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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'The letter 'm' is emblematic of recurrence and precipitousness in these poems. They emerge with the wantonness of sensations in everyday life. In this case three lives: maternal grandmother, paternal great-great grandmother and the poet. Jordie Albiston, with characteristic delicacy and zest, limns these very different women as perspectives to each other.
Recurrence is intrinsic to sonnets. They are patterned internally, and are often paroxysmal: a perfect form and formation for poems which worry the distinction between the fatal and the banal.
The sequence tells what happens when you admit the existential into everyday life, in small or large doses. The results can be desolate, or sublime. And comedic as well: Albiston knows how to play between darkness and send-up, when it comes to an arduous and animating tension between body and mind.' (Publisher's blurb)
Notes
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Dedication: for Wendy Morris
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Epigraph: It is hard for a fourteen to learn his lesson...-'Helyn Hitchcock'
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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The Value of Making : Traditional Form and Narrative in Australian Poetry since the Digital Revolution
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Axon : Creative Explorations , July vol. 4 no. 1 2014; 'In this essay I outline some broad structural and cultural aspects of the digital revolution which may contribute to the renewal of traditional form and narrative in Australian poetry as an expression of the millennial value of making. Firstly, that making traditional poetic forms is partly a response to the structural limitations of websites and e-readers, and culturally a response to the remediation of poetry to the perceived temporality and instability of the internet. I briefly associate Manovich’s argument that the database is the enemy of the narrative with the new ‘empirical turn’ in the humanities and suggest that strongly narrative poetry is reacting against the digital preference for the number. Finally I note the strategies of a smooth grammatical line and ‘bardic’ stance as a way for ‘professional’ authors to differentiate themselves from online amateurism.' (Publication abstract) -
Rebellious Sonnets in the Key of Em
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 25 no. 1 2011; (p. 103-104)
— Review of The Sonnet According to 'M' 2009 selected work poetry -
John Jenkins; of Jordie Albiston, The Sonnet According to “m”; Philip Hammial, Skin Theory; Susan Hawthorn, Earth’s Breath; Felicity Plunkett, Vanishing Point
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: Long Paddock , vol. 70 no. 3 2011;
— Review of Vanishing Point 2009 selected work poetry ; The Sonnet According to 'M' 2009 selected work poetry ; Skin Theory 2009 selected work poetry ; Earth's Breath 2009 selected work poetry -
Greg Westenberg Reviews Jordie Albiston
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , December vol. 34 no. 2010;
— Review of The Sonnet According to 'M' 2009 selected work poetry -
[Review] The Sonnet According to 'M'
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 201 2010; (p. 76)
— Review of The Sonnet According to 'M' 2009 selected work poetry
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M for Marriage and for Memorable Sonnets
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 13 February 2010; (p. 12)
— Review of Marriage for Beginners : And Other Poems 2009 selected work poetry ; The Sonnet According to 'M' 2009 selected work poetry -
[Review] The Sonnet According to 'M'
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Island , Winter no. 121 2010; (p. 68-69)
— Review of The Sonnet According to 'M' 2009 selected work poetry -
[Review] The Sonnet According to 'M' [and] Piano Hill
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Wet Ink , June no. 19 2010; (p. 62-63)
— Review of The Sonnet According to 'M' 2009 selected work poetry ; Piano Hill 2009 selected work poetry -
[Review] The Sonnet According to 'M'
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 201 2010; (p. 76)
— Review of The Sonnet According to 'M' 2009 selected work poetry -
Greg Westenberg Reviews Jordie Albiston
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , December vol. 34 no. 2010;
— Review of The Sonnet According to 'M' 2009 selected work poetry -
The Value of Making : Traditional Form and Narrative in Australian Poetry since the Digital Revolution
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Axon : Creative Explorations , July vol. 4 no. 1 2014; 'In this essay I outline some broad structural and cultural aspects of the digital revolution which may contribute to the renewal of traditional form and narrative in Australian poetry as an expression of the millennial value of making. Firstly, that making traditional poetic forms is partly a response to the structural limitations of websites and e-readers, and culturally a response to the remediation of poetry to the perceived temporality and instability of the internet. I briefly associate Manovich’s argument that the database is the enemy of the narrative with the new ‘empirical turn’ in the humanities and suggest that strongly narrative poetry is reacting against the digital preference for the number. Finally I note the strategies of a smooth grammatical line and ‘bardic’ stance as a way for ‘professional’ authors to differentiate themselves from online amateurism.' (Publication abstract)