Eucalypt: A Tanka Journal (Issue 28, 2020) has published one of Andrew’s tanka. It is reproduced below in the house style of the magazine:
in the darkness
lifting a piece of kindling
from the woodpile—
that appalling gummy sound
of a redback’s web, ripping© Andrew Lansdown
Shane McCauley’s poems have long graced Andrew’s website, and can be read here. He is a superb Western Australian poet and has been practising and refining his craft for four decades. He is an erudite poet (his poetry itself offers a glimpse of the breadth of his reading and study)—and he is a generous one, helping other poets launch their books, editing and reviewing poetry collections by other poets, and sharing his love and knowledge of poetry with students in his long-running poetry workshops.
Shane’s most recent book, his ninth, is Sweeping Away the Mandala, published by Sunline Press. Poet Kevin Gillam’s observation about Shane’s previous book, Trickster, certainly applies to this one: “This is inventive an purposeful writing from a master of the craft.”
There is such variety in subject, theme and tone in this collection that it is impossible to quote several poems as indicative of the collection. Nonetheless, for a taste, consider the following two (and afterwards, buy the book from Sunline Press):
THE YEAR OF THE MONKEY
I thought of a ghost monkey—
a cymbal-banging monkey
that was a first birthday gift.
Lone gone, but I still mistily recall
the small triangular key in his back.
A few twists to prime him
into a clatter of miniature percussion.
On his head a red hat like Big Ears.
Why just now should I hear him
applauding down the long years?© Shane McCauley
ODE TO THE HILLS HOIST
Now that you are
(much) older I have
to crank harder
to elevate the sheets
into the whipcrack wind
to see them floating
like flags like smiles
like great handkerchiefs
like signals like icebergs
like abandonment itself
the hoist flexing
metal muscle
an Olympian
famous Australian
athlete of the backyard
silver simplicity
decorated for the neighbours
to see
old towels blouses cobweb
underpants mismatched or
lonely socks
an accumulation of apparel
unparalleled
beneath the whitest light
the washing now done
and gleaming beneath
an Antipodean sun.© Shane McCauley
Andrews poetry collection, Distillations of Different Lands, was reviewed by Paul Grover in Studio magazine, Number 149, 2020. The review begins:
Andrew Lansdown’s new book of poems is a heartfelt journey into lands beyond and within. This is Andrew’s fifteenth book of poetry. Studio has published four of his poetry books, Abiding Things – poems, stories, essays, Allsorts – poetry tricks and treats and both his stunning Japanese photographs and poetry books. In this new collection the titles of the four parts of the book convey the breadth and depth of these poetic journeys: Heartland, Japan, Homeland, America. The title of the opening poem in Heartland, ‘Sketches of Life’, captures the spirit of this collection, as Andrew explores with raw emotion the playful joy and innocence of young grandchildren, the scraped-back pain from the death of his younger brother, and the depths of intimacy in love, birth and family. …
Continue reading Paul Grover’s review here.
Andrews fantasy trilogy, The Chronicles of Klarin, was reviewed by Ian Keast in Studio magazine, Number 148, 2020. The review begins:
One of my earliest memories of childhood is my father reading The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis to me. Favourite sections were read, again and again. So began a lifelong interest in the genre of fantasy.
Andrew Lansdown is a familiar name to Studio readers. We associate him as the poet whose writing has graced the pages of this journal for many years. What is not as well known is that he has written three fantasy novels: With My Knife (1992); Dragonfox (1997); The Red Dragon (2006); and now they have been republished in this trilogy, The Chronicles of Klarin. Having read them as separate novels when they were published, it is a great pleasure to re-read the trilogy. Like all worthwhile fantasy, they offer much from re-reading their rich imaginative worlds.
In 2001, Lansdown published an essay, In Defence of Fantasy. As the title suggests, he wanted to present a lucid defence of the integrity of the genre. After all, as he states, it has seen notable practitioners—C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and George MacDonald—to name a few. Fantasy is defined as, extraordinary and remarkable. Fantasy stories go beyond everyday realities and may often transcend the laws of nature. They portray things that do not normally happen and worlds that do not actually exist … It is the unexplained, unembarrassed presentation of the extraordinary that separates fantasy from all other types of literature … Yet while fantasy writing depicts the extraordinary, it also celebrates much that is ordinary: trees, stones, horses, hearth-fires, bread—all somehow become solid and important in fantasy writing …
This quotation serves to introduce us to The Chronicles of Klarin. There the “extraordinary” and “remarkable” abound—dragons, other worlds, dragonettes, foxes and the like, appear across the pages. The “ordinary”, both in setting and many of the characters is alongside. And this mix is driven along by a strong, taut, and thoughtful narrative. …
Continue reading Ian Keast’s review here.
Over 2020, Andrew had seven poems published in six issues of The Mozzie.
In Vol. 27, Issue 9, March 2020 – “Saga Chrysanthemums” (a set of 4 tanka).
In Vol. 27, Issue 10, May 2020 – “Kilter” (a set of 3 haiku).
In Vol. 28, Issue 1, June 2020 – “Sandbathing Sparrows” (a set of 2 tanka).
In Vol. 28, Issue 2, July 2020 – “The Martyred Mother”.
In Vol. 28, Issue 3, August 2020 – “Durable Impressions” (a set of 3 haiku).
In Vol. 28, Issue 3, August 2020 – “Leafy Seadragon”.
In Vol. 28, Issue 4, September 2020 – “Little Endings” (a set of 6 haiku).
The poem “Sandbathing Sparrows” (below) is a gunsaku of two tanka that were published individually in Andrew’s book, Kyoto Momiji Tanka: Poems and Photographs of Japan in Autumn. (Go here for information about Kyoto Momiji Tanka.)
Sandbathing Sparrows
By the Kamo River, Kyoto
. .1
Sprawl
The sparrows sprawling
on their sides, kicking their legs,
fluffing their feathers,
are miming the meaning of ‘Nice’
while sandblasting away their lice!. .2
Surrender
Washing their plumage
in a patch of river-rinsed sand,
the sparrows give them-
selves over to feelings of bliss,
as do we, to be watching this.© Andrew Lansdown
Studio magazine published three of Andrew’s poems in issue Number 148, 2020: “Little Endings” (a suite of 6 haiku), “Autumn Maples” (a suite of 2 tanka), and “Separation” (a suite of 2 tanka).
“Little Endings”, a set of 6 light-hearted haiku, will be included in a forthcoming collection of Andrew’s poems. It reads:
Little Endings
. .i
The spider’s mistake—
as it approached it set me
doing the quick-step!. .ii
Worse for the snail—
hearing while night-walking that
unexpected crunch!. .iii
My condolences,
grasshopper, for hopping into
my son’s affections.. .iv
Howzat! The blowfly
scored a triple twenty on
the spider’s dartboard!. .v
A grim irony—
aiming at a spider with
a can of fly-spray.. .vi
Feeling a bit flat—
mosquito meditating
on a clapping sound.© Andrew Lansdown
Andrew has added to his website 2 outstanding Christmas poems by the sixteenth century English poet, Robert Southwell — “The Burning Babe” and “A Child My Choice”. These two poems are exceptional from both a devotional and a poetical point-of-view. Southwell’s love of Christ is accentuated by his love of poetry and his exception mastery of poetic technique.
The great English poet and playwright, Ben Johnson, once remarked that if he had written Southwell’s “The Burning Babe” he “would have been content to destroy many of his” own poems. Quite so. See for yourself:
The Burning Babe
As I in hoary winter’s night stood shivering in the snow,
Surprised I was with sudden heat which made my heart to glow;
And lifting up a fearful eye to view what fire was near,
A pretty babe all burning bright did in the air appear;
Who, scorched with excessive heat, such floods of tears did shed
As though his floods should quench his flames which with his tears were fed.
Alas, quoth he, but newly born in fiery heats I fry,
Yet none approach to warm their hearts or feel my fire but I!
My faultless breast the furnace is, the fuel wounding thorns,
Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke, the ashes shame and scorns;
The fuel justice layeth on, and mercy blows the coals,
The metal in this furnace wrought are men’s defiled souls,
For which, as now on fire I am to work them to their good,
So will I melt into a bath to wash them in my blood.
With this he vanished out of sight and swiftly shrunk away,
And straight I called unto mind that it was Christmas day.Robert Southwell
To read Robert Southwell’s equally outstanding poem, “A Child My Choice”, go to the OTHER POETS & POEMS/ ROBERT SOUTHWELL page on this website, here.
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.
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.
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.