POETRY SPOTLIGHT: 'Nth Degree' by Aidan Coleman

Discover Aidan Coleman's poem 'Nth Degree' taken from his newly released collection Mount Sumptuous.

Let's celebrate poetry

Frankly, there is a lot of yuck in the world at the moment, so here at Wakefield Press, we thought it might be nice to get our heads out of the depressing times and into the thought-provoking world of poetry instead.
Therefore, we're excited to kick off a special new blog series! This new series will shine a spotlight on the unique, raw, delicate and diverse poetry within our ever expanding Wakefield Press collection. We have an extraordinary range of Australian voices that we are extremely proud to have published.
Each week we'll feature a new poem by one of our talented poets, allowing their words to thrill, move, break, mend or heal you.

In short, we hope that this new poetry series will make you feel. Whether that feeling is of bitterness, delight, hope, despair or joy, will be for you to decide.

Introducing AIDAN COLEMAN

Today, our poetry spotlight is on South Australian poet Aidan Coleman. He recently won the Barbara Hanrahan Fellowship, awarded at this year's Adelaide Writer's Week.
I was lucky enough to be a bookseller for Wakefield Press on the night of Aidan's book launch, so I was able to watch him reading his poems aloud, which was a really wonderful and interesting experience.

Wonderful, because it felt good to see a poet sharing his carefully crafted work with such a packed room of riveted listeners.
Interesting, because Aidan would sometimes explain the meaning behind a poem before he read it, and it was an insight into his inspirations. It seems a lot of his words revolve around family life, his home, his kids and his suburbia.

I like the idea of finding beauty in the mundane. Not that any family is truly mundane of course. As one of my favourite lyricists, Kele Okereke, wrote, 'in our bodies, there are universes.'

But back to Aidan Coleman. For the poetry spotlight today, we've chosen the poem 'Nth Degree' from Aidan's latest collection Mount Sumptuous.

Nth Degree by Aidan Coleman

Aidan Coleman has worked as a teacher, lecturer and speechwriter, and is the co-author of a series of Shakespeare textbooks.His first poetry collection Avenues & Runways was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Kenneth Slessor Prize and his second Asymmetry was shortlisted for the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature and the Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards. He is a Member of the J.M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice at the University of Adelaide.
Discover more of Aidan Coleman's poetry in his newly-released collection, Mount Sumptuous. And remember, the best way to show your support for writers, poets, publishers and booksellers is to buy books!
Visit our website or contact us on 08 8352 4455 for more information, or to purchase this book.