A Journal of Australian & International Cultural Reviews, News and Criticism.
The Flowering Dark is a materially gorgeous book with a wonderfully evocative cover, and I congratulate the publishers, Mark and Steve for the revamped (and warmly re-welcomed) 5 Island Press for producing such a beautiful holding-space for Sue’s poems, and for choosing Sue’s book to relaunch the press.
Ma Yongbo was born in 1964, Ph.D,representative of Chinese avant-garde poetry,and a leading scholar in Anglo-American poetry. He has published over eighty original works and translations since 1986 included 7 poetry collections. He focused on translating and teaching Anglo-American poetry and prose including the work of Dickinson, Whitman, Stevens, Pound, Williams and Ashbery.
David Adès latest collection, The Heart’s Lush Gardens (Flying Island Books, 2024) was recently launched in Sydney. Before the launch Richard James Allen interviewed David.
Natural Light is a striking book, full of original images, capturing the human condition and the natural world. These are broad themes and longstanding interests of the poet.
Today I am honoured to stand beside Fran, to share her love of fine words, music, sound, rhythm, nuance, cadence, and story, for all poems are stories in some way, cameos of life – stories that tell us, as readers, who we are; who we have been, who we may well become, and possibly give clues to the direction life may take.
I knew from her performances that Elspeth’s poetry was arrestingly good – both highly entertaining and very well crafted. I didn’t know just how good until I read this collection.
Francis Webb will forever be the ultimate ‘poet’s poet’, but he belongs to all Australians and this milestone is a chance to reflect on his legacy which elevates us all.
The title, Afterlife, works in two ways. The first is as a literal afterlife, the kind many different cultures believe in, the life after death that is a kind of immortality. A number of poems in this collection explore this concept and our human need for reassurance that there will be a life after death.
Nat’s poetry is highly polished, subtle and filmic in its detail. ‘Separation Blues’ is, I believe, Nat’s thirteenth book – and what a gorgeous production it is! Within its pages – which span more than four decades – you will find his characteristic precision and concision; powerful opening lines and dramatic closes; razor-sharp observation; clipped phrases; as well as skillfully painted portraits of people, places and eras.
Rochford Street Review 