A Journal of Australian & International Cultural Reviews, News and Criticism.
The recently published chapbook, Each Night I Count my Children: Poems from Gaza, is one example of how poetry has survived in the rubble of Gaza and, indeed, how it has become an essential part of the struggle to keep Palestinian society and culture alive.
A Dodds poem may be as likely to be set in a classroom as on a farm paddock as on a film screen. It may take the form of couplets, stepped stanzas, a concrete poem, a list or even an erasure.
This very beautiful book is a credit to the design flair of Gerhard Bachfischer and the editorial work and fine production values of Mark Tredinnick and Steven Meyrick at 5 Islands Press. It is itself a beautiful object and a triumph for Alison Gorman as her debut collection.
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.
Since its founding in 1986 by Ron Pretty, Five Islands Press has been a lighthouse for poets and readers sailing in the variable waters of Australian poetry.
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
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.
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.
Rochford Street Review 