May 2018 ~ Helen Hagemann

Thursday, May 24, 2018

War: a Mary Gilmore poem & the Mary Gilmore Award 2018

Australia and its Literary Environment.
It's interesting when you discover anomalies in this Australian literary establishment. I was once short-listed for the Mary Gilmore award, but because I had previous published chapbooks, the short-list acknowledgement was removed from the public realm. I have discovered that the short-list for the 2018 Mary Gilmore Award contains two writers who have been previously published in chapbook form (40 poems or less), and yet still hold their shortlisting. I have written (anonymously) to the head honcho at the ASAL (Association for the Study of Australian Literature), pointing this out, however, he chooses to disagree with me, stating that if a chapbook was 40 poems or less it is not counted, so therefore their current publications stand as the poet's first book! I am awaiting the outcome and I can tell you I am going to cause a stink and have my short-listing re-instated as my chapbook was 36 poems! The results of the 2018 will be known in July 2018. Mary Gilmore's poem "War" seems very appropriate for me at this time. Let's see what happens! ......comments welcome :)

Sunline Press

Great to see my publisher back on board (or is the press riding on a new wave?) and online!

Sunline Press

Sunline Press is an independent book publisher that was established in 2000 by Roland Leach. It primarily publishes works of poetry by individual poets but has branched out with its online magazine, Cuttlefish, to include flash fiction…http://www.sunlinepress.com.au/

Prose Poem: Guitar Statue

Guitar Statue

A dark grey, a very dark grey, quite dark it is almost black. This

statue is a composition not for practice. Ordinarily, a guitar would

stand in a better place, a better place where the strings are alive with

every occasion. Solid and far from untidy, it rests on cobblestones,

a reminder of cherished refrains, an exterior surrendering and not

quite dreary in wind as there is so much of its shape working not to

be ordinary, and not tardy. It’s a receptacle, a symbol, silent in its

custom, but never silent when there’s anticipation, a lively concert

with exceptional meaning and feeling from exuberant voices.

Mirror: A Prose Poem

Mirror

The reflection is opposite and this means exchange, and when a face is recognised it’s not evading artistic meaning or expression should the colour change. What is important is choice and position and what if there is shine, shine, shine! An angle of dazzle brings too much frustration. There is this exception every time there is too much light because a brightly sun is overly tiresome and how can a surface show merit and image if every time there is interruption there. The frame is important too and very, very if dimensions are three and simply not four. And a reflection will last when a surface divides; a remarkable division of beauty that is also very, very and that is a mirror.

Acknowledgement: Jenny Zander - body artist @ https://www.instagram.com/jennyzander98/ Check out her work it's highly creative and inspirational!