Cirrus@Austlit

'The collection: Forty verse and prose poems are divided into themes 'fire', 'sifting' and 'coast'.

'fire - the equal largest section with 15 poems primarily reflects my lived experience of the 'Black Summer' 2019-20 bushfires. My village of Lake Conjola was devastated when the Currowan Fire broke containment lines on New Year's Eve to destroy over 110 homes, with the loss of three lives. My devastated village became international news. Climate change destruction is a strong motif of poems in 'fire', as is living through the aftermath of a catastrophic bushfire disaster.

'sifting - these 10 poems cover a longer time span and are, in essence, reflections of a white, working class female growing up in southeast inland Australia and engaging with other places in the world. Some of the sub themes here contemplate inequality, war, travel, love and death.

'coast - here 15 poems reflect life on the fringe of southern Australia's coast. Included are longer prose poem narratives of moving between the east and west coasts. A sense of immersion exists in this group of poems, not just in the ocean, but in coastal environments across disparate Australian regions. Environmental and social concerns are engaged with in coast as well.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Australia’s 2019—20 summer bushfires, known as ‘Black Summer’, directly caused the deaths of 33 people; 3 billion animals were killed or displaced, and over 3,000 homes destroyed, in Australia’s hottest and driest year on record (Commonwealth of Australia 2020: 5). In New South Wales, 7% of the state burnt and 26 lives were lost (NSW Bushfire Inquiry 2020). In the Shoalhaven, where these photos were taken, the ‘Currowan Fire’ ignited on 26 November 2019 on the northern edge of Eurobodalla Shire burned north for 74 days across 499,621 hectares, spanning four Local Government Areas (LGAs), destroying 312 homes (286 of which were in the Shoalhaven LGA), damaging another 183, and causing the death of three people near Conjola and Sussex Inlet on New Year’s Eve. The Currowan Fire was extinguished on 8 February 2020 (SBS 2020; NSW Bushfire Inquiry 2020).' (Introduction)