A Ute Picnic and other Australian Poems

Lorraine Marwood (poet)

Walker Books, Australia: August 2010; 104pp

ISBN: 9781921529771

Genres: poetry

Issues: environment

‘The sound of heat,/ a roar like a sawmill/ hungry for wood/ that day,/ that forty-five degree day/ when air-conditioners whirred/ and birds stopped flying.' (Black Saturday)

Author of Start Jump Saturday and Ratwhiskers & Me, Lorraine Marwood is one of Australia's finest writers of free-verse poetry for children - principally because her work, although appealing to youngsters, stands on its own. Any adult reader will appreciate the eloquent precision of her poems.

Whether it's the agonized disbelief of a fire that destroyed their world, the quick amusement at awkward animals, small moments of beauty and joy, or the slow-burning resentment of strangers who see their bird-sanctuary of a lagoon as a shooting ground... all these Marwood captures in deceptively simple lines, each word carefully selected, arranged, to create energy, shadow, movement... and draw the reader into her world.

The anthology is divided into four sections: things to do with living on the land; animals and nature; change and hardship; country fun. Marwood shares with readers that abiding love of place, that connection to earth and living things that keeps farmers on their properties despite the endless round of drought, flood, fire, plague and disease that can so easily destroy their livelihoods. Through the eyes of her own children she shows the reader the joys of simple treats - new hay, a picnic, playing in long grass, helping with chores - and the freedom of immense physical space. This is a collection to return to, to escape to, to dip into for a break from the noise and hustle of the city; it is a place to be reminded of those who put food on our tables; it is to be shared.