Cirrus@Austlit

'Absorbing, empathetic and cerebral all at once. Using ordinary language and often extraordinary turns of phrase, Williams manages to peel back the complex layers of our everyday lives with remarkable grace and clarity.' - Judy Johnson

''Jane Williams has the rare ability to make our ordinary days feel not just vividly real, but also cared for, and precious. In scenes from her own life and the sympathetically observed lives of others, there is a lovely coexistence of pragmatism and a belief in the need for comfort. From falling in love "in slow motion" with a blue tongue lizard to seeing in the mirror the face of her mother's daughter greeting her kindly - "ne more fold in the soul's origami", undercurrents is constantly surprising, enriching and memorable.' - Jean Kent' (Publication summary)

'Jane Williams's eye and ear are trained to human idiosyncrasy and foible, and to the endless possibilities that are held within a life. In her ineffable compassion and in the ringing rhythms of her long syntax this is poetry that speaks to the ear and the marrow.' (Publication summary)

'‘Jane Williams’s poems are inventive and the fun is infectious. A bag full of goodies and a delight to the ear.’ - Harry Laing, author of Shoctopus
‘In these poems, a whole heap of relatives and animals collide and come together in a series of wonderful moments. We overhear the things that Nan and Pop say, that don’t always mean what they sound like - that secret, special language it takes an effort to untangle: Nanish - and we spend time with Auntie Bern and Uncle D, with their hobbies and chooks. There’s a joy in being a kid, in being out in the dirt and the woods. In these poems, nature is ever present and the regular whiff of the absurd, the comic, the nonsense-ish is just enough to set an extra sparkle in the eyes and heart of the reader. Lovely, daft, heartfelt, funny, fresh stuff.’ - A.F. Harrold, author of The Imaginary '  (Publication summary)

'‘Is Oskar a child genius or a mad-scientist-in-waiting? His idea of a pet might not be the best choice, but in the end it’s Oskar’s inventiveness that saves the day, if not the world! Oskar Saves the World is clever, sharp and inventive. Just like Oskar.’ - Sally Odgers ‘

'Oskar is a kid with big dreams, a kid with plans, a kid with ambition, but those dreams, that plan, that ambition almost spell doom for his family (and the postie)… A great little tale of good fortune, forgetfulness and alien monsters that will be gobbled up by little readers.’ - A.F. Harrold, author of The Imaginary '  (Publication summary)

'‘Jane Williams’s first collection of haiku delights with all the insight and generosity that her readers admire in her longer works of poetry. In distillations that are alive to the small and fleeting moments of life and the echoes they ring in the heart, Echoes of Flight is joyous and life-affirming and a welcome addition to Australian haiku literature.’ – Lyn Reeves, Vice President, Australian Haiku Society

'‘Echoes of Flight is a wonderful treasure box of haiku moments experienced through finely tuned poetic senses. These moments are captured in crisp detail, displaying a profound reverence for the world in which the poet so keenly observes. We are richer for seeing things as Jane Williams does.’ – Ron C. Moss, author of the award-winning haiku collection The Bone Carver'  (Publication summary)