Poetry Volumes I Love
Here is a selection of poetry volumes by contemporary Australian and New Zealand poets that I have come to know and love. For the most part, the poetry I end up loving is by poets that I have met or heard in real life - I did not grow up reading poetry in volumes, so as an adult I needed a place to start!
I recommend these volumes for teachers wanting to read more poetry, and would happily share the poems in them with students in grade 9 and above.
I recommend these volumes for teachers wanting to read more poetry, and would happily share the poems in them with students in grade 9 and above.
Limited Cities, by Lachlan Brown
Read reviews on Goodreads Purchase via Giramondo Publishing I love this volume because I know Lachlan wrote it while living in Southwest Sydney, around my home suburbs. I can see my suburban landscape in his poems. The contrasts he draws between Australian and Parisian suburbs are thoughtful and his poems about life and family are very moving. The Art of Walking Upright, by Glenn Colquhoun (1999)
Read reviews on Goodreads Purchase via Steele Roberts I had the pleasure of hearing Glenn speak at the IFTE English teachers' conference in Auckland in 2011. He speaks (and writes) in a sensitive way about what it means to be a male poet, what it means to have lived his whole life in New Zealand, and issues of culture and indigeneity. |
Electricity for Beginners, by Michelle Dicinoski
Read reviews on Goodreads Purchase paperback or ebook via Amazon I love this volume because I know Michelle wrote it while living in Brisbane, where I moved to in 2009. Queenslanders will appreciate her treatment of the Brisbane floods, and her way of describing domestic life is both straightforward and evocative. Easy to read but will leave you thinking. |