Cirrus@Austlit

'These 18 stories of courage will have you weeping, laughing and celebrating moments of bravery. Women of a Certain Courage is an uplifting read that follows the long tradition of women supporting and guiding other women. These 18 stories of courage will have you weeping, laughing and celebrating moments of bravery. With tales of activism, of finding a voice, escaping domestic violence, battling and much more, Women of a Certain Courage will inspire awe with the myriad ways women prevail and demonstrate courage.' (Publication summary)

'A poetry collection that speaks of the roar inside the woman, these poems are structured around a suite of Frida Kahlo paintings and are love poems, poems of tenderness and anger, queer passion and fulfilment and maternal gratitude. They are a powerful way of healing, of reclaiming the past, and of embracing the beauty of now.' (Publication summary)

'In this fascinating podcast, poet and academic Bron Bateman interviews fellow poets Caitlin Maling and Reneé Pettitt-Schipp about the unexpected parallels between their recent collections, which are both tied to their fathers and to the ocean.

'Reneé’s debut collection, The Sky Runs Right Through Us, won the WA Premier's Book Award for an Emerging Writer, and recalls her turbulent time spent on the Cocos Islands during her work with asylum seekers. She talks about how being surrounded by the constant flow of the tide created an environment where she felt stuck in a state of flux – and resented the violent space that the ocean became.

'In contrast, Caitlin talks about how the ocean is a place of comfort for her, as her childhood was spent either surfing with her dad, or fishing with her stepdad. In her writing, and in particular in her collection Fish Song, the ocean underscores the stories she tells as a stable constant in her life.

'The poets discuss how, although each has a different way of articulating their experience, their stories of humanity, of love and loss, are the crucial secret to having their poetry universally understood.' (Production summary)

Of Memory and Furniture explores experiences of female embodiment, sexuality, and relationships with family, lovers and institutions. It is concerned with expressions of female sexuality in its myriad forms – heterosexual, lesbian, and experiences of non-normative sexuality – as well as issues of maternal subjectivity, mental health and abuse and, throughout, the role of memory in enabling healing. The poems are at once erotic and deeply thought through, intelligent and tender.

Source: Publisher's blurb.