BRENDAN RYAN, poetry collection 'The lowlands of Moyne'
Lisa Gorton
Brendan Ryan’s poems have a suddenness about them. They are
suddenly frightening, suddenly strange, suddenly free—and
feeling floods back through them. This makes them at once exact
and hallucinatory. They are, in equal measure, companionable and
scarifying. They have a sense of necessity; equally, a sense of memory,
uncontained. ‘The lowlands of Moyne’ is a major achievement.
Philip Hodgins, I think, would have admired these poems.
Robert Adamson
I have followed Brendan Ryan for years, clipped his poems from
newspapers and checked his name in literary journals, so it was
exciting to open ‘The lowlands of Moyne’. It’s a splendid book — I
have read it several times now and I love it. Ryan draws poetry
from the tough work of dairy farming and factories, poetry that
transcends time and class, it’s a joy to read this book, laced with
dry humour and a complex humanity. Hard edged yet inviting.
Ryan has a light touch and a gathering depth. ‘The Lowlands of
Moyne’ is rich with living, an exciting and positive book, poetry
that glows in the darkness.
Brendan Ryan, poetry collection 'The lowlands of Moyne''
Walleah Press (June 2019)
$20.00 (includes postage within Australia)