AustLit

'This is a first collection from Stephen Smithyman, whose poetry has won a number of awards and been published in magazines such as Australian Poetry Journal and Cordite. It covers the years 1976 to 2012 and a wide range of subjects, including growing up in New Zealand, relationships, family, travel, country living and the ageing process. Its themes include the search for love, happiness and some sort of sustaining belief, transience and the preciousness of life, faced with the omnipresence of death. There is a strong political and environmental interest throughout. The poems are characteristically witty and concise, phrased in clear, accessible language with a deft use of original and , at times, amusing imagery. Snapshot in the Dark is an entertaining, touching and thought-provoking introduction to Smithyman's poetry. '  (Publication summary)