2018

Eucalypt: A Tanka Journal (Issue 25, 2018) has just published Andrew’s poem “Chimney Tree”.

Needless to say, his poem is a tanka, a poem written in a traditional Japanese form of five lines arranged in 5.7.5.7.7 syllables respectively. (Andrew views this strict syllabic structure as the ideal and strives to duplicate it, although many tanka poets writing in English today disregard it altogether.)

Eucalypt‘s style is to dispense with titles, capital letters and full-stops. Accordingly, Andrew’s tanka was published in the journal as follows:

it’s a chimney tree,
that motley-barked wandoo with
its hollow branches—
come twilight, little bats will
waft from those flues like ashes

            © Andrew Lansdown

THE CHRONICLES OF KLARIN

A trilogy of fantasy novels:  With My Knife   &   Dragonfox   &   The Red Dragon

Andrew Lansdown

Wombat Books (Capalaba, QLD), 2018
(paperback, 400 pages)
ISBN: 978-1-925563-58-0

PRICE: $24.95 (+ $5.00 postage in Australia)

Wombat Books has just released The Chronicles of Klarin, an omnibus edition containing Andrew’s much-loved fantasy novels, With My Knife, Dragonfox, and The Red Dragon.

For more details, go here.

You can purchase The Chronicles of Klarin for $24.95 (plus $3.00 postage) through this website at the BUY BOOKS page.

The December 2018 issue of Quadrant magazine contains two of Andrew’s poems—”Bindi” and “The Spatter Painter”.

These poems are included in Andrew’s latest book of poetry, Distillations of Different Lands, which has just been released by Sunline Press.

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Andrew was delighted to discover recently that one of his poems has been published in a collection of essays by the eminent Australian historian, Edwin Judge.

Professor Judge’s book, Engaging Rome and Jerusalem: Historical Essays for Our Time (ISBN 9781925003901), was released by Australian Scholarly Publishing in 2015.

According to the publisher’s website, the book is “A collection of Edwin Judge’s essays on the angst and contradictions in modern civilisation in terms of the unresolved tension between Classical and biblical thought.”

Andrew’s poem, “Reaction to a Retard”, accompanies the essay “Who Programs Our Values?”, which is developed from “an oral presentation at the conference on ‘Mind and Machine’ held at New College, University of New South Wales, on 26 November 2004, in a session shared with the poet Andrew Lansdown” (p.185).

“Reaction to a Retard” was first collected in Andrew’s award-winning book, Between Glances (William Heinemann Australia, 1993). It is reproduced below:

REACTION TO A RETARD

Disgusting, really, the way it disfigures
the face—a lack of intelligence. The retard
on the ferry has nothing going for him
except his mother, who gives him a regard

I struggle to comprehend. I hear a quick
voice cry, Better to kill him before birth!
I look at him and shudder at my own depravity.
How easy it is to deny a person worth—

to limit the human, which is the image
of God, to the beautiful and clever,
and to forget there is in every person
a spark, a spirit, that abides for ever.

There is a worse disorder than the damaged
brain that disfigures the blameless face.
It is the derangement of the cogent mind
that deforms the heart by a denial of grace.

            © Andrew Lansdown

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Andrew’s new poetry collection, Distillations of Different Lands, has been reviewed by Hal Colebatch in the November 2018 issue of Quadrant magazine.

Colebatch states, “This book is precious for what it teaches the mind, the eye and the heart.”

Read the full review of Distillations of Different Lands on this website here.

The Mozzie published Andrew’s poem “Travelling North” in its October 2018 issue (Vol. 26, No. 9). This poem is included in Andrew’s latest book of poetry, Distillations of Different Lands, which has just been released by Sunline Press.

The November 2018 issue of Quadrant magazine contains two of Andrew’s poems—”Windbells with Bamboos” and “Japanese Reflections”.

“Windbells with Bamboos” is a suite of three tanka, while “Japanese Reflections” is a set of four haiku.

Both these poems are included in Andrew’s new poetry collection, Distillations of Different Lands, published by Sunline Press in October.

