Readings bookseller (and poetry enthusiast!) Clare Millar outlines a selection of this year's Australian poetry highlights.
Art by Charmaine Papertalk Green and John Kinsella
This isn’t the first time that Yamaji poet Charmaine Papertalk Green and settler poet John Kinsella have collaborated – their 2018 collection False Claims for Colonial Thieves was shortlisted for the 2019 Australian Literature Society Gold Medal and the 2020 John Bray Poetry Award. They return, this time alternating poem by poem (indicated by initials) to explore First Nations data sovereignty and living through historical moments. This is largely an ekphrastic collection, with both poets exploring the work of Nyoongar artist Shane Pickett, as well as Green’s own artwork. A collection not to be missed for fans of Evelyn Araluen, Alison Whittaker and Tony Birch.
Exactly As I Am by Rae White
Rae White won the 2017 Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize for their debut collection, Milk Teeth, which was also shortlisted for the 2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. Exactly As I Am is an exciting new collection, celebrating trans and nonbinary identity and queer love. White doesn’t shy away from the sad and traumatic, or the sexy, which culminates in a collection that paints a picture not just of White themselves as a person and poet, but also addresses societal issues at large with transphobia and capitalism.
Harvest Lingo by Lionel Fogarty
Lionel Fogarty is a tremendous poet, who always succeeds in playing with the English language to represent his own understanding of the world as a Murri man. Harvest Lingo is no exception, with Fogarty exploring his past as an activist and the connections between activism and poetry, while also calling for solidarity among differing groups of oppressed peoples. It is a stunning collection and not to be missed for readers interested in First Nations poetry and the use of language to convey poetic truths.
The Revenants by Adam Aitken
Adam Aitken is an excellent poet, having received the Patrick White Award in 2021, and has previously been longlisted for the ALS Gold Medal, and shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry and the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. The Revenants is a journey through Aitken’s life, with slow reveals about his family coming through a veiled nostalgia. This is a collection with a vivid sense of place, exploring Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Hawai’i and France and each country’s legacy of colonisation.
Best of Australian Poems 2022
Forthcoming (due early December).
It’s hard to go past an anthology like this one! Edited by Jeanine Leanne and Judith Beveridge, there is so much variety between the covers, with both emerging and established poets. This anthology includes well-loved local poets such as Andy Jackson, Eileen Chong, Elena Gomez, Alison Whittaker, Omar Musa, Eunice Andrada and John Kinsella. Standout emerging poets include Hasib Hourani and Lou Garcia-Dolnik. This is an excellent book for readers looking to discover more poets or to decide on whose collection to read next!
