Issue 16 Editorial by Angela Gardner and Carmen Leigh Keates
Welcome to another edition of foam:e!
It’s another bumper issue, packed with poems and reviews.
Languages play a crucial role in people’s daily lives. The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages (IY2019) to raise awareness. In Australia, of the estimated original 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, only around 120 are still spoken. Of these approximately 90 per cent are endangered.
If you’d like to do something for poetry and Indigenous Languages then Red Room are still hoping for donations. Red Room Poetry’s Poetry in First Languages project just raised $6000 via the ACF Crowd funding campaign but they didn’t reach their $20,000 target so you can still donate directly just click on
IY2019 is an opportunity to continue raising awareness and taking further actions to improve preservation and promotion of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. Why not check out this Australian Institute for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Studies playlist on Spotify and get some Indigenous Australian music in your ears!
We are very pleased to be bringing you a review of Lisa Bellear’s Aboriginal Country in this issue, written by Dr Estelle Castro–Koshy, a French scholar who has been working with Indigenous Australian writers, performers, and filmmakers, for over 15 years. Check out all of the reviews here
As always there were many books that we didn’t manage to get to in the Reviews section. All are well worth a look, including…
I Love Poetry, Michael Farrell, Giramondo
Joao, John Mateer, Giramondo
Poor Man’s Coat: Hardanger Poems, Kit Kelen, UWA Publishing
Open Door, John Kinsella, UWA Publishing
Aqua Spinach, Luke Beesley, Giramondo
Broken Ground, Steve Armstrong, UWA Publishing
Green Shadows and Other Poems, Gerald Murnane, Giramondo
The Bright and the Cold Selected Poems of Anne Elder, Lauranton Books
Legacy, Julie Watts, UWA Publishing
Moonlight on Oleander Prose Poems, Paul Hetherington, UWA Publishing
Legacy, Julie Watts, UWA Publishing
Satan Repentant, Michael Aiken, UWA Publishing
Green Dance Tamborine Mountain Poems, Jena Woodhouse, Calanthe Press
Renovating Madness, Karen Knight and Liz McQuilkin, Walleah Press
There’s a lot going on in Australian poetry! And lots for you, the reader, to explore and enjoy in this issue of foam:e.
Click here to read the whole issue, or Poetry, or Reviews
Happy reading
Angela Gardner and Carmen Leigh Keates
Editors
Dydd Dewi Sant – March 2019
More information from The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies can be found using the link below. (AIATSIS is an independent Australian Government statutory authority).