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y separately published work icon Writing to the Wire anthology   poetry  
Issue Details: First known date: 2016... 2016 Writing to the Wire
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Surely we are better than this?

'The seeking of asylum in Australia has been politicised in recent decades. Our national conversation has vilified people fleeing persecution and desensitised the Australian polity to human suffering. We are further marginalising the most vulnerable groups in the world and at greater expense than accommodating refugees in the community. What impact does this have upon our collective ethics and national identity? And if our public conversation is steering us into murky moral territory, where may a dissenting voice be heard?

'Writing to the Wire is a collection of poems by Australians and people who would like to be Australians. It is a book about the idea of being Australian. It is about who we are and who we would rather be. Writing to the Wire offers new ways to understand injustice, to speak out and tell stories. Poetry can show us what we’re thinking and feeling in a way our politics has failed to do.' (Publication summary)

Contents

* Contents derived from the Crawley, Inner Perth, Perth, Western Australia,:UWA Publishing , 2016 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Across the Seasi"Maniacs worship War an ancient", S. K. Kelen , single work poetry (p. 21)
Ahmedi"rocking awkward in the small chair", Peter Boyle , single work poetry (p. 22)
Alien Flamei"sparks in an unknown wind", Anna Couani , single work poetry (p. 23-24)
The Answeri"A boy perches on a roff in the semi-darkness", Eileen Chong , single work poetry (p. 25-26)
As Far as Dandenongi"We were after coffee. You hand - or was it mine? -", Jennifer Compton , single work poetry (p. 27)
Assimilationi"I discovered", Angela Johnson , single work poetry (p. 28)
At a Distancei"At some point Odysseus, but what Barbary Fig, answers", Angela Gardner , single work poetry (p. 29)
Australia Day 2014i"from the thirty sixth floor", Coral Carter , single work poetry (p. 30)
Barbedi"IN THE LODGE", Toby Fitch , single work poetry (p. 31)
Beached Dreamsi"Silently and gladly to the reefs of christmas Island", Andy Kissane , single work poetry (p. 32)
Unititled (beast into Beast)i"Beast into beast", Christopher Barnett , single work poetry (p. 33)
Before If Ever a Landfalli"The deck of their boat heaves: a column of bleak pilgrims", Philip Salom , single work poetry (p. 34-36)
Boat Peoplei"we arrived after almost 24 hours travel at the", D. J. Huppatz , single work poetry (p. 37-38)
Boat-Peoplei"Oceans storm with First-Fleet waves navigating", Natalie Harkin , single work poetry (p. 39)
Boat Songi"Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,", Fay Zwicky , single work poetry (p. 40)
Borderlinesi"forty-three West Papuan men women and children", Jenni Nixon , single work poetry (p. 41-42)
Border Protectioni"It was a damn cold morning. the Maths", James Stuart , single work poetry (p. 43)
Cargo? ... Notes for Another Wayi"with 50-something women at the helm", Anne Elvey , single work poetry (p. 44-45)
Child's Poemi"My dear,", PH , single work poetry (p. 46)
The Cost of Feari"We try our lives, father says", Susan Adams , single work poetry (p. 47-48)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

September (2015, 2016, 2021) Catherine Noske , 2021 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Meanjin , September / Spring vol. 80 no. 3 2021; (p. 36-45)

It is September 2016. I take my glasses off to swim. I leave them tucked in the folds of my discarded dress, follow the softened outline of Lucas's body down and into the water. I let it form the world for me. Definition is unnecessary in water; fluidity renders mute any firm lines or clear distinctions. The water has its own clarity, one of light going forever down, and a brilliance of deep colour-Homer's winedark sea. I did not understand the metaphor until we arrived and saw it, this water with its surreal intensity of blue. Luminous, the opulence of wine. Lucas dives and tells me that it just keeps going down past the point of view.' (Publication abstract)

