The ubiquitous becomes sublime: Adrienne Eberhard launches ‘undercurrents’ by Jane Williams
Undercurrents by Jane Williams’, Ginninderra Press 2023, was launched by Adrienne Eberhard at The Hobart Bookshop on Thursday 29 June 2023.
Books
A gentle, subtly joyful collection: Amanda Anastasi launches ‘Rural Ecologies’ by Michael Leach
It was a pleasure to be asked to launch this collection of haiku and senryu by Michael Leach. It is a gentle, subtly joyful collection, even in moments where loss and vulnerability are depicted. This slim collection is a testament to the poet’s ability to express a great deal in few words.
Following her own breath: Jennifer Harrison launches ‘Remarkable as Breathing’ by Rose Lucas
One of the great gifts of these poems is Lucas’ expertise in making the familiar (such as a zoom meeting, a walk on the beach, seeing whales, a father’s belongings, an exploration of ‘the mind’s cabinet’ with a therapist) take on new clarity, a more generous one.
Words of wonder, curiosity and awe: Angela Costi launches ‘Stars Like Salt’ by Cathy Altmann
I am happy to announce the triumphant arrival of Cathy Altmann’s third book of poetry. Triumphant because despite the public and personal exhaustion of COVID, with its insistence on longevity, Cathy birthed, gathered and salvaged thirty-nine poems, turning them into a collection of attentive and intuitive distillations for our times.
A significant voice in Australian poetry: Louise Wakeling on Margaret Bradstock’s new poetry collection ‘Alchemy of the Sun’
Margaret is a significant voice in Australian poetry, one who has been widely published in journals and anthologies. Some of her recent poems have been used as libretti in Luke Styles’ contemporary music, and performed in both Sydney and Paris.
A sense of arrival: Claire Gaskin reviews ‘Coming to nothing’ by Morgan Yasbincek
As Audrey Lorde writes, ‘Poetry is not a Luxury’, for Morgan Yasbincek poetry is a tool for survival of living agency and a means of deep enquiry into the foundational.
Marvelous, resonant and surreal moments: Mark Mahemoff reviews Devotional Poems by Graham Henderson
Devotional is a difficult collection to read. It is dark and pessimistic. But many lines glint with beauty.
The Heart of the Human Quest for Enlightenment: Judith Beveridge launches ‘The Diwan of Nawid’ by Mal McKimmie
What I really love about Nawid’s poems is the way in which he follows his ‘own heart’s language’ – to use a phrase by Jane Hirshfield. Perhaps one of the dangers of writing poetry which explores the spiritual quest is to fall back on the old cliches, but Mal is such a skilful poet that he finds unique metaphors and analogies to articulate Nawid’s feelings and thinking.
A delight in language: Jean Kent launches ‘nibs & nubs’ by Josh Stenberg.
An utter delight in language propels so many of the poems. Josh has such a natural fluency and feeling for how to let a poem become itself – it all feels effortless! – and he combines this with much wit and delightful leaps of thought.
Rochford Street Review 