After visiting Western Australia in 2009 and keeping in touch with many of the poets I met on that trip, it is no surprise to me that the newest poetry press (at least the newest this Lost Shark knows of) has sprung up from the fertile ground of the WA scene.
mulla mulla press has now got two chapbooks under its belt, the latest being the debut collection from Paul Harrison, Meet Me At The Gethsemane. Also available from mulla mulla press is RECOIL TWO an anthology of poets who read at Perth Poetry Club in 2010 featuring Caitlin Maling, Chris Mansell, Coral Carter, Danny Gunzburg, Jonothon Twist, Kate Wilson, Mar Bucknell, Maureen Sexton, Raymond Grenfell, Rose van Son, Steve Smart and Terry Farrell.
Paul’s book, was recently reviewed by u.v. ray, who described the poems as brutal and uncompromising… tinged with moments of surprising tenderness, though the unyielding message seems clear: life beats us all down in the end. This isn’t to say Paul’s work is all doom and gloom. He finds moments of respite amidst all the despair, sometimes with humour, but more often with really quite touching lines.
Here’s a poem from the collection:
even the dead have names
truth is
there’s
not a thing
or woman
in the whole wide world
who will ever save you
or even make you forget
quite long enough
before
the final ever after
remembers
your name
and grabs you hard
by the shoulder
now tell me
why or what
or even where
can someone
go with that
For more details head over to the mulla mulla press website… I can feel there are many good things to come.
