AustLit
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'When people say ‘difficult’ and ‘poetry’ in the same sentence they are usually referring to the experience of reading a certain type of poem. It is often a poem that seems to make little sense, that doesn’t have a strong sense of narrative, that uses strange words or strange forms, that does not follow rules of grammar and syntax, that may not even communicate any coherent message at all. Difficult poetry, for some reason, is a phrase that refers to these weird poems and the people who try to read them. Difficult poetry is about the tension and struggle to make sense of this weirdness.' (Oscar Schwartz and Holly Isemonger : Introduction)
Notes
-
Only literary material by or about Australian authors or literature individually indexed. Other material in this issue includes:
Experimental Confessionalism: The Personal Turn in American Post-conceptual Poetry by Hazel Smith
What the Repetitions of Poetry Might Help Us Remember about Home, Belonging and the Self by Lynn Davidson
Why Reading Sharon Olds Makes You a Better Person by Jeremy Page
An Unwitting Pariah: Kathryn Hummel in Conversation with Kaiser Haq
Call Me By Your Name, Which Is Irresponsible and Not Meteoric by Norman Erikson Pasaribu
Beauty, or something like it by Erin Jamieson
The Kangaroos by Lynley Edmeades
Looking out the window on a foggy night by David Xiang
Squid Squad #17-#20 by Matthew Welton
Grounds for Hope by Lara Arikan
w8 (1-3) by Jack Williams
5 Sonnets by Mark Leidner
Having a Hoegaarden Met Jou by Mitchel Cumming
Forgetting as Commodity by Jax NTP
11 Works by Hoda Afshar
11 Works by Paola Balla
Review Short: Therese Lloyd’s The Facts and Helen Heath’s Are Friends Electric? by Amy Brown
Review Short: Selina Tusitala Marsh’s Tightrope by Paul Magee
Contents
- Do More, Do Betteri"Trans Shield changes the way", single work poetry
-
The Unaugmented Reality of Transgender Discrimination : ‘Do More, Do Better’,
single work
criticism
'‘Do more, do better’ is a poem in four parts that explores transgender discrimination through a hypothetical augmented reality (AR) mobile app. The accompanying inked and embroidered art pieces reiterate key themes within the poem using a medium that could be considered an analogue to tech culture’s digital: craftivism. In combining elements in alternate modes, the pieces point to the ways in which these media may have commonalities, but may also be divergent. This aligns with the subject matter of the poems, drawing as they do on the everyday experiences of trans and gender diverse folk within public spaces. Public spaces should be safe, but are instead revealed as fraught with the threat of, and direct instances of, public violence.' (Introduction)
-
Sonic Twin? A Poetics of Poetic Radio,
single work
criticism
'When I reflect on the last decade of my engagement with poetry, I hear a presence shadowing many of my encounters. ‘Hear’ is an apt verb, because this presence is aural. What has so insistently stalked my encounters with poetry is the medium of radio, which acted as a bridge to poetry, catalysing my absorption of the form at a formative time. Radio appeared when I was seeking other ways into an art that was energising, perplexing, and intimidating – the latter when it seemed too serious about its singularity. I remember listening, at this time, to a sprawling acoustic art program on ABC RN’s The Night Air, as I drove home from the industrial outskirts of the city; I remember my feeling of bliss, as my ears and mind were opened by the experience. I count myself fortunate to have caught the tail end of a period of sustained acoustic experimentation on RN, though I missed the aurally plentiful The Listening Room(1988-2003) and its precursor Surface Tension. This tail end has been long, and has included Poetica (1997-2014) and Soundproof – which ran admirably for two years from the end of 2014 to the start of 2017, during a period of relentless budget cuts and a shift towards more generalist and journalistic programming at the station. I’ve spent the time since that first enchanted experience hearing poetry nearly as often as reading it, and producing other poets’ work for radio and podcast (including the use of music and digital effects, in the tradition of the programs mentioned here) more than writing it. Some of this audio work is now lost, airing as it did in the years before regular institutional podcasting; most of it was given a home on RN’s Earshot and Poetica.' (Introduction)
-
Punk Calligraphy : A Primer on Asemic Writing and Scribbles,
single work
criticism
'Growing up in Australia, I learned to associate the word ‘calligraphy’ with what is beautiful, perfect, virtuosic handwriting. However, there are other ways to interpret calli – the beauty – of handwriting. Punk calligraphy is my term for unhindered explorations of handwriting.' (Introduction)
- Mapai"Ao norte, a torre clara, a praça, o eterno encontro,", Stuart Cooke (translator), single work poetry
- Parâmetroi"Uma tarde amarela noroeste", Stuart Cooke (translator), single work poetry
- Întâmplarei"Ieri m-am întâlnit cu poezia", Cristina Savin (translator), single work poetry
- Era O Vreme Acerbăi"Era o vreme acerbă însă reveneam întotdeauna acasă toamna,", Cristina Savin (translator), single work poetry
- Turiştii"Timpul s-a oprit pe “Ring”-ul Vienei", Cristina Savin (translator), single work poetry
- Se Spune Ca Asta Ar Putea Fi Dragostei"Tu eşti departe acum, dar", Cristina Savin (translator), single work poetry
- Bay City Plazai"six am: sea intervening fog.", single work poetry
- This One Goes Out to All the CC Babcocks of the Worldi"The angelica pickles the regina georges the", single work poetry
- After Reading Laurent Binet’s The 7th Function of Languagei"Iteration eruption irritation", single work poetry
- I Am Trying to Understand Structurei"I am trying to understand structure.", single work poetry
- Black & White Crocodilei"at the homestead", single work poetry
- On Post-Victory Dayi"Dear Father,", single work poetry
- Avalon Airport / How to Unatomise the Fragmenti"Is a day, sending two messages, going for a swim, making a soup & doing the crossword, enough?", single work poetry
- Paradise Integrity (/) (°,,°) (/)i"just remembered the neoprene pencil case", single work poetry
- Griefi"They were right, it", single work poetry
- Night-Timei"When you are gone I miss you terribly.", single work poetry