The final collection from the award-winning ‘poet of the Hawkesbury River’
In the old days I used to think art
That was purely imagined could fly higher
Than anything real. Now I feel a small fluttering
Bird in my own pulse, a connection to the sky.
–from ‘The Kingfisher’s Soul’
In the last year of his life, with the help of friend and poet Devin Johnston, Robert Adamson put together a selection of his writings on the natural world. Birds and Fish defines the presences in his life on the Hawkesbury River and includes excerpts from his autobiography, Inside Out, as well as essays written over the years for Fishing World; some prose poems; and journal excerpts related to his bowerbird Spinoza. Adamson’s prose is vivid, precise, and draws on his life on the river and his poetic sensibility. The final book will include selected black and white photographs by Adamson’s partner Juno Gemes.
‘[Adamson] is as deft and resourceful a craftsman as exists, and his poems move with a clarity and ease I find unique.’ –Robert Creeley
‘Robert Adamson is one of Australia’s national treasures.’ –John Ashbery
About the author
Robert Adamson (1942–2022) was born in Sydney and spent much of his teenage years in a home for juvenile offenders. He discovered poetry while educating himself in jail in his 20s. His first book, Canticles on the Skin, was published in 1970. He published numerous books and was widely awarded for his poetry and memoir. In 2011 he was awarded the Blake Poetry Prize and the Patrick White Award.
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