JENNIFER MAIDEN
Had the request been for a "best book", I'd have bolted, but "my fancy" seems less hierarchical. And had they not published my last collection, I would have said that an irresistible poetry book this year was anything by Giramondo - including Not Finding Wittgenstein by J. S. Harry. I'd have added that the Giramondo periodical, Heat, continues to develop successfully into what Encounter tried to achieve, unsuccessfully, 50 years ago. Fortunately, elsewhere and just as impressive: Tim Thorne's A Letter to Egon Kisch (Cornford Press) uses traditional forms to express untraditional sentiment with gritty wit. Phyllis Perlstone's fine The Edge of Everything (Puncher & Wattman) blends careful details of reality and the danger behind reality in moving time. Chris Mansell's Love Poems (Kardoorair Press) shine with Mansell's wonderful wiry stylistic precision and a poignant mood of loss.
David Kelly's Tall Trees (thekelly@bigpond.com) studies trees as trees sensually, with a metaphor of communal undergrowth in society and self. And Dorothy Porter gave again in El Dorado (Picador) an incisive public voice to private human obsessions.
Searching for the holly grail - Books - Entertainment - theage.com.au
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