Shoot the Breeze, this anthology of poetry published by Girls on Key is pretty special to me. Not only does it include one of my poems which is a huge honour, it also contains a poem written by my younger daughter, Miss Twelve. Like most parents, I think my girls are amazing and super talented so it's nice to know that other people feel the same!
Seeing poetry in other languages really excites me. I only speak English with a smattering of German, Spanish and Sinhala (which I cannot read, yet!) so I can't understand the letters I am reading. Nevertheless, my eyes drink in the beauty of those different words while my mind wonders if shaping them on my tongue and sending them out to catch a breeze will change the way I think or see the world.
I love the shape of languages that don't use the Roman alphabet that I grew up with. Those upright and proper letters shaped my body around the page and the act of recreating it with my hand. Unlike the Sinhala script of my father's first language which is all curves and swoops. It bends into the page as if it were still the palm leaves that were originally used to write upon.
Given my fascination with languages other than English, you can imagine my excitement when I discovered the Indian journal, hākārā, which publishes poems in both Marathi and English. It's a bilingual online journal of creative expression. As well as a peer reviewed journal that encourages the 'innovative nature of literary and visual images, critical artistic practices and developments that inform the contemporariness of the medium.'
When I saw that they had an open call on the theme of repetition, I set to work to write some new poems. I've come a long way in the years since I first attempted to write a poem in response to a journal's theme. Now I know to come at it sideways. To peer at it through blurry lenses. To flip it upside down or turn it inside out.
It's hard to describe or explain the process in more detail but I must have done something right because they liked what they saw! You can now read my two poems, $7.86 and Iteration (October 2022) over on the hākārā website.
I am so chuffed that the judges shortlisted my poem, At the Foothills of the Dandenong Ranges, for the Jean Stone Award given by the NSW Branch of the Fellowship of Australian Writers.
It’s always an amazing moment when your fellow writers see something special in your work and I don’t think that I will ever get used to the giddy feeling of excitement that comes with this sort of recognition. Especially as this is only the second time I have had a poem shortlisted for a poetry prize! Writing is a solitary pursuit, so its nice sometimes to hear things back when you send your poems out to make their way in the world!
This poem is super special to me. I wrote it about one of my early morning bike rides to the platypus reserve near my house. The writing of the poem cemented this moment in my memory and coloured in its edges. It’s a reminder that words are powerful and that they can make things seem more real. They can also help you to remember those things that are so easily forgotten – those precious moments of joy.
Eye to the Telescope is an online journal form the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association that has been publishing speculative poetry since 2011. They publish science fiction, fantasy and horror and even pay their authors for their poems! Each issue has a different editor which keeps things fresh and interesting.
I can't remember how I came across this journal but I decided to have a crack at writing a poem for Issue 46. I had a great time attempting to combine my twin loves of sci-fi/fantasy and poetry. The theme for the issue was quest, which felt apt given writing speculative poetry proved to be quite an adventure.
Luckily for me, the editor Wendy Van Camp liked my poem, Dystopian Dreams. A lot of the poems I write in response to themes end up being in some way a negation or a rejection of that theme. Like the time the prompt was to write about a movie I'd watched and instead I wrote a poem about how I was too tired and sleep deprived from breast feeding to watch movies!
In this case, my poem was about how
It’s always thrusters and jetpacks
cargo bays and airlocks
but
It’s never washing diapers
and cleaning toilets.
If you want to check out the rest of my poem and read all the great poetry of Issue 46 of Eye to the Telescope, head on over and check it out.
The environment has been on my mind of late. From day to day I don't give it much thought but when I have a moment to be still or quiet, a sense of unease creeps into my thoughts. At times it feels overwhelming, this tide of humanity that has over taken this fragile and precious planet. And then it comes out in my poetry.
I wrote A Poisoned Path a couple of years ago after a morning walk down to the local creek. It runs between houses and a golf course until the houses turn into an industrial estate. I was standing at the water's edge looking through the trees to the sun shining on the green when I saw a rabbit bounding down the path. She seemed so out of place, here in the suburbs at the edge of a sprawling city.
I've been sending this poem out the various publications since then and I am so pleased that Brenda Eldridge of Ginninderra Press has decided to publish it in the September edition of The Crow. You can subscribe to The Crow or grab a copy for only $5 – it's the best value poetry journal in the country!
I'm not sure what is about certain poems. You know the ones – they've got something about them that you feel says something important. So you keep dusting them off and sending them in to journals and competitions hoping that they will find the reader they're looking for.
Way back in August 2020 I did my very first online poetry workshop with the award-winning Australian poet, Dr Mark Tredinnick. What The Light Tells was a six week masterclass on the art of writing poetry. At the time I had only been writing poetry again for a couple of years and it pushed and stretched me in so many ways.
As part of that class I wrote fifteen poems. An astonishing number and in the workshops I've done since then I haven't even been able to come close to that effort. Not all of the poems were good. Not all of them I liked. But there are a handful that I still have faith in after all these years. And so I keep sending them off.
Happily for me, two of those poems - paper garden and Life Support - have just been picked up by Gems Zine, the publishing collective based in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia). I am beyond thrilled that they saw something in these pieces and that they are now out in the world and able to be read!
Thanks Gems for publishing them!
If you live in Victoria and you're not already a member of Writers Victoria, go join it right now! Don't worry, I'll wait here till you're done.
Oh good, you're back! Now why did I want you to join Writers Victoria? Well they run a great bunch of courses throughout the year on all things writing from poetry through to fiction and non-fiction. The courses range from free lunchtime seminars for members to full day workshops either online or in person.
And if that's not enough to convince you, they also publish the excellent The Victorian Writer magazine four times a year. That's a gorgeous print magazine featuring the best writing right now. And I am super flattered to be included in the December 2021 issue, Transformation, with my poem going viral.
If you don't have the funds for a membership at the moment I would highly recommend singing up for their newsletter which will keep you up to date with current writing opportunities.
I’m super happy to have six of my poems featured in issue 32 of the free online Australian journal Rochford Street Review. The journal is edited by Mark Roberts and Linda Adair and they do a fantastic job of bringing together a wonderful publication.
In this issue you can find reviews of recent publications, launches, articles and of course poetry. Head on over to Rochford Street Review to read poems in Norwegian and English from Elinor Nauen, one line, monostitch poems from Amanda Anastasi and much, much more!
Another fine anthology from independent Australian publisher, Stephen Matthews of Ginninderra Press. Filled with poetry from some of the finest Australian poets. Including yours truly with the poem, too late.
When I read my very first Ginninderra Press anthology, way back in 2018, I had a go at writing a poem to fit the theme. It was too late to be included in the anthology but I was interested in writing the poem as an exercise and a challenge. Reading the poems in the book had inspired me. The poets had such a diverse and broad reaction to the theme of wild. However, I really struggled to write something as original or as compelling.
Fast forward to four years later and a poem of mine is in a Ginninderra Press anthology. I am becoming better at writing poems for themes. At looking at them from the corner of my eye and taking a journey to somewhere new. Or as was the case with this poem, realising that it would it the theme. I love it when I've already written something that would be perfect for a journal or anthology!
I am stoked to be part of the awesome zine, More Than Melanin, featuring a whole stack of incredible female BIPOC authors and artists from around the world.
Edited by the wonderful Kanika Chopra, Issue 2: Intimacy in Solitude feature my poem, Shelter.
The zine looks amazing and is on sale now. Get your copy before they’re sold out!