Cirrus@Austlit

'Jan Colville's poetry is varied, direct and affecting. She has an eye for the absurd, the tragic, and that which is magical. Her mind is inquiring and philosophical and attuned to more than just the world of humans. Her 'small universe' is grounded in the 'hereness' of her present life in lutruwita-Tasmania, yet it spans the globe and even reaches towards the stars.'a small universe' is like a compass by which we are invited to navigate Jan Colville's life. Doing so, we are drawn by various lodestones - mother, father, neighbours, a wider community of people, creatures, things, memories, sorrows and yearnings. In charting this course, the poems nevertheless reveal the author's unswerving commitment to 'paying attention', especially to what connects us. She writes of 'here' because, beneath the glittering promises of globality and mass-production of cultures, she perceives isolation, rupture and disintegration. Reading Jan Colville's 'small universe' is a welcome antidote to this. Her writing is a reminder that who we are matters and deserves to be shared.' (Publication summary)

'Like a traveller's journal written in prose and poetry, Listening to the Deep Song records Anne Collins' travels through various regions of Spain, which took place over many years. The book offers a meditation on Spain's many-layered history and culture, reflecting on history, landscape, expressions of culture, and change. It reveals places of connection and friction within Spain and across the world; as far as Anne's home in lutruwita-Tasmania (Australia).The writing turns on a poetic dialogue and an embodied praxis; the latter being expressed through both Anne's physical immersion in Spain, and her practice and knowledge of flamenco dance. The latter engages with, especially, the life and works of Federico Garcia Lorca, as well as with other poets and writers of and about Spain.Listening to the Deep Song is deeply personal, yet it offers much that resonates deeply with contemporary concerns. Anne Collins' writing is varied, thoughtful, observant, poignant and beautiful.' (Publication summary)

'The Walnut Tree is Tim Slade’s debut collection of poetry. It is audacious yet down-to-earth writing, rich with the language and icons of the bush and suburban contemporary Australia. He writes of cricket and music, mountain biking, snakes, echidnas and extinctions, and of the effects of our social and industrial landscapes on the human body, psyche, and other species. He engages, often humorously, with poets such as Les Murray and Clive James, as well offering a response from the heart to Indigenous culture and Country.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Mr Caterpillar and the Special Timbers Incident is subtitled: A morality tale for caterpillars, children and adults. The work was co-authored by a group calling themselves The Mr Caterpillar Collective. Mr Caterpillar, himself, is a very animated toy caterpillar prone to falling through portals. He finds himself in such unlikely places as a tasty myrtle forest, Cabinet boardrooms, a threatened midden and a specialty timbers shop. Things get particularly hairy when he is spotted by Mr Scientist.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'From a poet normally regarded as “fiercely Tasmanian”, this collection is a startling departure from Pete Hay, but no less observant, subtle or incisive than any of his better known work. The centrepiece of Girl Reading Lorca is a celebration of the life and poetry of Federico García Lorca. With a voice as sure as that with which he speaks of the landscapes of Tasmania, Pete sensitively evokes the haunted fields, mountains, and cities of Andalusia in these extraordinary poems.

'Girl Reading Lorca also contains an extended cycle of poems, collectively titled ‘Madrid, June 19, 2011’. These were the centrepiece of Indignados!, an exciting musical collaboration with Spanish guitarist Paul Gerard. In these poems, Pete tunes his eye for injustice and absurdity, writing of civil unrest in Madrid, set against Spain’s deep history and culture. He makes us see Europe not as ignorant tourists but as intelligent, questioning observers looking back on the old world from a curious corner of the new one.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.