Cirrus@Austlit

''To Origins and Back is a rich meditation on what it means to be human. In this collection, Greg Tome ruminates on the universal and the personal: the tug of kith and kin, the scars of the past, and the seasons that ebb and flow around us and inside us. Employing dynamic lineation, lyrical word combinations and fresh angles on traditional themes, Greg explores the damage we cause, the connections we cherish and the small moments that can redeem a day, a life.' - Deborah Ritchie

''This volume takes the reader into a wide and diverse world, from ancient history to a school playground, from war to the plight of the Returned, from the moment of waking to the size of the next power bill, and with stops along the way to contemplate country towns, MRI brain scans, and the coffee shop shut down by drought. In clear, subtly nuanced verse - laced with some wonderful touches of wry, ironic humour - Greg Tome once again draws upon experience, observation, and a self-deprecating Aussie style of wisdom to steer us through life. It's wonderful stuff - enjoyable and thought-provoking.' - Van Ikin, University of Western Australia

''Greg's poetry is best described in "The First Thursday": "...words aching to touch the face of some god". To read his work is to see through the "third eye", to be obliquely aware of untouchable reality, accessible only by contemplation. When not caged by the restraints of rhyme, lineal convention and even grammar, his words fly free, drawing the reader into an entrancing, mystical transcendence.' - Fr Paul McCabe' (Publication summary) 

''Tilting at Time offers a vivacious yet emphatic rendering of the minutiae of Australian life. At once humorous and reflective, Greg muses on the human condition and its relationship to the specific places and temporal spaces we find ourselves in. In the very first poem, our poet expresses his wish for "words that...shine light into hidden crevices, expose fires". It is in his own collection that we find exactly that.' - Lucy Petchell

''In this collection, Greg Tome's eyes are everywhere, playfully or ruminatively considering much that is revealed to the observant poet. His poems survey the grace of human attachment, the remarkable beauty of the everyday world as well as its unexpected terrors, drawing the reader's attention to the richly imaginative prospect that this poet variously shares. Tome's dexterous management of the language in these poems stylistically suggests the pace of an inner life that embraces and rejoices in the range of sensitivity that is life. The reader of this work will inevitably savour the wonder of living found in this writer's sometime quirky, always questioning vision.' - Michael Cotter

''This is a rich collection from a very accomplished poet. The richness comes from the range of topics, the breadth of treatments, and the author's experience, imagination, powers of observation and wit. There is never a dull moment as we read of adventures, philosophy, nature, religion, fantasy, love and lust. Few can have their head in the clouds at the same time as having their feet on the ground, and Greg Tome is one of the few.' - Brian Haydon'   (Publication summary)

Greg Tome’s poetry is always immediate and felt. His responses to the immediacy and intimacy of daily living are counterpoints to those poems in which he explores the pain of the human condition and, ultimately, indicate how the personal and the communal are inextricably entwined.' (Publication Summary)