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What time is it?

Two very different collections about identity
by
June 2024, no. 465

The Blue Cocktail by Audrey Molloy

Pitt Street Poetry, $28 pb, 75 pp

Book 2 Cover Small (400 x 600)

Ekhō by Roslyn Orlando

Upswell, $24.99 pb, 75 pp

What time is it?

Two very different collections about identity
by
June 2024, no. 465

Identity is a hard thing to define. What makes us who we are? We have social identities, shaped by our affinities and proximities to social groups, cultural identities informed by values, languages, rituals, traditions, and a whole multitude of different phenomena that combine to make us who we are.

In Roslyn Orlando’s literary début, Ekhō, identity is linked to voice and agency; I am who I am because of what I say and my ability to say it. In Audrey Molloy’s second collection of poetry, The Blue Cocktail, identity is linked to place; I am who I am because of the places I inhabit. Both books have more complex theses and focuses than can be summed up in a few snappy opening paragraphs. For example, Orlando condemns technology as a simple echo of knowledge, and Molloy raises questions of belonging. Identity links these two works and provides a key to understanding their intricacies.

The Blue Cocktail

The Blue Cocktail

by Audrey Molloy

Pitt Street Poetry, $28 pb, 75 pp

Ekhō

Ekhō

by Roslyn Orlando

Upswell, $24.99 pb, 75 pp

From the New Issue

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