Woven (ed by Anne-Marie Te Whiu, Magabala)

Woven, the second collaborative project between Red Room Poetry and Magabala Books, is a profound and unique collection of First Nations poetry that sees some of the world’s finest First Nations poets in poetic conversation with each other. In the introduction, editor Anne-Marie Te Whiu describes the concept as ‘a pocket sized piece of poetic resistance, exchange, community, dreams, memories, languages, lands, skies and, ultimately, global Indigenous voices’; Woven achieves this and much more. Fifteen First Nations Australian poets, including Tony Birch, Evelyn Araluen, Jazz Money, Bebe Backhouse-Oliver and Charmaine Papertalk Green, are paired with First Nations poets from Aotearoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Sámi Lands, Turtle Island and Guam, and the result is a rich and intricate collaboration on Country, solidarity, stories and truth-telling. The poems vary in style and form and showcase the vitality and importance of First Nations people’s bonds across the world. The collaborative pairings are harmonious and articulate the feeling of something larger being woven—not just words, but ideas and philosophies. From Natalie Harkin and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s poem: ‘we are the moon tonight         we are each other        we / are all we have         spread across Aki from Ovaherero / to Palestine to Narungga to     inside my bones…’. Woven is a one-of-a-kind reading experience, which speaks to the power of First Nations poetry, and for non-Indigenous readers, will offer a window into the lived experiences of First Nations people across the globe.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Anthea Yang is a writer and editor living in Naarm/Melbourne. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Reviews