AustLit

'The "Friendly Street" philosophy is to include poets who acknowledge the diversity of thoughts on modern social issues and the complexities of today's living, scattered among the delights of life. This is a collection of the best of their poetry in 1997.' (Publication summary)

'John De Laine uses contemporary language and images in poems that require the readers to dig deep within themselves. For those willing, the rewards are there. The soft sweetness of his collection's title is mocked by the tartness of the poems, wherein most relationships are full of tension and hurt, and where introspective moments bring no calm.

'Alison Manthorpe's poems about the sea and sailors and their people on shore are strong and evocative. She has an acute ear for the rhythms appropriate to the poem's moment. Her poems of observation and memory avoid the trap of mere description. Instead she reflects on and draws from the experiences recorded in the poem.

'Ray R. Tindale's collection begins with a lush mid-life crisis food-and-seduction sequence that has something in common with an up-market cooking show. Then follows a love-in-the-garden sequence written with similar ease and delight. A group of farm and outback poems are freshly imagined and keenly observed.' (Publication summary)