Issue 42
Tiny moments of life: Hazel Hall reviews ‘Bitumen Psalms’ by Lizz Murphy
Lizz Murphy’s latest collection, Bitumen Psalms is a collection of short song-poems in a tiny book exploring ‘tiny’ moments of life.
The violence of erasure: Les Wicks launches ‘The Office of Literary Endeavours’ by Mark Roberts
The poetry is carefully crafted and elegant. The subject matter is wide ranging… richly brought to life within the forms Roberts has chosen. Reading through this collection has been a privilege and a delight.
A world nicely shaped in microcosm: Eamonn Wall launches ‘Life Itself’ by Kevin Higgins
Thank you for inviting me to speak at the launch of Life Itself. It is an immense honor. And thank you for editing Life Itself and guiding its journey into the world. And kudos to Salmon Poetry, to Jessie Lendennie and Siobhán Hutson Jeanotte, for making this gorgeous book.
A heady cocktail of past and present: Maurice Devitt launches ‘A Storm in Arcadia’ by Ron Carey
It is a real honour to be asked to launch the collection as I’ve been a great friend and admirer of Ron’s poetry since we first met over 10 years ago and I’ve really enjoyed watching the dramatic development of his work since then. Ron’s first collection in 2015 was the now iconic Distance
Peter Boyle: 4 Poems from ‘A altas horas de la madrugada/ In the small hours’
Peter Boyle is a Sydney-based poet and translator of poetry from Spanish. He is the author of eleven books of poetry, most recently Companions, Ancestors, Inscriptions (Vagabond Press, 2024). He has published nine books as a translator of poetry from Spanish. His poetry collections have won numerous awards, including the New South Wales Premier’s, the Adelaide Festival Award and the Queensland Premier’s Poetry Award.
The sheer joy of immersion: Magdalena Ball launches ‘100 Poets’ edited by Brian Purcell
It was Brian Purcell who suggested we might celebrate our 100th book with an anthology of 100 authors. To reward Brian for his great idea, he got the massive and thankless task of editor. The resulting anthology is a treasure and a testament to both Brian’s tenacity in herding the many Flying Island cats—some, whose works stretch right back to the early days of 2010 and some slotted for future publication, gathering, collating, nagging, proofreading, and finally presenting the fine collection here.
Alison Gorman: 5 Poems from ‘A Woman Talks to Her Tongue’
Alison Gorman is a poet and creative writing teacher who lives and writes on Garigal and Worimi country. A Woman Talks to Her Tongue is her debut poetry collection. Her poetry has appeared in Cordite, Island, Honest Ulsterman, Meanjin, Mslexia, Popshot Quarterly, Southerly and Southword.
A bee-bop kind of musicality: Mike Ladd reviews ‘Metropole’ by Ken Bolton
When I compare Ken Bolton’s back catalogue to his latest work Metropole, I’m struck by the remarkable consistency of his style. In the inner southern suburb of Adelaide where he now lives, Ken Bolton is still writing almost the same poem he was over forty years ago, and that is not a criticism but a compliment.