when they came/ for you elegies/ of resistance by Christopher Barnett. Wakefield Press 2013. Melbourne launch 30 November 5pm, Embiggen Books, 197-203 Little Lonsdale Street Melbourne.

Christopher Barnett’s when they came/ for you elegies/ of resistance would have to be one of the most important works of Australian literature published this year. Overtly political, intensely private and containing some of the best poetry you will ever read, when they came/ for you elegies/ of resistance will be launched in Melbourne this Saturday (30 November 5pm, Embiggen Books, 197-203 Lt Lonsdale Street Melbourne).

“A unique work painstakingly and painfully realised by an ailing Australian poet who has lived in self-imposed exile in Nantes, France, for the past 2 decades. Christopher Barnett has delivered, in spite of penurious circumstances and dedication to generating cultural expression for the most marginalised through his theatre workshop Le Dernier Spectacle, a monumental poetic statement based on the author’s memories of various vicissitudes and singular personal experiences of his own life as a committed artist, poet and performer, and a polymathic knowledge of the brutality and cruelty of much of 20th century history and the current state of early 21st century geopolitics. This a sobering, moving, harrowing and haunting work that has been years in the making. It is as a literary legacy that is riveting and as necessary as it is discomforting and distressing poetry that is the polar opposite of escapism and light entertainment. This is an unflinching magnum opus from someone all too aware of his life and time running out”. – Hamish Danks Brown.

Rochford Street Review will be running an extended article/review on when they came/ for you elegies/ of resistance in the near future.

when they came/ for you elegies/ of resistance can be obtained from http://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/product.php?productid=1120

A book trailer of when they came/ for you elegies/ of resistance can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qSI331Zhxw#

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