Read more about Distillations of Different Lands on this website here.

You can buy a copy of the book ($22.95, postage included) through the BUY BOOKS page of this website.

A new page has been added to this website, to the OTHER POETS & POEMS section. It contains a poem, “Parenthood”, by the masterful Australian poet, Geoffrey Lehmann. Accompanying the poem is a critical analysis by another great Australian poet, Geoff Page. Both poets have granted Andrew permission to use their work on his website.

Read the poem and the critique here.

(Photograph: Wikipedia.org)

Sunline Press has published a new collection of Andrew’s poems titled Distillations of Different Lands.

With a striking cover designed by Western Australian artist Andrew Gilchrist, the book consists of 111 poems occupying 144 pages.

The poems are wide ranging in subject, setting, theme and form, and are arranged into four sections, the four Different Lands of the title: I. HEARTLAND; II. JAPAN; III. HOMELAND; and IV. AMERICA.

Most of the poems have been previously published in magazines, newspapers and anthologies, including in: Asahi (Japan); Australian Book Review; Australian Love Poems 2013 (Inkerman & Blunt Publishers, 2013; rpt 2014); Australian Poetry Anthology: Volume 5, 2016 (Australian Poetry Publications, 2017); Australian Poetry Journal; Axon; The Canberra Times; Falling and Flying: Poems on Ageing (Brandl & Schlesinger, 2015); Famous Reporter; McMaster Journal of Theology & Ministry; Meanjin; Prayers of a Secular World (Inkerman & Blunt Publishers, 2015); Regime; Studio; The Weekend Australian; and Westerly.

Read more about Distillations of Different Lands, along with several sample poems, on this website here.

You can buy a copy of the book ($22.95, postage included) through the BUY BOOKS page of this website.

You can also order Distillations of Different Lands from bookshops and through the publisher’s website, www.sunlinepress.com.au

The September 2018 issue of Quadrant magazine contains two of Andrew’s poems: “Them Shoes” and “Meditations on Emptiness”. “Them Shoes” is a free form poem of 26 stanzas and “Meditations on Emptiness” is a gunsaku consisting of two tanka. While the tanka suite is a sombre reflection on the human condition, “Them Shoes” is a light-hearted account of the poet’s encounters with festival-goers on Bourbon Street, New Orleans. The first two stanzas of “Them Shoes” are:

Everything is bourbon and bonhomie
here in New Orleans on Bourbon Street.

It’s party-time and revellers keep time
with trumpet, trombone, tuba and sax …

Both “Them Shoes” and “Meditations on Emptiness” are included in Andrew’s next book of poetry, Distillations of Different Lands, which will be released by Sunline Press later this month, September 2018.

In its latest issue (No. 143, 2018), Studio magazine has published one of Andrew’s – “Bamboo Dragonflies from the Bamboo Forest”. This poem is included in Andrew’s next book of poetry, Distillations of Different Lands, which will be released by Sunline Press later this month, September 2018.

The Mozzie published two of Andrew’s poems in its July 2018 issue (Vol. 26, No. 6). Those poems are “Water for Worship” and “Shock”. Both these poems, the first a choka and the second a tanka, are included in Andrew’s next book of poetry, Distillations of Different Lands, which will be released by Sunline Press later this month, September 2018.

The June 2018 issue of Quadrant magazine contains one of Andrew’s poems: “Wandoo Hollows”, a set of 3 haiku. 

The second haiku in “Wandoo Hollows” is:

Hallowing a branch

hollowed by rot and termites—

sacred kingfishers.

          © Andrew Lansdown

All three haiku in “Wandoo Hollows” are included in Andrew’s next book of poetry, Distillations of Different Lands, which will be released by Sunline Press in September 2018.

Andrew’s poem, “Birds of a Feather” (a 2-tanka gunsaku), was published in the June 2018 issue of The Mozzie (Vol. 26, No. 5). The first of the two tanka is reprinted below:

BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Black-faced honeyeater

Distracted briefly
by a bird hopping sideways
up a bamboo cane.
And I observe that it, too,
is struggling to keep a grip.

