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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'In Animals with Human Voices you will find worms that dream of god, jellyfish weary of immortality, a powerless Superman, some illogical observations on aliens’, a lightning conductor tired of lightning and the truth about Elvis. In multi award-winning poet Damen O’Brien’s debut collection, his cinematic eye and love of nature deliver poems which are ciphers for the normal concerns of every human: love, life and death and what we leave behind.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Notes
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Selected as one of the Guardian Australia best Australian books of 2022
Selected as one of the ABR Podcast's best books of 2022
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Out of the Planetary Test Tube : A Rewarding Début from a Porter Prize Winner
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 440 2022; (p. 43)
— Review of Animals with Human Voices 2021 selected work poetry'Damen O’Brien’s first collection is an exceptional accomplishment. His individual poems have won several competitions (including the 2017 Peter Porter Poetry Prize). O’Brien signals the emphases of Animals with Human Voices in his afterword, stating that the world has become a ‘meaner’ place during the ten years of its completion: ‘a place of harsh politics, that values outrage over kindness, tribalism over empathy’. He concludes: ‘Like the animals of the title, the poems are voices for human problems and troubles, for the little moments and cares of the human condition.’' (Introduction)
-
Out of the Planetary Test Tube : A Rewarding Début from a Porter Prize Winner
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 440 2022; (p. 43)
— Review of Animals with Human Voices 2021 selected work poetry'Damen O’Brien’s first collection is an exceptional accomplishment. His individual poems have won several competitions (including the 2017 Peter Porter Poetry Prize). O’Brien signals the emphases of Animals with Human Voices in his afterword, stating that the world has become a ‘meaner’ place during the ten years of its completion: ‘a place of harsh politics, that values outrage over kindness, tribalism over empathy’. He concludes: ‘Like the animals of the title, the poems are voices for human problems and troubles, for the little moments and cares of the human condition.’' (Introduction)
Awards
- 2022 shortlisted ASAL Awards — Mary Gilmore Award for a First Book of Poetry
- 2021 highly commended Anne Elder Award
