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‘Clancy of the overshare’

Poetry as vibe, not polemic
by
October 2025, no. 480

51 Alterities by Keri Glastonbury

Giramondo, $27, 68 pp

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‘Clancy of the overshare’

Poetry as vibe, not polemic
by
October 2025, no. 480

The title of Keri Glastonbury’s latest collection of poems, 51 Alterities, evokes the title of 81 Austerities (2012) by the English poet Sam Riviere. Glastonbury’s collection is, according to its author, ‘offered as a loose “antipodean” adaptation’ of 81 Austerities, a collection that was written ‘in response to the impact of austerity measures on the arts and as a provocation on poetry as a contemporary media in the internet age’. Post-internet poetry, taking on as it does the syntax and lexis of internet discourse (especially, but not wholly, that used in social media), has become a dominant style in contemporary Anglophone poetry. When 81 Austerities was reviewed by The Daily Telegraph the headline was ‘Poetry for the Facebook Age’. Such a caption now seems laughably dated, and perhaps a little naïve, suggesting something of the dangers of writing post-internet poetry. A decade is a long time in cyberspace.

51 Alterities

51 Alterities

by Keri Glastonbury

Giramondo, $27, 68 pp

Buy this book

ABR receives a commission on items purchased through this link. All ABR reviews are fully independent.

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