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'‘Any door will do when your life is in danger.’ With unflinching focus, these poems—written mostly in fourteen lines—depict the plight of those seeking asylum in Australia.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Review Short : Lisa Jacobson’s The Asylum Poems and Judy Johnson’s Counsel for the DefenceJoan Fleming,
2017single work review essay — Appears in:
Cordite Poetry Review,1 February
no.
572017;'Lisa Jacobson is a Melbourne poet and social worker. In the chapbook The Asylum Poems, she attempts to empathetically inhabit the experiences of an Iraqi family fleeing persecution. Her images are often beautiful, like ‘uncle-blood falling in rays’ and ‘families scatter like music’. The prettiness of the language is a curious choice, though, given the raw horror of the subject matter. Closely observed grotesque details, like the father yelling ‘Towels! ’ as he carries his bleeding brother over the threshold of their Iraqi home, are among the sequence’s most satisfying moments.' (Introduction)
Review Short : Lisa Jacobson’s The Asylum Poems and Judy Johnson’s Counsel for the DefenceJoan Fleming,
2017single work review essay — Appears in:
Cordite Poetry Review,1 February
no.
572017;'Lisa Jacobson is a Melbourne poet and social worker. In the chapbook The Asylum Poems, she attempts to empathetically inhabit the experiences of an Iraqi family fleeing persecution. Her images are often beautiful, like ‘uncle-blood falling in rays’ and ‘families scatter like music’. The prettiness of the language is a curious choice, though, given the raw horror of the subject matter. Closely observed grotesque details, like the father yelling ‘Towels! ’ as he carries his bleeding brother over the threshold of their Iraqi home, are among the sequence’s most satisfying moments.' (Introduction)
