgrounds, with characters as diverse as David Bowie, Emily Dickinson and Rumpelstiltskin. The Best Australian Poems 2012 will satisfy a hunger for storytelling and a yearning for beauty.