(Melbourne, Blank Rune Press, 2016.)
Reviewed by Rosemary Nissen-Wade
This
slim volume is a feast! Linda Stevenson is a thoughtful poet whose work ranges
from intellectual word play to direct and simple appeals to the emotions. One
of her own paintings forms the beautiful cover illustration. Her words paint
pictures too – scenes and images that continue to haunt the reader after the
words have been read. And her
language is full of music.
It's
exciting for me in various ways to be reviewing Linda’s first poetry chapbook.
During my long acquaintance with her poetry, I have always believed it deserved
publication and a wide readership.
Yes,
we have a history. Once upon a time we were two young women living in
Melbourne, who happened to sit next to each other at Library School. We got
talking and found much in common, such as the fact that we both wrote poetry.
We're still doing a lot of talking five decades later, though nowadays we live
in different parts of the country so it's usually by email. And we are still
deeply engaged with poetry.
I am
also well acquainted with Linda’s encouragement and support of other poets,
myself included. In a way, the wheel has come full circle. Thirty-one years
ago, in her capacity as Melbourne City Librarian, Linda Stevenson launched my
first book of poetry at Margareta Weber's bookshop in Melbourne.
In
that capacity she also gave the Melbourne Branch of the Poets Union a meeting
place for a number of years, at North Melbourne Library. In those days she
didn't seek to promote her own poetry – busy enough, no doubt, with
professional and family life; and, more than that, focused on bigger pictures
and community issues rather than personal ego.
She
says now, on her recently begun poetry blog, 'Written there on skin' :
My
poetry is a part of my life, that creative part so vital to our human
individuality. It has been a lifelong habit, scribbling words down, from
childhood on through adolescence, adulthood and now into mature older age.
I love
the process that takes the poet from the raw first phrases on through the
building of themes and expressed ideas and finally to the crafting of a
satisfying work. The sharing of that creation with others is the icing on the
cake.
We both left
librarianship eventually, I to give more attention to writing and she to
concentrate on art. As well as becoming a painter, still her primary focus, for some
years she ran a successful business involving an innovative technique of
print-making. All the while the poetry continued.
It
took our old colleague, Valli Poole, now proprietor of Blank Rune Press, to
persuade Linda at last to compile a chapbook. I hope it's the first of many.
I
remember her telling me, long ago, how much she loved understatement. In this
book, with its environmental theme, she uses it to excellent effect – by no
means shirking the confrontation of unpalatable truths, but without unnecessary
dramatics (the facts being sufficiently dramatic in themselves).
A
personal favourite, which I featured recently in an online column for the
poetic community Poets United, is Adani Coal Mine Approved, which works
by painting a contrasting picture to the facts. It deserves quoting in full.
It pares down
to the palest of skies
to a native fledgling
thirsty, untended
to whether a black stinking
mess of outmoded greed
is claimed as our chosen soil
when we might have lifted
up into the quiet transparency
taking the winds
undisturbed
carrying the young bird
with us
as our token.
Her
environmental concerns inform the whole book. She is fully cognisant of the issues she addresses. She worked as a full time volunteer in the environmental movement in the early seventies and has retained interest and involvement since. (See footnote*)
The title, The Tipping Point,
comes from a piece called Solar Winds,
which is as despairing as we all often feel about the planet's and humanity's
situation. It begins:
So weary
at this juncture
here, where the turning on a life’s edge
is pivotal…
Yet
this is a book full of beauty. It ends, though still sadly, on a softer note
with this small untitled poem:
Searching for haiku and other poems
I find instead a quiet place in the garden;
in its still shadow I stand
upright as bamboo
soft and weeping, like orchids.
The
book is to be launched in Frankston on April 23rd by well-known
Melbourne poet Ken Smeaton. It will be available later from Collected Works
Bookshop (Level One of the Nicholas Building in Swanston Street, just a few
minutes from Flinders Street Station).
By email
Valli
will take a firm order, supply payment details, and forward the book after the
money is received in the account.
Order price:
RRP $15 AUD including P&H.
*Asked
for details, Linda said:
In
early 1971, I became intensely involved with the then environmental movement,
as a researcher/liaison officer for the 4th International Congress on Human
Relations: "Environment: social/industrial responsibilities". I
researched global environmental problems, potential solutions, and helped to
plan and organise this major Conference at the Dallas Brooks Hall Melbourne in
July 1972. Speakers included high profile environmentalists from overseas such
as Barry Commoner and Rene Dubos and local speakers and delegates from
universities, trade unions, political parties, business and industry, along
with significant individual voices such as Judith Wright and Robin Boyd. During
this period I also became a full member of the Round the Bend Conservation
Cooperative, a shareholder of its land at Kangaroo Ground, and served on its
Committees of Management for several years. Since then, I have maintained a
strong interest in all aspects of conservation/preservation of the natural
environment and related concerns.
Note: This review is reposted with permission from Rosemary's SnakyPoet blog.
