Dreaming in the Urban Areas

Now included in UQP's First Nations Classics series with an introduction from Kirli Saunders, Dreaming in the Urban Areas is an unforgettable work of Indigenous poetry.

Lisa Bellear’s poetry moves sharply between street-smart portrayals of poverty and dispossession, and the complexity of Black love, identity and experience. She reaches into the unspeakable parts of a colonial past in order to unpick the ongoing repercussions of Australia’s invasion and history.

Written with poetic prowess and political bite, Bellear’s work is a reckoning force set against a backdrop of urban community and strength. Her boundless energy and activism shine throughout, ensuring that each poem has a striking clarity of vision. Dreaming in the Urban Areas is an incandescent work of integrity and truth that charts the enduring struggles for survival and recognition.