LAST ON HIS FEET: JACK JOHNSON AND THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY: Charles Rammelkamp reviews a shocking and powerful graphic novel by Youssef Daoudi & Adrian Matejka
society
Poetry review – ROCK, BIRD, BUTTERFLY: Pam Thompson takes a close look at Hannah Lowe’s delightful poetic examination of 18th century Chinese wallpapers
Why We Sing, by Julia Hollander. Review by Barbara Lewis. Sometimes we sing because we are happy. More importantly, we sing to make ourselves happy – and not just in a good mood, but healthier, saner and part of a more cohesive community.
Poetry review – EUROPE, LOVE ME BACK: Pat Edwards admires Rakhshan Rizwan’s ways of tackling the difficult theme of racial intolerance
Museum of New Zealand/Te Papa Tongarewa. Review by Barbara Lewis. In their desperation to get New Zealand’s founding document signed, the British in undue haste drew up a Maori version of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi that is disputed to this day.
Poetry review – SHELLING PEAS WITH MY GRANDMOTHER IN THE GORGIOLANDS: James Roderick Burns appreciates the atmospheric detail in an admirable first full collection by Sarah Wimbush
European Solidarity Centre, by Barbara Lewis. Many of us can spell Solidarnosc, because we’ve seen it written so many times in the bold, red logo created by Jerzy Janiszewski in the early days of the Solidarnosc movement credited with toppling Communism in eastern Europe and leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Poetry review – YOU HAVE NO NORMAL COUNTRY TO RETURN TO: Alwyn Marriage finds herself sharing some of the discontent expressed in Tom Sastry’s poems
50 of Tel Aviv’s Most Intriguing Streets. The Lives Behind the Names. Text by Miryam Sivan, Photographs by Ziv Koren. Curated by Ellin Yassky. Published by Gefen, Jerusalem & New York. Maror by Lavie Tidhar. Published by Head Zeus. Two book reviews with Israeli themes, by Julia Pascal.
Feminine Power: the divine and the demonic. Review by Carla Scarano. The Citi exhibition at the British Museum is a thought-provoking and diverse display of more than 80 artefacts and contemporary artworks that draw from the museum’s collections, loans and new commissions. They reveal the complexity of the representation of more than 5,000 years of femininity in cultures and religions around the world.
Poetry review – HIDING TO NOTHING: Emma Lee admires the boldness and sensitivity with which Anita Pati deals with difficult issues
Poetry review – THE BIG CALLS: Thomas Ovans is quick to admire Glyn Maxwell’s furious lament over the current state of England
By Michael Bartholomew-Biggs • books, poetry reviews, politics, society, year 2023 0 • Tags: poetry, politics, society, Thomas Ovans