Beware of the blurb (x 2)

I'm a lucky guy.
Two of Australia's most wonderful poets will have their blurbs on the back cover of Caged Without Walls. There's no catch. No money changed hands (though I would have gladly!). I sent them the manuscript and they very kindly agreed to provide a few sentences. I guess that means my work isn't total shit. If I never publish another book, I will always have this one. Truly, I am honoured.

So here then is a little about each of them and a random poem which may not represent them fully or even be close to their best, just a mere sample.

Andrew Burke

Summer Holidays




As a late afternoon seabreeze
rattled the sleepout's louvres,
Father sang -
"It's illegal, it's immoral,
Or it makes you fat ..."

The air smelt of sundried seaweed.

Our long shadows did
crude tableaux on the grass.
'Go on, dare ya!'
but the girls didn't bite.

Overpainted for daylight,
Mother sulked in her sundress,
swivelling ice
with a red-nailed finger.

Like a blowfish,
our host sucked air
to fire-up the barbecue.
Father sang on, oblivious.

We shared our fourth jug
of ice-cubed raspberry cordial,
clinking our glasses together.

'The future,' I toasted.
The other kids just
looked at me.

His most recent work is Undercover of Lightness available through Walleah Press.


Graham Nunn

Likewise, Graham Nunn has had multiple books published.  

 The First 30 and other poems is his latest, written in response to the birth of his first son. Some of his other books are available here. 

You can read more about Graham here. He also runs a Poetry event in Brisbane called Speedpoets which has going for over a decade. They produce an old fashioned zine which you can subscribe to. It's small but only $20 for a year's subscription, roughly 8 issues.

You can read more about Graham here. He also runs a Poetry event in Brisbane called Speedpoets which has going for over a decade. They produce an old fashioned zine which you can subscribe to. It's small but only $20 for a year's subscription, roughly 8 issues.

Here's one of his poems published only a few days ago..

Toddle (part vi)

the afternoon like a fragment
pollen colours the air
in every nose

you grab at mum’s skirt
bare your teeth and beg
for milk

the wind is sweet and rank
always is
the sky a hoarse throat reciting

there is silence after
the hunger in both
your bodies fold

*

I urge you to investigate them both further. 

Oh, what did they write in regards to Caged Without Walls?

You'll have to buy the book to find out.
It should be available in early June '13 here.

See you soon.