AustLit

'Little Book of Weather reflects Australians' fascination with the weather of their arid continent: those on the land watch for stormy skies promising to relieve the parched ground, or grieve the loss of the top soil to the wind; those in towns and cities wait for rain to fill up the water tanks and reservoirs. People appreciate the beauty of the snow, of mist in the morning or of light streaming through the clouds. The years come and go, often marked by events that become part of Australian folklore—the 1895 Federation drought, the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia, the 1990 floods in New South Wales and Queensland, the February 7 2009 Victorian bushfires.

'The latest addition to the National Library of Australia's 'Little Books' series, Little Book of Weather features the work of some of Australia's much-loved poets, including Judith Wright, Les Murray, David Campbell, Mudrooroo, James McAuley, Banjo Paterson and Dorothea Mackellar, along with beautiful images from the Library's collection by Joseph Lycett, Edward Close, Ellis Rowan, Harold Cazneaux, Peter Dombrovskis, Olegas Truchanas, Katherine Nix and others.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Sense, Shape, Symbol is an investigation of Australian poetry. It explores the ways in which poets succeed, or fail, in their attempts to bring their experience to life.

Their primary raw materials are the five senses - sight, sound, smell, taste and touch - the means by which we all experience our world.

Poets also like to experiment with the shape of their writing, starting with the qualities of vowels and consonants, of syllables, and of rhyme, metre and rhythm.

Working poets make particular use of the metaphor, of the connections that they suggest between normally unlike things, to express their response to their subject.

The collection explores the work of five poets who have played an important, influential part in the development of Australian poetry: Judith Wright, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, David Malouf, Les Murray and Mark O’Connor.

The final chapter looks at some of the common concerns that can create conflict in our lives, such as gender, race, age, and socio-economic status, and other issues that create fear and that encourage hope.

The collection is intended to allow readers to become familiar with the techniques that poets use, and to develop their own poetic writing in an informed way.' (Publisher's blurb)