Cirrus@Austlit

'Devious Intimacy combines a sly, playful wit with a melancholic tenderness to navigate the complex terrain of difficult feelings. Vickery's poems move effortlessly between the private world of love and sexuality to wider forms of connection, teasing out how past histories and literature underscore contemporary human bonds and how we imagine ourselves in light of neighbours, nationhood, and the environment.' (Publication summary)

'In his latest collection, Liam Ferney focuses on the deep contradictions at the heart of modern life. Content is a hand grenade tossed into the middle of polite society.

'Ferney uses the argot of politics and the internet to tackle religion, war, love and late capitalism. This is fast paced poetry that is explosive, critical, and engaged.' (Publication summary)

Women knit at the foot of the guillotine. Hundreds of blackbirds tumble suddenly from the sky. Red Riding Hood's grandmother speaks from the belly of the wolf. Santa Lucia offers you her eyes on a platter. These poems present a panorama, by turns historical, mythical, and modern, of horrors and absurdities both familiar and obscure.

''Perhaps not fox nor axe, but something gives us chase' - and the only thing more difficult than bearing witness is turning away.' (Publication summary)

'In 2012 poet and writer Joel Deane suffered a stroke. Suddenly he was a poet without language. Year of the Wasp tracks Deane’s journey to rediscover his poetic voice.

From these deeply personal origins Deane’s third poetry collection rises to confront the realities of politics and culture, language and love in contemporary Australia. It is a journey of poetic transfiguration that produces a work of unrivalled power, emotional intensity, and insight.' (Publication summary)

 'This book continues Brendan Ryan's exploration of place and belonging that resonate in country towns. From the lives of farmers, abattoir workers, and dog walkers to the history of Aboriginal dispossession; from a tour of the communities of the Mt Noorat Football League in Victoria's isolated Western District to moments of wonder on back country roads celebrated with gentle irony. Here is a view of the country that is both contemporary and wry. Lyrical and rich in narrative power, this is a collection that dismantles the idealised rural pastoral with an empathetic and incisive voice.' (Publication summary)