Poetry
Starlight: 150 Poems by John Tranter & The Salt Companion to John Tranter edited by edited by Rod Mengham
Carnival Edge: New and selected poems by Katherine Gallagher
Across the decades, on both sides of the Great Divide and at campfires and barbecues, in pubs and public halls and class-rooms, ‘Banjo’ Paterson, Henry Lawson and C.J. Dennis have been recited, selectively quoted, and parodied. Their most popular works have migrated into Australian folklore; hardly surprising, as what they wrote largely derived from the tradition of bush ballads and bush yarns. Theirs have become our stories, familiar, reassuring of our cultural roots and attitudes. To some extent, they are a kind of comfort literature.
... (read more)Last Looks, Last Books: Stevens, Plath, Lowell, Bishop, Merrill by Helen Vendler
The Perfume River: Writing From Vietnam edited by Catherine Cole
An Anthology Of Modern Irish Poetry edited by Wes Davis
Why do you write?
It’s not really a choice, but a necessity. Usually, it is the pressure of an idea or an emotional state that only seems to be satisfactorily released as words on a page. Sometimes, if there is a choice involved, it is in choosing not to write.
Are you a vivid dreamer?
Yes. A lot of my work originates in dream. Glissando began as a transcription of a dream I had longer ago than I care to admit.
... (read more)