          © Andrew Lansdown

A new page has been added to this website, to the OTHER POETS & POEMS section. It contains eight fine poems by Andrew Burke, along with some biographical and bibliographical information about this highly regarded Australian poet. Have a gander here!

Here is an exquisite poems to arouse your interest:

SITTING TOGETHER

There are prayers
that rise
from our wind chimes

as we sit
together
in veranda shade

smoke rises
from the hills
around us

Alice cannot keep
all her songs
inside her

So she gently hums
not to interrupt
our worrying

         © Andrew Burke
          from Mother Waits for Father Late

Five of Andrew’s poems have been published in the April 2018 issue of Quadrant magazine. The poems are: “On the Composition of Haiku”, “Ukiyo-e Kawaii”, “Kyoto Maple Conceits”, “Cane”, “Miscellaneous Thoughts on Poetry”.

“Kyoto Maple Conceits”, a suite of eight tanka, was published late last year in The Crows In Town, the 2007 Newcastle Poetry Prize anthology.

“Miscellaneous Thoughts on Poetry” is another tanka suite (gunsaku), consisting of three tanka, the second of which is:

ON IMAGIST POETRY

Precise imagery,
plausible and original,
is strangely moving:
who can define or dare dismiss
the emotion of exquisite?

© Andrew Lansdown

Andrew’s poem, “Mummy-Long-Legs” (a 4-haiku gunsaku), was published in the April 2018 issue of The Mozzie.

Although it is only a small, no-frills magazine, the monthly Mozzie publishes some big-name poets, such as Bruce Dawe, Shane McCauley, Kevin Gillam and Thomas Shapcott. Its (usually) short poems are (usually) refreshingly accessible.

The April issue of The Mozzie also contains a poem by Shane McCauley, “Kyoto Temple Dedicated to Jizo”, which bears the kind dedication, “for Andrew Lansdown”.

Unfortunately and inexplicably, The Mozzie typesetter/copyist made several mistakes when transferring Andrew’s “Mummy-long-legs” into the magazine. The copyist added the words “for him” in the third line of the first haiku — turning a 5-syllable line into a 7-syllable line and destroying the balanced phrasing of the poem. The copyist also changed the wording of the second line of the fourth haiku from “… told daddy’s legs” to “… told daddy-long-legs” — turning a 7-syllable line into a 9-syllable line, and destroying not only the balance of the haiku, but also the point of it, which is that “mummy” has eaten “daddy” right off his legs (and hence, only his legs are left for her to address).

Perhaps more problematically, the Mozzie copyist removed the Roman numerals above each haiku, giving the impression that “Mummy-Long-Legs” is a single, four-stanza poem, when in fact it is a suite of four distinct poems that have been combined under a single title to explore/expand a common subject. The reader who mistakes “Mummy-long-legs” for a single poem will have a disappointingly “jerky” reading experience because the supposed “stanzas” are not integrated with each other. However, the reader who understands that he/she is reading four distinct poems (haiku) can relish each poem in its own right (and perhaps even settle upon a favourite) and enjoy the way that each poem supports and supplement the others, so that the sum of the four is greater than any one of the four.

Well, this is serious talk for such a light poem! The correct wording and layout of “Mummy-long-legs” is:

MUMMY-LONG-LEGS

.         i
Too late daddy
learnt mummy-long-legs only
wanted his body.

.         ii
Long-legged mummy
simply cannot stop—she finds
daddy so yummy!

.         iii
Legs numbering eight—
all that’s left of daddy since
mummy-long-legs ate.

.         iv
Merely a reflex
mummy-long-legs told daddy’s legs
shortly after sex.

© Andrew Lansdown

This poem is included in Andrew’s new collection, Distillations of Different Lands, scheduled for publication by Sunline Press next month.

The January-February 2018 issue of Quadrant magazine contains four of Andrew’s poems: “These Astonishments”, “Dog”, “Bamboo Dragonflies from the Bamboo Forest”, “On the Fear of Foxes in Ancient Japan”. “Dog” is a haiku gunsaku, consisting of three haiku, and “On the Fear of Foxes in Ancient Japan” is a tanka gunsaku, consisting of four independent tanka linked together on the basis of a common subject.

