AustLit

 (Publication summary)

'But most often someone writing a poem believes in, depends on, a delicate, vibrating range of difference, that an ‘I’ can become a ‘we’ without extinguishing others, that a partly common language exists to which strangers can bring their own heartbeat, memories, images. A language that itself has learned from the heartbeat, memories, images of strangers. (Rich 2003: 86)

'The New leaves writing project was designed to provide people experiencing life-threatening illnesses the poetic tools to help gain self-confidence, literary skills and some kind of aesthetic satisfaction by creating their own poems. Because poetry often utilises the language of the subconscious, it has a unique capacity to help people uncover and listen to the deeper meanings of their lives (Harrower 1972; Mazza 1999). Poetry enables people to feel their lives, rather than to withdraw, or retreat into emotional numbness or states of paralysis in times of crisis. Participants in our project found writing poetry helped build an interior space and – when undertaken in a group led by Judith Beveridge, who is an experienced practitioner – connect their work to a wider community. This article focuses on the ways in which the creation of metaphors and symbolic images enabled New leaves poets to represent the knowledge and experience of illness while moving dialogically from an isolated ‘I’ to a connected ‘We’ by participating in the workshop and publication process.' (Publication abstract)

'Most theorists agree that the work of mourning involves mental processes that ultimately enable a person to separate from this object they have lost, and this involves the paradoxical experience of focussing on the loss in order to finally disinvest in and detach from it. But even Freud, as Clewell argues in her article "Mourning and Melancholia: Freud's Psychoanalysis of Loss", "explicitly acknowledged that mourning might not be as straightforward a business of severance and redemptive replacement as he earlier surmised" (58).' (Introduction)
 

'This book is aimed at providing criticism of contemporary Australian poetry in a form that is accessible to general readers of poetry. It is intended to be the first in a series which will grapple with the bewildering diversity of the contemporary poetry scene. Part of the need for this scholarly collection is remedial; as we will argue, poetry review culture often lacks critical bite and the exigencies of academic research often bypass critical evaluation. The recent publication of Contemporary Australian Poetry (2016) highlighted the strength and vitality of the art form in Australia over the last quarter of a century. Feeding the Ghost I: Criticism on Contemporary Australian Poetry is intended to complement that body of work which has surprised so many readers with its vigour and depth. ' (Introduction)
 

'On First Looking publishes poems by student writers at Avondale College of Higher Education alongside work by some of Australia's best contemporary poets. It is the fifth volume in a project which has run over the last decade, and like the books it follows, this anthology introduces a diverse range of poetic voices and places them within the context of a wider poetic community. With a nod in homage to John Keats' poem 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer', this collection celebrates a long tradition of connections between writers. It is a unique showcase for work by new and mature poets, all of them united by poetry's gift of bringing us the world as if it has been looked at for the very first time.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'This book is aimed at providing criticism on contemporary Australian poetry in a form that is accessible to general readers. It is intended to be the first in a series which will grapple with the bewildering diversity of the contemporary poetry scene. Australian poetry deserves a criticism that accompanies the astonishing momentum and luminosity that has developed, which both elucidates the scale of poetic achievement and is also not afraid to evaluate that achievement through a rigorous and disinterested critical lens. Australian poets have been feeding the ghost with extraordinary energy and acumen over the last quarter of a century; it is now time for Australian poetry criticism to catch up.' (Introduction)

'As memoir and autobiographical/autoethnographic texts flourish in the market place, so this emergence is reflected in the tertiary education sector. Mostly sited within journalism, English and creative writing schools, a proportion of these texts incorporate trauma narrative as students turn to creative practice degrees as a means to write through disruptive autobiographical events. 

'Accordingly, supervisors of HDR candidates undertaking long form trauma narrative find themselves more and more immersed in the trauma, bearing witness to their students’ potential unease. We argue that this type of supervision may potentially necessitate a differentiated management approach, with the establishment of additional protocols, informed by the potential dangers of re-traumatisation of the candidate; and vicarious traumatisation of the supervisor.

'The aim of this paper is to report on some of the preliminary findings of a qualitative research project where a range of Australian academics supervising Higher Degree Research (HDR) candidates writing about traumatic experiences were interviewed regarding supervisory protocols and practices.2 Here we focus on selected insights from supervisors who responded to one of the interview questions: ‘what do you consider the potential risks for a student and a supervisor involved in HDR projects framed by trauma narrative?’ We anticipate this paper will provide helpful perspectives from experienced academics for early career supervisors about to embark on trauma shaped projects.' (Publication abstract)

'All These Presences publishes poems by creative writing students at Avondale College alongside work by a selection of established Australian poets. Like the three earlier volumes it follows, Wording the World (2010), Here Not There (2012) and A Way of Happening (2014), it is a unique collaboration between writers at very different stages of learning and practising their craft.

'Poetry writing is an intensely personal expression of experience. The poems themselves, however, have a magical ability to move from silence into a world of unexpected conversations and deep connections, not only with readers, but also with other poets. All These Presences is an exciting illustration of that connectedness. It is a vibrant gathering of presences: a fresh and wide-ranging collection of new and mature voices from Australia's contemporary poetic community.' (Publication Summary)

'This anthology, a way of happening, follows on from two previous anthologies Wording the World (2010) and Here Not There (2012) which published student work from Avondale College alongside established poets. Writing is most often done in isolation, so it is important to have a sense that one is not working alone, but that one's writing forms part of a larger interaction and conversation among like-minded people. These anthologies establish a feeling of community for the students, a sense that what they are doing has significance.

'From the examples of work by more experienced poets, novice poets can see what is achievable through commitment and effort to the art of poetry writing. This anthology gives the new poets diverse and prestigious voices against which to test their own poems and to recognise the value of beautiful and finely articulated speech. It also enables the students to see that there are people, despite the apparent invisibility of poetry in our society, who readily dedicate their time and efforts to this art form and for whom poetry has a major place in their lives. Any reader coming to this volume will be struck by its cohesion and diversity and by the fresh and innovative voices all talking with depth and clarity.' (Publication summary)