What Should Politicians Be Reading at Parliamentary Book Club? Our Experts Make Their Picks Jane Howard , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 21 August 2019;
Farhad Bandesh and Manus Island Ralph Wessman , 2018 single work essay
— Appears in: Communion Literary Magazine , December no. 10 2018;
Who's Afraid of Poetic Invention? Anthologising Australian Poetry in the Twenty-First Century A. J. Carruthers , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 17 no. 2 2018;

'There has been a rich history of anthologising Australian poetry this far into the twenty-first century. This article claims that contemporary poetics, with a renewed focus on the recoprocal relation between cultural and linguistic inquiry, can rediscover alternative ways of reading the history of Australian avant-garde, inventive and experimental work. Considering several key anthologies published after the turn of last century, the article provides readings of both the frameworks the anthology-makers provide and the poems themselves, claiming that mark, trace and lexical segmentivities can already be read as social. It then proposes a new possibility for an experimental anthology that might bring these facets into lived praxis: the chrestomathy.' (Publication abstract)

Dan Disney and Kit Kelen, Eds. Writing to the Wire Angela Serrano , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 77 no. 2 2017; (p. 252-258)
Verse That Speaks to the Plight of Refugees Peter Craven , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 20-21 August 2016; (p. 29)

— Review of Writing to the Wire 2016 anthology poetry
Writing to the Wire Review : When Poets Have Their Say on Asylum Seekers Peter Craven , 2016 single work
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 19 August 2016;

— Review of Writing to the Wire 2016 anthology poetry
'If Shelley was right that poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world, and the laws they enunciate are the laws we will be judged by, then Australia should be fearful of their judgment of our treatment of refugees. Dan Disney and Kit Kelen are both Australian poets, and they have put together an anthology about our policy of detention (now mandatory offshore detention) since Kevin Rudd's infamous formulation (upheld by both sides of politics) no refugee, however legitimate their claims, will ever be granted asylum on Australian soil. ...'
Poetry of Dissent Paul Munden , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: TEXT : Journal of Writing and Writing Courses , October vol. 20 no. 2 2016;

— Review of Writing to the Wire 2016 anthology poetry
Alice Allan Reviews Writing to the Wire Edited by Dan Disney and Kit Kelen Alice Allan , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: Mascara Literary Review , April no. 20 2017;

— Review of Writing to the Wire 2016 anthology poetry
'To live on the Australian continent is to be aware of the people who are excluded from it—those who are currently incarcerated in places coolly dubbed ‘detention centres’. Writing to the Wire, edited by Dan Disney and Kit Kelen, presents the work of poets grappling with this reality alongside that of poets actually living it.' (Introduction)
Dan Disney and Kit Kelen, Eds. Writing to the Wire Angela Serrano , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 77 no. 2 2017; (p. 252-258)
Who's Afraid of Poetic Invention? Anthologising Australian Poetry in the Twenty-First Century A. J. Carruthers , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 17 no. 2 2018;

'There has been a rich history of anthologising Australian poetry this far into the twenty-first century. This article claims that contemporary poetics, with a renewed focus on the recoprocal relation between cultural and linguistic inquiry, can rediscover alternative ways of reading the history of Australian avant-garde, inventive and experimental work. Considering several key anthologies published after the turn of last century, the article provides readings of both the frameworks the anthology-makers provide and the poems themselves, claiming that mark, trace and lexical segmentivities can already be read as social. It then proposes a new possibility for an experimental anthology that might bring these facets into lived praxis: the chrestomathy.' (Publication abstract)

What Should Politicians Be Reading at Parliamentary Book Club? Our Experts Make Their Picks Jane Howard , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 21 August 2019;
Farhad Bandesh and Manus Island Ralph Wessman , 2018 single work essay
— Appears in: Communion Literary Magazine , December no. 10 2018;
What I’m Reading Bonny Cassidy , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2016;
Last amended 5 Jul 2016 15:39:43
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