AustLit

'Poet and author Colleen Z Burke's memoir takes us into the post-World War 11 decades of the 20th century and a working class, Irish Catholic background. set against Bondi. the sea. At the time strict societal, religious and family prohibitions were particularly onerous for women. To escape a problematic childhood, Colleen immersed herself in books and stories of lives and worlds remote from her own. Leaving school at 15. Colleen worked as a shorthand typist in the public service but, wanting something different, questioned everything as she pursued education. informal and formal. Colleen's engrossing memoir explores the stimulating yet confronting era of the 1960s. During this period she became intrigued by a broader political sphere. poetry. literature and folk music which expressed the frustration of the young against injustice, racism. easy popular sentiment, commercialised American music and. of course, the Vietnam War. Feminism leavened with socialism made sense of her contradictory world. In Sydney. during these turbulent, heady times, Colleen met and formed a relationship with her future husband, folk singer and musician, Declan Affley. They lived in Melbourne for several years before travelling through Ireland. England and Wales. Author of eleven much loved hooks of poetry, Colleen has woven into her memoir a selection of her poems that highlight challenging and quirky aspects of her life as she developed her distinctive poetic voice. Importantly, The Waves Turn pays tribute to all those who have gone before and the many people who contributed to, or shared a part of Colleen's thought-provoking, sometimes difficult, but always intriguing journey.' (Publication abstract)