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y separately published work icon The Sky Runs Right Through Us selected work   poetry  
Issue Details: First known date: 2018... 2018 The Sky Runs Right Through Us
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

"This deeply personal book is also an important historical record. Written from the heart and covering a period of time working on Christmas Island with asylum seekers until her return to Australia with an urgency to bear witness, Pettitt-Schipp's steady eye is levelled at a facade of Australian inclusivity and openness "this land's edge /has always been an invitation/a white-toothed smile/ to walk on". To those denied entry, those white teeth become menace, exclusion, shark, crocodile. In a book filled with heart-breakingly tender portraits, borders and bodies, sanctions and sanctuary are held close to each other in ways which articulate the space but also, the common ground between "us"."--Amanda Joy **"These beautiful Christmas Island poems capture both the despair of asylum seekers imprisoned by rock and sea and their ancient will to continue."--Gillian Triggs (Series: UWAP Poetry) [Subject: Poetry]' (Publication summary)

Notes

  • Dedication:

    To my father, Bill Pettitt,

    for his difficult love,

    and to my mother, Jan Little,

    for coming on the journey

    of forgiveness with me. 

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Crawley, Inner Perth, Perth, Western Australia,: UWA Publishing , 2018 .
      image of person or book cover 6438120019442414082.jpg
      This image has been sourced from Booktopia
      Extent: 124p.
      Note/s:
      • Published: 1st February 2018
      ISBN: 9781742589596
      Series: y separately published work icon UWAP Poetry Club Crawley : UWA Publishing , 2016- 10166627 2016 series - publisher poetry

Works about this Work

The Trouble with Poetry and Literary Awards Clare Millar , 2020 single work essay
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , August 2020;

'Australia has a strong history of poetry, albeit largely white and male. Henry Lawson, Banjo Patterson, Adam Lindsay Gordon, CJ Dennis, AD Hope and Dorothea Mackellar are all notable figures in Australia’s colonial history and literature. Why is it, then, that poetry collections are largely ignored by our major literary prizes?' (Introduction)

Unsettlement Amy Lin , 2019 single work essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , January / February no. 408 2019; (p. 50)

'Anne Elvey’s White on White and Reneé Pettitt-Schipp’s The Sky Runs Right Through Us both offer ideas of unsettlement in contemporary Australia; Elvey’s is the unsettlement brought by the arrival of colonists, whereas Pettitt-Schipp explores the unsettlement associated with denying arrival. In White on White, Elvey explores the limitations and downfalls of colonialism, and the paradoxical act of ‘building a falling’ that settlement represents. Despite its title, the collection is about the co-existence of whiteness and colour, as in the line, ‘On my desk the whiteout / is shelved beside the pens’. This line is also telling as it is about imprints and markings existing beside modes of erasure. In the prose poem ‘School days’, readers are introduced to the speaker’s skin that is ‘peach and cream with a blue undernote […] the colour of my soul’, which a ‘drop of ink’ would mortally stain. Here, Elvey invokes a thread running through the collection: the potential for ink, the medium for writing and textuality, to be fraught with sin and moral complications. At these moments, readers may reflect on the fact that it was white settlers who brought written language to Australia, with all of its blessings and burdens.' (Introduction)

Traversing Humanness through Contrasts Jessica Abramovic , 2018 single work review
— Appears in: TEXT : Journal of Writing and Writing Courses , October vol. 22 no. 2 2018;

— Review of The Sky Runs Right Through Us Reneé Pettitt-Schipp , 2018 selected work poetry

'I approach this review not as a poetry expert, a poetry writer, or even (particularly) a poetry reader. Instead, I come to this review of Reneé Pettitt-Schipp’s book, The Sky Runs Right Through Us, through the eyes of a development practitioner. And perhaps also, an ashamed Australian.'  (Introduction)

[Review] The Sky Runs Right through Us Alison Clifton , 2018 single work review
— Appears in: StylusLit , September no. 4 2018;

— Review of The Sky Runs Right Through Us Reneé Pettitt-Schipp , 2018 selected work poetry

'The Sky Runs Right through Us, by the award-winning poet Reneé Pettitt-Schipp, traces a journey from Christmas Island, where she taught asylum-seekers, to the Australian mainland where she cared for her dying father, then to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and to suburban Perth. Of course, the politically-charged poems form a major part of this collection but they are in dialogue with the poems that speak of her father’s decline so that this collection feels quite cohesive.'  (Introduction)

[Review] The Sky Runs Right through Us Alison Clifton , 2018 single work review
— Appears in: StylusLit , September no. 4 2018;

— Review of The Sky Runs Right Through Us Reneé Pettitt-Schipp , 2018 selected work poetry

'The Sky Runs Right through Us, by the award-winning poet Reneé Pettitt-Schipp, traces a journey from Christmas Island, where she taught asylum-seekers, to the Australian mainland where she cared for her dying father, then to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and to suburban Perth. Of course, the politically-charged poems form a major part of this collection but they are in dialogue with the poems that speak of her father’s decline so that this collection feels quite cohesive.'  (Introduction)

Traversing Humanness through Contrasts Jessica Abramovic , 2018 single work review
— Appears in: TEXT : Journal of Writing and Writing Courses , October vol. 22 no. 2 2018;

— Review of The Sky Runs Right Through Us Reneé Pettitt-Schipp , 2018 selected work poetry

'I approach this review not as a poetry expert, a poetry writer, or even (particularly) a poetry reader. Instead, I come to this review of Reneé Pettitt-Schipp’s book, The Sky Runs Right Through Us, through the eyes of a development practitioner. And perhaps also, an ashamed Australian.'  (Introduction)

Unsettlement Amy Lin , 2019 single work essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , January / February no. 408 2019; (p. 50)

'Anne Elvey’s White on White and Reneé Pettitt-Schipp’s The Sky Runs Right Through Us both offer ideas of unsettlement in contemporary Australia; Elvey’s is the unsettlement brought by the arrival of colonists, whereas Pettitt-Schipp explores the unsettlement associated with denying arrival. In White on White, Elvey explores the limitations and downfalls of colonialism, and the paradoxical act of ‘building a falling’ that settlement represents. Despite its title, the collection is about the co-existence of whiteness and colour, as in the line, ‘On my desk the whiteout / is shelved beside the pens’. This line is also telling as it is about imprints and markings existing beside modes of erasure. In the prose poem ‘School days’, readers are introduced to the speaker’s skin that is ‘peach and cream with a blue undernote […] the colour of my soul’, which a ‘drop of ink’ would mortally stain. Here, Elvey invokes a thread running through the collection: the potential for ink, the medium for writing and textuality, to be fraught with sin and moral complications. At these moments, readers may reflect on the fact that it was white settlers who brought written language to Australia, with all of its blessings and burdens.' (Introduction)

The Trouble with Poetry and Literary Awards Clare Millar , 2020 single work essay
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , August 2020;

'Australia has a strong history of poetry, albeit largely white and male. Henry Lawson, Banjo Patterson, Adam Lindsay Gordon, CJ Dennis, AD Hope and Dorothea Mackellar are all notable figures in Australia’s colonial history and literature. Why is it, then, that poetry collections are largely ignored by our major literary prizes?' (Introduction)

Last amended 12 Dec 2019 10:14:49
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