AustLit

'Critical State is Brett Dionysius’ ninth full poetry collection, and encapsulates work spanning the past decade in order to celebrate the extraordinary diversity of species in his home state of Queensland but also warn of the biodiversity loss resulting from human action that ‘raises awareness about the increasing effects of the Anthropocene.’ The title Critical State has a menacing double entendre.' (Introduction)

'It’s All Connected: Feminist Fiction and Poetry brings together the creative work of 39 Australian writers to mark the beginning of the fourth decade of eminent feminist press, Spinifex Press, publishing women’s stories. The book is a companion volume to Not Dead Yet: Feminism, Passion and Women’s Liberation (2021) edited by Renate Klein and Susan Hawthorne.' (Introduction)

'Our Ways on Earth is Peter Bakowski’s eighth full collection of poems—wise, wistful and idiosynchratic in equal parts. Bakowski has been writing poetry for forty years and is delightfully described in the author biography at the back of the book as ‘a bounding deer in the long grass of poetry’ [73]. With disarming simplicity, these poems carry us in an uninterrupted stream through a gallery of human and non-human portraits, occasionally breaking for playfulness with quirkier poems about what poetry is, or that rely on strings of brightly imaged metaphors, or haiku and one- or two-line dryly humorous poems.' (Publication summary)   

'Beth Spencer’s most recent publication, The Age of Fibs, is a montage of stories, memoir and microlit that, if you’re a reader like me, will surprise, amuse and hold you until the last page is turned. Spencer, a seasoned writer of poetry, short stories, novels and academic works (most recently Vagabondage in 2015 which was poetry, microlit and travelogue) readily admits that this blend of pieces—many published previously in other contexts— derives its power and connection through ‘the energy of crossover’.' (Publication summary)