Three of Andrew’s poems were published late last year in the Canadian journal, McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry, Volume 18 (2016-2017).

The three poems — “The Martyred Mother”, “Sakura Tanka” and “Bravery”—can be read and/or downloaded as a pdf at https://www.mcmaster.ca/mjtm/documents/Volume18/18.MJTM.29-31-Lansdown.pdf

“The Martyred Mother” and “Sakura Tanka” are included in Andrew’s new collection, Distillations of Different Lands, scheduled for publication by Sunline Press in October 2018.

The Canberra Times published Andrew’s poem, “Sketches of Life”,  in its Saturday Panorama arts section on 24 February 2018. “Sketches of Life” is a set of six haiku. The first and sixth haiku of the set are posted below:

SKETCHES OF LIFE

.         i
The scent of onions—
from the kitchen the sound of
a knife tap-dancing.

…

.         vi
A shrugging gesture—
the child making it uses
even her eyebrows.

© Andrew Lansdown

This complete version of “sketches of Life” is included in Andrew’s new collection, Distillations of Different Lands, scheduled for publication by Sunline Press next month.

As mentioned in a previous post, Andrew recently learnt that one of his poems, “Mr James”, was published without his knowledge in a text book by MacMillan Education Australia 14.

Andrew approached MacMillan last week and the publishing house responded with an apology for the oversight and an offer of a $400 payment. Needless to say, Andrew happily accepted both.

The full publication details of the book in which “Mr James” appears are:

Simply Poetry: A student workbook

eds Rex Sadler & Sandra Sadler
MacMillan Education Australia Pty Ltd (South Yarra)
First published, 2004. Reprinted 2005 (twice), 2006, 2007 (twice)
ISBN: 9780732997755

The poem “Mr James” was first collected in Andrew’s book, Counterpoise (Angus & Robertson, 1980) and is reproduced here:

MR JAMES

When I was a boy
and needed birds, Mr James
built a cage for me
from large pine-wood cable-reels.

And at church on Sundays
he stood at the door,
crushed my knuckles
in the vice of his hand,

handed me a hymn book
from his brick-like stack
and banged me with the hammer
of his voice.

Of all the kind people
I have known in my life
this man is set apart,
having raised a cathedral in my heart.

© Andrew Lansdown

Andrew’s books have been unavailable through this website for some weeks because PayPal was disconnected while changes were made to the website.

PayPal is now reconnected and books can once again be purchased using PayPal or Credit Cards (Mastercard, Visa, etc).

Go to Buy Books to make your purchase.

From time to time Andrew discovers that his work has been published without his knowledge — and therefore, obviously, without permission and without appropriate payment.

Andrew has only just learned that his poem “Mr James” was published in a text book by MacMillan Education Australia 14 years ago.

More often than not, such unauthorised publications occur because the publisher has been unable (despite reasonable efforts) to contact the author. Presumably, that is the case here and the publisher will (when approached) pay Andrew back royalties.

The full publication details of the book in which “Mr James” appears are:

Simply Poetry: A student workbook
eds Rex Sadler & Sandra Sadler
MacMillan Education Australia Pty Ltd (South Yarra)
First published, 2004. Reprinted 2005 (twice), 2006, 2007 (twice)
ISBN: 9780732997755

(Further details about this book can be found at Google Books, here, and at MacMillan Education, here.)

While Andrew is always delighted when editors and publishing houses want to showcase his work, he nonetheless would like a heads-up first.

“Mr James” has been published in two other anthologies and was first collected in Andrew’s book, Counterpoise.

Copies of Andrew’s book Allsorts, a collections of poems for children illustrated by Susan Lansdown, are held in nine libraries in Singapore.

(Learn more about Allsorts on this website here.)

The National Library Board of Singapore reports (here) that Allsorts: Poetry Tricks and Treats is available in and from the following libraries:

Allsorts: Poetry Tricks and Treats can be purchased through this website here for $25.95 (free post).