Our spotlight shines on a new poetry collection by Peter Bakowski and Ken Bolton, Nearly Lunch. Fresh off the press, Nearly Lunch is another collaboration from these two poets, after their previous Elsewhere Variations (also published by Wakefield Press), which is a companion volume.
Continue readingAt the first of our new afternoon event series, Saturday Soirees, the Wakefield Press laneway was filled with merry makers for the launch of The Southern Oscillation Index by Cath Kenneally. Launched by Linda Barwick, Emeritus Professor of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and Emceed by Wakefield Press' fearless leader Michael Bollen, the launch was a wonderful way to start the series. Find out about future editions of the Saturday Soirees series by subscribing to our newsletter here. We…
Continue readingThis week's spotlight shines on a new poetry collection by Geoff Goodfellow, Preparing for Business. Award-winning poet Geoff Goodfellow is back with another vivid, affecting, laconically dark-witted collection that pulls no punches as it masterfully chronicles Australian life. As always, Geoff delivers a series of brilliantly captured portraits of working-class life, from the street scenes of formerly industrial Port Adelaide and his home suburb of Semaphore, with its heightened blend of affluence and poverty, to…
Continue readingThis week's poetry spotlight shines on Cath Kenneally's new poetry collection, The Southern Oscillation Index. These poems reflect on travel, on staying at home, on the passing of time, and on our afflicted world. Both tough and gentle, nostalgic and sharply political, Kenneally's work is enlivened by flashes of gallows humour.
Continue readingWhen Adelaide's quasi-lockdown hit in mid-November, the launching of Helen Parsons' The Feeling of Bigness: Encountering Georgia O'Keeffe was momentarily put on hold. We were so thrilled to be able to have a rescheduled launch in early December. Launched by Jan Owen, and Emceed by Louise Nicholas, the launch was held on the beautiful grounds of St John's church on Halifax Street, on a balmy evening befitting Helen's gorgeous poems. We are delighted to be publishing Jan Owen's…
Continue readingThis week, we shine the spotlight on Steve Brock's poetry collection, Live at Mr Jake's. Relaxed and laconic, Live at Mr Jake's riffs on a mix of highbrow and popular culture references. Accessible yet literary, this collection celebrates a diversity of voices from Australia and beyond. Spanning four continents, the poems are equally at home in the front bar as they are on the literary trail in Paris or San Francisco. Cool and understated, Brock…
Continue readingThis week, we shine the poetry spotlight on Helen Parsons' new collection, The Feeling of Bigness: Georgia O'Keeffe sonnets. The sonnets in the collection draw inspiration from Georgia O'Keeffe's art and life, and her love for the big open spaces – the 'feeling of bigness' – that New Mexico offered her.
Continue readingThis week's poetry highlight is on the gorgeous South Australian children's poetry book, To Rhyme Or Not To Rhyme? With poems written by Kristin Martin and illustrations by Joanne Knott, this kid's poetry collection is charming and fun. Poems truly are all around us, and in this collection Kristin shares her love of nature and sense of fun on every page. Joanne's exquisite illustrations bring the animals and natural environment to magical life.
Continue readingThis week's poetry spotlight shines once again on Annette Marner's Women With Their Faces on Fire, a collection which draws on the beauty of nature to explore the experiences of women. 'In this book you will find a passionate involvement with the land, images of love and friendship, and anger against injustice. These poems chill and delight.' – Miriel Lenore
Continue readingThis week for our poetry spotlight, we are showcasing a poem by Miriel Lenore, from her collection A Wild Kind of Tune. 'In this tale arcing from 1845 to the present, in poetry underpinned by meticulous research, we inhabit settler society with all its attendant joys, hardship and grief as we careen with Caroline through her journey of love, loss and horror into madness.' – Biff Ward, author of In My Mother's Hands.
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