Wow, I've finally got round to having a slow Snorkel through this new online e-zine. There's a gorgeously eerie front page, first up. And some great New Zealand and Australian writers collaborating on it. Try Andrew Johnston, Sonja Yelich, Bill Manhire and Cherie Barford. Bill does a funny little story about cowboy parties next door. Slightly Gary Larson, or is it just me? There’s some fantastic Australian stuff too. Michael Brennan made me think of a trip across the Nullabor I did way back in the 80s in an EH Holden. We too saw a big kangaroo …

Snorkel will be published twice yearly and they’re asking for submissions for the next one already. The closing date for submissions to Snorkel #2 is 15 August 2005. Full submission details will appear on the website.

Snorkel is the brainchild of Cath Vidler and Nick Riemer, both resident in Australia. Cath spent the last three years at the IIML in Wellington and has had poetry appear in Sport, Turbine and Cordite; she is also a contributor (is it THE contributor?) to Great Lists of our Time in the IIML newsletter. (One a while back had all the ACME products that Wile E. Coyote used in every episode of Roadrunner cartoon. Nearly had a nasty accident myself reading that one, I tell ya. Most amusing.)

Associate editor, Nick Riemer is an Australian poet, and the author of Falling Objects (Vagabond Press, 1999), and of James stinks and so does Chuck (Puncher & Wattman, forthcoming 2005).