A Journal of Australian & International Cultural Reviews, News and Criticism.
Mark Roberts (co-editor of Rochford Street Review) and 5 Islands Press invite you to the Sydney Launch of ‘The Office of Literary Endeavours’ To be launched by Les Wicks with Angela Stretch as your MC
on Sunday 25 May 2025, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm, Benledi House, 186 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe NSW 2037, Australia
While many of his paintings are impressionistic of nature, his poems – particularly in his latest book Filmworks – are more impressionistic of movies. (It’s almost like a juxtaposition of the still life and the motion picture. The point being, his approach to Impressionism is as far-reaching as possible.) And, like his paintings, Purcell’s poems are more or less characterized by a select number of essential details which convey a sense of urgency in both feelings and sensations.
Like all truly satisfying works of art, Al is in possession of an auteur vision. He’s managed to pull all the disparate and quirky aspects of his reading and dreaming life (dreams are very important in this book) – he’s managed to pull all that into a persuasive whole, into poems that are small journeys, atmospheres or theatres through which a reader can roam.
This is a collection brimming with life, love and humour. These poems assert their independence while acknowledging their cohesion. They are parts of a greater whole.
The Seal Woman is a novel with a clear narrative arc, albeit a slow-moving one, but overwhelmingly it is a patient reverence for the continuity of time, rhythm of the seasons, the oceans and, of course, its living creatures.
Thanks to the much-appreciated revival of 5 Islands Press, led by poets Mark Tredinnick and Steve Meyrick, we now have Steep Curve. Robyn is meticulous not only about the writing itself, but she is scrupulous about the publication of her poetry. She takes the work of publication seriously and insists on it being perfectly presented on the page. So her books are also beautiful objects.
Her assuredness shines through in the extraordinary craft of the poetry—the handling of line, image, enjambment, phrasing, not to mention her voice. But it’s also there in the book’s subject matter, which might be regarded as somewhat remarkable in today’s landscape for its indifference towards the faddish. What I mean to say is that Robyn’s poetry delves, in its assured way, into universal phenomena like aging, family, love, grief, which are explored, of course, from her own deeply personal perspective.
There is much to read and enjoy in Some Dualities, the poems are often witty, nearly always insightful and often honestly personal.
Jeremiah is a complex and not always appealing figure, but that may be the point, as he is Copella’s vehicle for an examination of the contradictions and complexities of being human. In fact, one of the strengths of this book is its fearless honesty about human urges.