Reviews
Dorothy Lune: 3 Poems
Dorothy Lune is a Yorta Yorta poet, born in Australia & a best of the net 2024 nominee. Her poems have appeared in Overland journal, Many Nice Donkeys & more.
The remembered territory of the past: Mark O’Flynn reviews ‘Feldspar’ by Brendan Ryan.
This idea of returning forms one of the central tropes of Feldspar in both a figurative and literal sense. Many of these poems revisit scenes of the past, of the casual rituals of life down on the farm.
An exploration of deep connections: Magdalena Ball launches ‘Tarp Green Light’ by Carl Walsh
If I had to sum up Carl Walsh’s Tarp Green Light in one word it would be mindful. The work focuses inward, quietly observant, converting memory into the present moment through deep and sustained observation.
A book full of wisdom: Susan Hawthorne launches ‘The Good-Hearted Gardeners’ by Suniti Namjoshi.
If you pick this up, you won’t want to put it down until you have finished reading it. That’s what happened to me when Suniti sent it as a manuscript. The first sentence in chapter 1 is: ‘I’ve fallen in love with the woman next door.’
The pains of many difficult situations. Leone Gabrielle Reviews ‘Chinese Fish’ by Grace Yee
Some books I’m not sure if I consume them or they consume me. Chinese fish has an amazing hypnotic clarity. Page turning, subterranean transitions keep moving me forward, they flow with no catch of air to breathe, a woman’s way book.
Uncommon thinking for common people: Heather Taylor-Johnson reviews ‘Hear the Art: Visual poetry as sculpture’ by Richard Tipping
The Art world and the literary scene don’t interact in any culturally productive way, yet any writer would admit to feeding off visual art and any visual artist would say the same of literature. Since Tipping is both writer and visual artist, he must be very well-nourished.
‘Bring Me The Firmness Of Her Hand’: Tribute to Yasmine Gooneratne by Devika Brendon
Yasmine Gooneratne was a poet, a writer of short stories and novels, and a literary critic, editor and reviewer. Born in Sri Lanka in 1935, while the country was still known as ‘Ceylon’, she was educated at Bishops College School for Girls and the University of Peradeniya, where she was a dedicated student of English literature.
Everything Is Inverse – a poem by Devika Brendon (for Yasmine Gooneratne)
Devika Brendon is a teacher, reviewer and editor of English language and literature. Her poetry, short stories and academic articles have been published in journals and anthologies in Sri Lanka, Australia, India, Africa, Italy and the USA
Rochford Street Review 