Janet Charman (2)

Surrender

ISBN: 9781988531106

Author: Janet Charman    Publisher: Otago University Press

what did you eat willful Chang’e? – fly to the moon where no one hears you rabbiting on you won’t silence me by chopping the tree its white leaves and a n...


what did you eat willful Chang’e? – fly to the moon where no one hears you rabbiting on you won’t silence me by chopping the tree its white leaves and a night-dipped pen the fuel of my longevity As one of eight writers, poet Janet Charman was invited in 2009 to take part in a hectic, immersive literary residency in Hong Kong. Written out of this time of stimulating buzz, 仁 surrender chronicles the tensions, translations and literary crushes that ensue, with ever-present comedy. From this intense hothouse and these privileged constraints flow narrative poems that capture the creative and cultural dislocation of travel, with its petty irritants and constant surprises. Charman’s verse has always been distinguished by a combination of astute observation, compassion, pluck, vulnerability and willingness to poke fun at herself. – Iain Sharp In her laconic and original style, Janet Charman writes a body of work which sees [her] exploiting the motif of journeying to investigate the colonised land, past and present. – Siobhan Harvey


Bind: paperback


Pages: 118


Dimensions: 150 x 230 mm


Publication Date: 01-11-2017


$27.50
The Pistils

ISBN: 9781990048333

Author: Janet Charman    Publisher: Otago University Press

Chuck open the curtains slap of sun clothes sworn never to be worn again put on that nipple revealing pocketless top buttoned to the neck these thrush egg blue ...


Chuck open the curtains slap of sun clothes sworn never to be worn again put on that nipple revealing pocketless top buttoned to the neck these thrush egg blue pajama pants extra large elasticated waist extravagance deranged lights pulled free of browned green tree rubbish ornaments find a respite with the League of Nations dolls packed away on a case by case basis Palestine Kashmir Timor Darfur Parihaka rearrange the furniture so the kids don’t feature eat up the fruit − ‘Xmas–New Year’ The Pistils is a dispatch from the cusp of change. It appears at the severing of a 40-year relationship following the illness and death of poet Janet Charman’s partner during the Covid restrictions. Here, she chronicles her experience with transition – to the digital age, to single life, to carbon neutral. She dissects her Pākehā sensibilities towards colonizing privilege as well as her gender-critical feminist’s astonishment at attacks from allies in the realm of sexual politics. In The Pistils, Charman regards her separation from her grown children in the light of her own parents’ deaths. And she looks to a future in which the crises she anticipates, both personal and environmental, are treated as no less inevitable than they will be mysterious. AUTHOR Janet Charman is one of New Zealand’s sharpest and most subversive writers. In 2008 she won the Montana Book Award for Poetry for her sixth collection, Cold Snack. In 2009 she was a Visiting Fellow at the International Writers’ Workshop of Hong Kong Baptist University. In 2014 she appeared as a Guest Reader at the Taipei International Poetry Forum. Her collection 仁 Surrender (2017, OUP) chronicles her writing residencies in Hong Kong and Taiwan. This is her ninth collection of poetry


Bind: paperback


Pages: 84


Dimensions: 150 x 230 mm


Publication Date: 11-03-2022


Tag: Poetry
$25.00
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