J V Birch

at The Wheaty Wednesday night was epic featuring a stellar line up – Bronwyn Lovell, Alison Flett and Dominic Symes – who helped launch each other’s new collection.

First up was Bronwyn whose work I’ve long admired and her collection, In Bed with Animals from Recent Work Press, is possibly one of the best debuts I’ve ever read.

Bronwyn is a novelist and science fiction scholar as well as a poet, and her work has been shortlisted for some big poetry prizes, including the Dorothy Hewett Award. These poems speak of one woman’s experience of gender discrimination in an ecofeminist voice, calling attention to the exploitation of the environment and animals too. ‘Bitching’ is a fine example, in which Bronwyn draws comparisons between herself and her beloved dog Carmela, both in terms of treatment and temperament:

We domestic animals are still wildly

frightened. If a man mauls me,

they will look for the predator’s DNA

carved in crescents under my claws.

from ‘Bitching’ in In Bed With Animals by Bronwyn Lovell

Alison followed next with her captivating collection Where We Are published by Cordite Books, evocative of home wherever that may be.

Originally hailing from Scotland, Alison travels back to her roots in these raw, visceral poems of longing and belonging, of here and there, conjuring memories along the way interspersed with the delectable Scottish dialect. Alison’s poetry is simply brilliant and I was so pleased to see her infamous fox poems in this collection, (which form a chapbook by themselves published by her own imprint Little Windows Press), a symbol of this fleeting life that shines with her brilliance:

the rain runs in rivers

through its red-black fur

and the pavements are thick

with its foxy scent

and the rain rises

to meet it as it runs

and the pavements run

with rivers of its redness

from ‘Semiosphere’ in Where We Are by Alison Flett

Last but by no means last was Dom reading from I Saw The Best Memes Of My Generation also from Recent Works Press and with a title that sticks.

Dom founded the monthly No Wave poetry readings to try and fill the gap left by the Lee Marvin ones, brain-child of Ken Bolton who is another fine Adelaide-based poet, both of which I’ve had the honour of reading at. Dom’s work is both tender and funny, can make you laugh out loud or nod in rapt agreement, and he had a clever technique; letting the audience choose which poem he shared, that cheered for a Cher poem louder than a Prince one:

I’ve been instructed by The Guardian –

which I pay for now

after being guilted by that widget which kept telling me how

many free articles I’d read & which I’ll admit

feels kind of like paying a bully at school to stop you from

getting beat up (I believe that is called a ‘racket’)

– to feminise the cannon

from ‘Queering the Cannon’ in I Saw The Best Memes Of My Generation by Dominic Symes

Adelaide has a thriving poetry scene, much of which buzzed in the room that night, and with this being the final No Wave coupled with the heartfelt words shared, emotions were high. And it was a festive celebration too, with Alison supplying delicious home-baked treats and party hats, each with a line from a poem and it’s author on the back. Everyone was invited to select one that speaks to them; this was mine:

And the days are not full enough

And the nights are not full enough

And life slips by like a field mouse

Not shaking the grass.

from ‘And the days are not full enough’ by Erza Pound

So if you’re looking for stocking fillers, buy these books. Brimming with confessions, heartbreak and wit, they will not disappoint because their appeal extends beyond poetry. It reaches you.