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'His most personal poetry to date, Adam Aitken's Archipelago is entirely preoccupied with the experience of living and marrying in France. Much of it written while resident at the Keesing Studio in Paris, and then in the south during a seriously cold spring, many of the poems deal with art, Romantic and Modernist writing and writers, and concepts of nostalgia, spirituality, revolution and resistance. One key question is what France (and Europe generally) mean to an Australian writer, which leads the poet to consider the 'French inspired' work of other Australian writers. At a simpler level, the collection attempts to weigh cosmopolitan culture against that of its fictive alternative: semi-rural France, where the poet asks how we might reconcile isolation with social engagement, conservative values with more outward looking perspectives? Adopting the lens of those who live there, Aitken reflects on the region's Gallo-Roman history, its myths, its communal virtues and constraints, its weather, and on the threats to its ecology.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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David Gilbey Reviews Adam Aitken and Elizabeth Allen
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , 1 February no. 89 2019;
— Review of Archipelago 2017 selected work poetry ; Present 2017 selected work poetry'In a judicious review of two ‘lucid and intelligent books’ on the job of the literary critic* and of a new edition of Eric Auerbach’s Mimesis, Edward Mendelsohn argued against the essential nostalgia of criticism in favour of a version of Kant’s ‘universal subjective’: finding ways to cross ‘the disputed border between popular and elite culture … without pretending it doesn’t exist’. One of the recurring negotiations for the critic – and, I would argue, for the poet – is the difficult business of intimacy: how to inscribe the subjective as both ‘confessional’ (and ‘lyrical’) as well as observational, satirical, evaluative.' (Introduction)
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Through the Looking Glass : Two New Poetry Collections
2018
single work
essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 401 2018; (p. 45-46)'Both Adam Aitken’s Archipelago and Elizabeth Allen’s Present examine the establishment and mutability of identity in the worlds of objects, histories, literature, and media in which they place their speakers. Of course, the exploration of identity is a common theme of poetry, particularly as it pertains to how the material of language helps shape such a tenuous concept. Admittedly, the theme serves primarily as a useful frame through which to enter two starkly different works. All the same, Aitken and Allen’s books prove rewardingly immersive and surprisingly complex in the different ways in which they handle their speakers’ desire for understanding in the crowded spaces of their poetry.'(Introduction)
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Of Sarah Rice and Adam Aitken
2017
single work
review
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 77 no. 3 2017; (p. 193-196)
— Review of Fingertip of the Tongue 2017 selected work poetry ; Archipelago 2017 selected work poetry
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Of Sarah Rice and Adam Aitken
2017
single work
review
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 77 no. 3 2017; (p. 193-196)
— Review of Fingertip of the Tongue 2017 selected work poetry ; Archipelago 2017 selected work poetry -
David Gilbey Reviews Adam Aitken and Elizabeth Allen
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , 1 February no. 89 2019;
— Review of Archipelago 2017 selected work poetry ; Present 2017 selected work poetry'In a judicious review of two ‘lucid and intelligent books’ on the job of the literary critic* and of a new edition of Eric Auerbach’s Mimesis, Edward Mendelsohn argued against the essential nostalgia of criticism in favour of a version of Kant’s ‘universal subjective’: finding ways to cross ‘the disputed border between popular and elite culture … without pretending it doesn’t exist’. One of the recurring negotiations for the critic – and, I would argue, for the poet – is the difficult business of intimacy: how to inscribe the subjective as both ‘confessional’ (and ‘lyrical’) as well as observational, satirical, evaluative.' (Introduction)
-
Through the Looking Glass : Two New Poetry Collections
2018
single work
essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 401 2018; (p. 45-46)'Both Adam Aitken’s Archipelago and Elizabeth Allen’s Present examine the establishment and mutability of identity in the worlds of objects, histories, literature, and media in which they place their speakers. Of course, the exploration of identity is a common theme of poetry, particularly as it pertains to how the material of language helps shape such a tenuous concept. Admittedly, the theme serves primarily as a useful frame through which to enter two starkly different works. All the same, Aitken and Allen’s books prove rewardingly immersive and surprisingly complex in the different ways in which they handle their speakers’ desire for understanding in the crowded spaces of their poetry.'(Introduction)
Awards
- 2018 shortlisted Prime Minister's Literary Awards — Poetry
- 2018 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry
