Three poems in Studio

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

Haiku in The Mainichi newspaper, Japan

Andrew and his wife, Susan, were in Japan for five weeks earlier this year (2020). As if in celebration of their arrival, The Mainichi newspaper published one of Andrew’s haiku.

It was a complete surprise, as Andrew has never submitted work to this paper.

Apparently, the haiku editor, Dhugal J. Lindsay, recalled a haiku from Andrew’s 2005 Picaro Press chapbook, Warrior Monk, and felt it had something to say about the bushfires that had been raging for weeks in the eastern states.

Andrew’s haiku and the editor’s comments are included below:

than the twilight, kangaroos

crossing the firebreak

—

Andrew Lansdown (1954- ). From “Warrior Monk,” Picaro Press (Warners Bay), 2005.

The Australian sun is harsh and strong during the day, colors are vivid and edges and shadows stand out. This makes one notice even more the softer edges and muted colors that appear as dusk approaches and the light fades. There is only enough light left reflecting off the landscape to make out the shadows of the kangaroos bounding across the open space between the grass and scrub on either side — they are recognized as kangaroos perhaps more by their movement than by their shape. Although this haiku was made over 15 years ago, with the current bushfires in Australia, the image brought to my mind by “the firebreak” is a swathe of land recently burned to clear off all the flammable grass and scrub while bushfires inexorably make their way towards the poet’s property. The blackened land causes the kangaroos to fade even further into the twilight.

Selected and commented on by Dhugal J. Lindsay

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200124/p2g/00m/0et/074000c

Read more about Warrior Monk here.

Two Poems in Quadrant

 

The September 2019 issue of Quadrant contains 2 of Andrew’s poems: “The Martyred Mother”, a poem written in 7 unrhymed quatrains (except for the last quatrain, which rhymes A, B, C, B), and “Little Endings” suite of 6 haiku.

Four poems in Studio – And Praise from Les Murray

Studio magazine published 4 of Andrew’s poems in its No. 146, 2019 edition. The poems are: “Of Maples and …”, a set of 5 tanka; “Bamboo Forest, Arashiyama”, a set of 3 haiku; “Windbells at Fushimi Inari Shrine”, a set of 3 tanka; and “The Shogun and the God”, a set of 2 tanka.

The final haiku in “Bamboo Forest, Arashiyama” reads:

With sky for dojo—
the giant timber bamboos
practising kendo.

          © Andrew Lansdown

This issue of Studio also contains a favourable review by Garry Furnell of Andrew’s recent poetry-and-photography collection, Kyoto Momiji Tanka, which can be purchased through this website here.

Additionally, the first page of Studio 146 contains a statement by the late Les Murray about Andrew. In a tribute to Les, the editor of Studio, Paul Grover, quotes from a postcard he received from Les in 2006. Among other things, Les told Paul, “As for Andrew Lansdown, he’s one of our very best poets, spitefully ignored most of the time.”

Three poems in Studio

The latest issue of Studio magazine (No. 145, 2019) contains three of Andrew’s poems: “Them Shoes”, “Miscellaneous Thoughts on Poetry” and “Suburban Birds”.

“Miscellaneous Thoughts on Poetry” is set of three tanka, while “Suburban Birds” is a set of five haiku. “Them Shoes” is a 52-line “free form” poem set in Bourbon Street in New Orleans. All three poems are included in Andrew’s latest book , Distillations of Different Lands, which has was released late last year by Sunline Press.

The first and last haiku in “Suburban Birds” are reprinted below:

Suburban Birds

.        .i
The overhead wire—
a pair of welcome swallows
singing in the sag.

.        .v
Such a lovely note—
how could I not look up to
find the pardalote?

          © Andrew Lansdown

2 Poems in Quadrant

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.

 

 

 

New Poetry Collection – Distillations of Different Lands

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

Poem in Quadrant

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.

5 Poems in Quadrant

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