Poem in anthology, Prayers of a Secular World

Andrew is one of the poets represented in the latest anthology by publishers Inkerman & Blunt.

Prayers of a Secular World is edited by Jordie Albiston and Kevin Brophy and contains 100 poems by new and established Australian poets.

Andrew’s poem in the anthology is “Forgetting”. It was published earlier in the year by The Weekend Australian Review with the title “Forgetting-Grass”. (For the text of the poem, see the 5th January 2015 entry, “Poem in Weekend Australian Review”, on the home page of this website.)

6 poems in FreeXpresSion

 

Six of Andrew’s poems have been published in the October 2015 issue of FreeXpresSion magazine. The poems have been reprinted from Andrew’s books, Gestures of Love: The Fatherhood Poems (Wombat Books, 2013) and Inadvertent Things: Poems in traditional Japanese forms (Walleah Press, 2013).

One of the poems taken from Gestures of Love is “The Tanka of the Imperial Courts”, a love poem for the poet’s wife, Susan. An earlier version of this poem was published in Andrew’s book Waking and Always (Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1987). Andrew rewrote “The Tanka of the Imperial Courts” for the second edition of Waking and Always, published by Picaro Press (Warners Bay, NSW) in 2008. Whereas the original poem was written in free verse, the revised poem is written in four tanka-stanzas, which is to say, each stanza is structured like a tanka, with 31 syllables arranged in lines of 5, 7, 5, 7, 7 syllables. While the integrity of the original poem has been preserved, it has been refined and intensified by this revising and restructuring. The new version of the poem, most recently published in FreeXpresSion, is reprinted below:

 

The Tanka of the Imperial Courts

 

The ancient tanka

of Japan are quite imbued

with love and longing.

And reading them at tea break

filled me with yearning for you.

 

Through the weariness

of the day’s working I thought

of my years with you,

the many swift flowing years

of our courtship and marriage.

 

Remember, my love,

after our first lovemaking,

the swallows winging

about us as we swam down

the slow dark river at dusk?

 

In celebration

of our honeymoon—hundreds

of welcome swallows

skimming the water, kissing

their reflection as they drank!

                    © Andrew Lansdown

Recent activites

 

On 31st August Andrew addressed the Retired Teachers’ Association. He spoke about his writing generally and read from his children’s poetry collection, Allsorts.

In September he co-judged the Spoken Worship Brisbane Poetry Competition, the winners of which were announced at a ceremony on 10th October at the Anglican Cathedral, Brisbane.

Poems in The Mozzie

The last two issues of The Mozzie magazine have published poems by Andrew. The July 2015 issue contains his poem “Forgetting-Grass”, while the August 2015 issue contains his poem “Of Petals and Poets”.

5 poems in Quadrant

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five of Andrew’s poems have been published in the July-August 2015 issue of Quadrant. They are “The Small Souls”, “Memories of War”, “Of Petals and Poets”, “Nothing” and “Wasp and Water”.

The poem “Of Petals and Poets” is from Andrew’s forthcoming collection of poems and photographs, provisionally titled Kyoto Sakura Tanka. The poems in this new collection, which will be published by Wombat Books, are all tanka (or, to use an older designation, waka), which is appropriate for a collection of poems (along with photographs) set in Kyoto in spring and focusing on Japan’s renowned cherry blossoms.

 

Of Petals and Poets

Kyoto Spring

 

The waka poets

weighted the cherry petals

with sad sentiment …

Nonetheless they sail the air

as if unburdened with care.

 

               © Andrew Lansdown

Andrew’s speech at the McCauley launch

Here is Andrew’s speech launching Shane McCauley’s book, Trickster, on Saturday afternoon, 6th June 2015:

 

Launching Speech: Shane McCauley’s Trickster

 

I am deeply honoured to have been invited by Shane to launch his latest collection of poetry, Trickster.

I want to begin my launching speech with a few facts about Shane McCauley, the poet.

  • Shane began writing poetry in 1971.
  • His first poem was published in Westerly magazine in 1974.
  • Since then, Shane has had more than a thousand poems, stories, articles and reviews published in journals and anthologies in Australia and overseas.
  • He has won many major literary awards, including the Tom Collins Poetry Prize, the Poetry Australia Bicentennial Poetry Award, the Max Harris Poetry Award, the Poetry d’Amour Prize and the Glen Phillips Poetry Prize.
  • He has had eight books of poetry published, including The Drunken Elk by Sunline Press in 2010, Ghost Catcher by Studio Press in 2012, and now Trickster by Walleah Press in 2015.

This brief overview shows that Shane is a poetry stalwart. In the 1970s, 80s and 90s many people aspired to be poets, published a few poems, even won a few awards, then disappeared from the poetry scene. But Shane has remained true to the calling of the poet for forty years!  He is a serious poet with serious achievement to match.

Shane’s eighth and latest book, Trickster, is further proof of his poetical prowess. And, of course, this book is the reason we have come together this afternoon. We have gathered to celebrate the publication of Trickster and to wish it bon voyage—good journey!—as it sets sail into the world.

Click here to read the entire speech

Andrew’s speech can also be read on the Walleah Press website here: http://walleahpress.com.au/Lansdown.html

Andrew launches Trickster by Shane McCauley

Andrew launched Shane McCauley’s latest poetry collection, Trickster, at the Fremantle Arts Centre on Saturday, 6th June. Shane McCauley is a widely published and highly respected Western Australian poet. Trickster is his collection of poetry and is published by Walleah Press (Tasmania).

[Andrew Lansdown delivering his launching speech for Trickster]

Over 100 people attended the launching, including well-known poets Fay Zwicky, Dennis Haskell, Roland Leach, Kevin Gillam, Annamaria Weldon, Tracy Ryan and John Kinsella.

To top off a marvellous gathering, 75 copies of Trickster were sold, which is an outstanding achievement at a poetry book launching!

The three photographs posted here were taken by Andrew’s wife, Susan and are used by her kind permission.

[Above and below: Shane McCauley reading from Trickster at the launching]

4 poems in Regime

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four of Andrew’s poems have been published in in the latest edition (No. 5) of Regime: A Magazine of New Writing.

The publishers, Regime Books, state:

Announcing with pleasure Regime 05, The Poetry Issue, which has been edited by renowned poet and Regime Contributing Editor Andrew Burke.

We’re proud to present a collection of the best contemporary poetry and poets currently at work in the world. In this latest issue of Regime, you will find new work from Andrew Taylor, Andy Jackson, Annamaria Weldon, Jill Jones, Judith Rodriguez, Geoff Page, Amanda Joy and Andrew Lansdown.

Andrew’s poems in this latest issue of Regime are “Concerning the Perils of Cherry Petals” (a 5-haiku gunsaku), “Gazing at a Geisha”, “The Stilt’s Sobriquet” and “Family Restaurant Tanka” (a 4-tanka gunsaku).

The fourth tanka in “Family Restaurant Tanka” is titled “Conformity” and is reproduced below:

 

Conformity

 

‘Don’t step on the lines!’

Being used to being obeyed,

the child does not check

behind to observe with what care

her mother follows, square on square.

               © Andrew Lansdown

 

Read more details about Regime No. 5 on the publisher’s website here: http://www.regimebooks.com.au/regime-05-magazine-of-new-writing/

Copies of Regime No. 5 can be purchased from the Book Depository, here http://www.bookdepository.com/Regime-05-Magazine-New-Writing/9780987482150