Immigrant Chronicle, four decades on

It was the early 1970s and a mainstream publisher had rejected a poetry manuscript that I sent to them; about the same time University of Queensland Press was starting its second Paperback Poets series (the coloured covers) and I submitted the collection to them. To my delight, it was accepted. Roger McDonald was publisher and Tom Shapcott was poetry editor. The original title was dropped. Roger and Tom did the final selection. Roger and I came up with the title. He said the word ‘immigrant’ should be in the title. Having studied and enjoyed King Alfred’s Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, I have always liked the classic reverberations of the word ‘chronicle’ and suggested we use it. I flew up to Brisbane for a meeting and it all came together naturally, without any angst. Since 1975 Immigrant Chronicle has never been out of print and, to date, has gone into twenty-four reprints.