Cirrus@Austlit

'Rosanna E. Licari’s first multi-award-winning poetry collection, An Absence of Saints, UQP 2010, took both personal and public pasts into reimagined terrains. Her second, Earlier, Ginninderra 2023, builds on this focus of going back to explore, and to amplify existence in its various domains and manifestations. Her research is vast and in depth, including the Nāsadīya Sūkta (The Hymn of Creation, Rig Veda 10:129), a scientific discovery of a hominid named Lucy, and the harsh migration history of colonial Australia with the establishment of the Bonegilla migrant camp.' (Introduction)

'When I first received the manuscript for nibs & nubs, I was immediately intrigued by the title. What are these ‘nibs’ and ‘nubs’? They are written in lower case and joined by an ampersand, so that they look like humble specks on the page. The effect is surprising and puzzling, as well as beguiling.' (Introduction)

'It’s a great pleasure and honour to be here with you this evening, in celebration of the publication of Mark O’Flynn’s seventh poetry collection, Undercoat: Poems about Paintings. This is actually the third time I’ve had the pleasure of launching one of Mark’s books. Mark and I have known each other now for many years, after first meeting during the heyday of the (very tongue-in-cheekly) so-called ‘Katoomba Bloomsbury Set’ that gathered around the Varuna Writers’ Centre (as it was then known) back in the mid 1990s. It was at Varuna in June of 1996 that I launched Mark’s first book of poetry The too bright sun as part of the launch of the fourth Five Islands Press New Poets Series.' (Introduction)

'Hi everyone. My name’s Russell Smith and I’m a lecturer in Modern Literature at ANU. I got to know Gabrielle in 2019 when she came to ANU as a recipient of a six-month H.C. Coombs Creative Fellowship. I remember quite clearly the first time I met her. My colleague Lucy Neave would normally be the person who welcomes and hosts Creative Fellows, but she was away on leave and asked me if I would step in. I must admit I was a bit apprehensive because, without knowing much about Gabrielle—and with all due respect to the writers (like myself) present in the room—I was a bit worried she might be ‘high maintenance’. I needn’t have worried, of course: we hit it off immediately. I had arranged to meet her in Mocan and Green Grout, a quirky little café tucked away in a hard-to-find nook at the edge of the University precinct; it’s a bit of a well-kept Canberra secret, or so I thought. When I arrived Gabrielle was already there, set up with her notebook and a coffee and immediately said ‘Great choice! This is one of my favourite places in Canberra!’' (Introduction)

' In 2021 I reviewed Solace, Graham Henderson’s last poetry collection, an anthology compiled from forty years of poetry. I am now pleased to be able to review Devotional Poems, Graham’s latest book, published this year. Graham, who I missed out on meeting due to his ill health, is a friend of Kieran Carroll, a poet/playwright friend of mine. I launched Kieran’s first book of poetry in Sydney many years ago and despite him living in Melbourne and me living in Sydney, with all the artistic disparities this can entail, we have stayed connected ever since. Kieran made the switch from poet to playwright early on. Graham, as I mentioned in my last review, received much past acclaim for his novel The Mountain. Apart from this and poetry he has also written short stories, novellas and a number of plays.'  (Introduction)

'It is a great joy to launch Mal’s extraordinary and beautiful book The Diwan of Nawid. As I mentioned on the back cover, it does seem to be one of a kind in Australian poetry because it draws not on the Christian tradition to explore spiritual experience, but the Hindu bhakti or devotional path.' (Introduction)