Her poems are unpretentious, intelligent and consistently arresting by their beauty and their honesty. This is another triumph for Graywolf Press which seems unable to publish any but distinguished books. Reviewed by Bob Williams The Body’s Question by Tracy K.…
Category: Poetry Reviews
A review of All I Ever Wanted Was A Window by John West
The poems in John West’s fourth collection of poetry are strong, stark, and filled with a very ordinary ennui and pain that most readers will be able to relate to. At 61 pages, this slim volume contains an equal number…
A Review of Interior Despots edited by Sue Moss and Karen Knight
Faults notwithstanding, this is certainly an ambitious project, and where it works, it works powerfully. Naturally this kind of “assignment” will produce a large amount of subjective work, and the range of different voices and genres – the way in…
A Review of Wild Surmise by Dorothy Porter
The power and beauty of Porter’s poetry takes the reader instantly deeper into the character than a more traditional narrative prose would. It skips the conjunction, the “dialogue” and the external world, and goes straight for the emotional response, revealing the story in the personal pain and longings of the characters inner voices.
A Review of Moorilla Mosaic, Edited by Robyn Mathison and Lyn Reeves
All of the authors in this collection are widely published, and many have become part of the Tasmanian literary canon. This book is indicative of the variety and detail of what modern Tasmanian authors have to offer the world, with…
A review of Dorothy Porter’s Other Worlds
Reviewed by Magdalena Ball Other Worlds by Dorothy Porter Picador, Aug 2001 RRP $A$25.00 ISBN: 0330362860 Writing about good poetry is like trying to describe wine: the heavy full mouth astringency leaving a warm sweetness after swallowing. Poetry is as…
A review of Robin Loftus’ Backyard Cosmos
Robin Loftus’ new collection of poetry Backyard Cosmos is a small collection, almost more of a pamphlet than a book, containing 50 pieces including a few haiku, but the work has that transformative quality which Ellmann refers to. Some of…
A review of Siren Singing by Suzanne Nixon
Suzanne Nixon’s poems are written in free verse, a description often indicating no more than extreme laxity. But she is scrupulous and has a tense, almost quivering, regard for felicities of sounds. The result is exquisitely crafted work that rides…
A Review of Poems by Lily Brett
Poems by Lily Brett includes two recently published collections, In Her Strapless Dresses, published in 1994, and Mud in My Tears, published in 1997. As with Brett’s fiction, both of the poetry books concentrate on the Holocaust, both Brett’s own experiences of fascination and obsession – the daughter of Holocaust survivors, and her parent’s firsthand experiences. There are also poems about love, death, parenting, growing up, vanity, and pain.
A review of The Poetry of Business by Tracy Repchuk
This would be a great tool for a conferencing, teambuilding, or ideally, a career development session, and the simple but innovative exercises coupled with the poetic focus would provide a refreshing change, especially if done with the help of a trained facilitator, to the usual teambuilding fodder. As a stimulus to breaking though a career rut, and opening the door to self-awareness and examination, it’s ideal.