Book excerpt: Sixteen of Australia's foremost poets are featured in this volume. They talk candidly about their lives and work: of the craft, the rigour, the pangs and pleasures of their calling; of winged moments caught, however fleetingly, on the page. These writers also speak of transformation and transcendence, the creative process, their individual modes and methods of writing and the act of writing itself. The interviews provide valuable insights on such topics as: gender and writing; landscape; the function of poetry and the poet's social role; influences embraced and withstood - literary, personal, local, regional, national, international. The writers and their poetry are discussed from both within and beyond Australian borders. This collection offers a broad range of Australian poets, most of whom are now in the middle to later years of their career. These poets have contributed significantly to the life and quality of poetry in Australia over recent decades, and continue to play pivotal roles in Australia's cultural domain today, as the country moves towards the threshold of a new century.