HEAT 8 HEAT 8 presents essays by the distinguished art critic and novelist John Berger, and the poet Gustaf Sobin, both of whom focus on megaliths, the one from a political, the other from a lyrical perspective. There's an essay too by Durs Grünbein, on Dresden under East German rule. Grünbein was born in Dresden in 1962, but now lives in Berlin. In 1995 he won the Georg Büchner prize, Germany's most prestigious literary award. Other international writers include the American poet John Ashbery, the Danish novelist Solvej Balle, the Chilean short-story writer Jaime Collyer, and from China the prominent poets Zhang Zao and Xi Chuan.

Imants Tillers, Portrait of an Australian, 1990

These contributions are set alongside the best in contemporary Australian writingin this issue, a chilling monologue by dramatist Stephen Sewell, a new sequence of poems by Dorothy Porter, a meditation on the fate of writers in the Soviet Union by Subhash Jaireth, the seventh chapter of Anna Couani's serial novel, and Ivor Indyk's assessment of the poetry of John Forbes, who died in January. Artist Imants Tillers offers five portraits of novelist Murray Bail, there is art work by Jacqueline Rose and new poetry by Emma Lew, Adam Aitken, Peter Rose, Gig Ryan, John Tranter,Paola Bilbrough, Adrian Wiggins, Dipti Sara, Joanne Burns and Jeltje, as well as reviews of Artaud and Nerval, "Il Neoitaliano" and new Australian poetry and fiction. HEAT is designed by Harry Williamson (cover) and Toni Hope-Caten (layout). It is edited by Ivor Indyk.