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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'In a sequence of 64 sonnets, John Mateer describes the encounters of an alter-ego, João, as he travels across the globe, attending festivals and readings, meeting with friends, lovers, and often-famous fellow authors. Uncertain in his identity, melancholy in disposition, troubled by dreams and memories, João is also an innocent, and given to moments of illumination and joy. Mateer is both ironic and affectionate in his treatment of this picaresque figure, creating through his sonnet sequence a narrative which is new in Australian writing, the worldwide adventures of the poet as comic hero, one who, despite his disappointments, still believes in the power of literature to create a sense of belonging, and to invoke ‘the deep mandala of meeting and friendship’.'
source: Publisher's blurb.
Notes
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Epigraph: Sure I was with Isis, but I told her my name was Joao. -Mario Cesariny de Vasconcelos
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Henry Briffa Reviews João by John Mateer
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Plumwood Mountain [Online] , August 2019;
— Review of João 2018 selected work poetry -
Five Poets : Five Worlds
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin , Spring vol. 78 no. 3 2019; (p. 188-193)
— Review of João 2018 selected work poetry ; Warlines 2018 selected work poetry ; Fume 2018 selected work poetry ; Interval 2018 selected work poetry ; The Hijab Files 2018 selected work poetry -
Bonny Cassidy Reviews João by John Mateer
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Mascara Literary Review , March no. 23 2019;
— Review of João 2018 selected work poetry'Speaking recently in Adelaide, the expatriate Australian theorist Sneja Gunew proposed that nations are the museums of identity. I took her to mean that, regardless of our status as foreigner/visitor or citizen/member, we tour them—we observe national identity being curated and performed. But can we resign from identifying our self through nationality; can we inhabit another kind of space that is not even partly defined by it?' (Introduction)
-
The Path of Ambivalence : On João by John Mateer
2018
single work
essay
— Appears in: Los Angeles Review of Books , May 2018; -
Christopher Brown Reviews John Mateer
2018
single work
review
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , August no. 87 2018;
— Review of João 2018 selected work poetry'Of the 62 sonnets that make up John Mateer’s João, 58 are given to ‘Twelve Years of Travel’ and only four to the second and final section, ‘Memories of Cape Town’. This weighting emphasises travel not so much as the mode of exception but as regular or even habituated experience, while suggesting only a marginal place for the ‘home’ of Mateer’s South African origins.' (Introduction)
-
Christopher Brown Reviews John Mateer
2018
single work
review
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , August no. 87 2018;
— Review of João 2018 selected work poetry'Of the 62 sonnets that make up John Mateer’s João, 58 are given to ‘Twelve Years of Travel’ and only four to the second and final section, ‘Memories of Cape Town’. This weighting emphasises travel not so much as the mode of exception but as regular or even habituated experience, while suggesting only a marginal place for the ‘home’ of Mateer’s South African origins.' (Introduction)
-
Bonny Cassidy Reviews João by John Mateer
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Mascara Literary Review , March no. 23 2019;
— Review of João 2018 selected work poetry'Speaking recently in Adelaide, the expatriate Australian theorist Sneja Gunew proposed that nations are the museums of identity. I took her to mean that, regardless of our status as foreigner/visitor or citizen/member, we tour them—we observe national identity being curated and performed. But can we resign from identifying our self through nationality; can we inhabit another kind of space that is not even partly defined by it?' (Introduction)
-
Five Poets : Five Worlds
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin , Spring vol. 78 no. 3 2019; (p. 188-193)
— Review of João 2018 selected work poetry ; Warlines 2018 selected work poetry ; Fume 2018 selected work poetry ; Interval 2018 selected work poetry ; The Hijab Files 2018 selected work poetry -
Henry Briffa Reviews João by John Mateer
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Plumwood Mountain [Online] , August 2019;
— Review of João 2018 selected work poetry -
The Path of Ambivalence : On João by John Mateer
2018
single work
essay
— Appears in: Los Angeles Review of Books , May 2018;
