{"id":989,"date":"2022-11-16T09:22:32","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T09:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/walleahpress.com.au\/currajah\/?p=989"},"modified":"2022-11-21T01:04:04","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T01:04:04","slug":"anne-collins-book-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/walleahpress.com.au\/currajah\/index.php\/2022\/11\/16\/anne-collins-book-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"Anne Collins\u2014book launch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lovely to see that Anne Collins has launched her newest collection of poems and prose\u2014’Listening to the Deep Song’ (Bright South)\u2014in Hobart last week.<\/p>\n

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The book was launched at Hadley’s Hotel on 11th November by Petrina Meldrum:<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to say how happy I am to be back in Hobart to share in the launch of Anne\u2019s latest book, <\/span>Listening to the Deep Song<\/i><\/span>, and how nice it is to see so many familiar faces. Thank you all for coming along to support Anne and to celebrate with her.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I first met Anne some six years ago, her manuscript, for all intents and purposes, was ready to be sent out to publishers. I remember clearly, when Anne brought it along to one of our early meetings, how impressed I was with the idea she had had, and with how she had gone about bringing it into existence.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the intervening years flew by, the manuscript grew larger, and today, here we are, with this beautifully written book in our hands.<\/span><\/p>\n

I think most of us are aware of Anne\u2019s interest in Spain and the Spanish culture, but not necessarily of the depth of her involvement. In <\/span>Listening to the Deep Song<\/i><\/span> she shares, without restraint, her experiences. <\/span><\/p>\n

Through multi-layered vignettes and some exquisite poetry, she takes us on a journey through Spain\u2019s regions and major cities, through its seedy back streets, its world renown museums, and its quirky architecture. If you\u2019re planning a trip to Spain, you can throw away your guide book and take Anne\u2019s book with you instead. She\u2019ll guarantee to get you lost at night in the back streets of Seville, or help you lose yourself <\/span>in the whimsy of Mir\u00f3\u2019s universe <\/i><\/span>in Barcelona.<\/span><\/p>\n

Spain, of course, is not one country but a number of autonomous regions, each with their own language and cultural heritage, which they guard fiercely. <\/span><\/p>\n

Anne recognises this by dividing her book into sections and allocating a flamenco rhythm or comp\u00e1s to each region. These rhythms reflect her sense of an underlying mood as she travelled through Spain.<\/span><\/p>\n

On returning to Hobart, to her \u2018Spanish life\u2019, she has this to say: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Curiously in Hobart I have a Spanish life. I enjoy the exhilaration of flamenco dance classes\u2026 For short periods of time, I am immersed in flamenco energy<\/i><\/span>. <\/span>These experiences help me in finding my own flamenco self, my own flamenco confidence, still with much to learn.\u2019 <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

In the <\/span>\u2018Afterword: I am touching you\u2019<\/i><\/span>, a heart-warming piece, she tells us of her experience during Covid-19 isolation, a time when many put their lives on hold, but not Anne, she was Zooming her way to Madrid several times a week to attend flamenco classes online.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following her journey, we become aware that there is another dimension to Anne and we are left, as a consequence, with a more intimate sense of who she is.<\/span><\/p>\n

On attending a flamenco performance in Seville in a 16<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> century Sephardic courtyard at La Casa de la Memoria she records: <\/span><\/p>\n

I feel an unexpected stirring of ecstasy and sorrow, a kind of loss deep within, of what I am not sure, but like the poet F\u00e9lix Grande, I want to cry like a new born. What has this to do with me \u2013 an everyday 21<\/i><\/span>st<\/i><\/span><\/sup> century stranger to my own roots and here for this brief moment? What yearning pulls me beyond their words of protest I barely understand, into \u2018<\/i><\/span>the gratitude, the anguish, the joy, the revelation<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u2019, the raw wailing core of this art we call flamenco?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

We see a more playful Anne, in Barcelona, visiting one of Gaud\u00ed\u2019s buildings, La Casa Batll\u00f3. <\/span><\/p>\n

From her poem, <\/span>In Gaud\u00ed Wonderland<\/i><\/span>: <\/span><\/p>\n

Inside the Casa Batll\u00f3 the building seems<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

to sway and dance and smile<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

and I want to leap about<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

as the curves of my breasts and hips<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

align with the curves of the cave-like walls\u2026<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I imagine living here in this building <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

that honours a sense of joy.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Feel gracious and light, tender, seductive, playful,<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

free of straight lines and rigid postures<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

as if some essential fluidity<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

has re-awoken deep inside me.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the book there is a questioning going on, a desire to learn more \u2013 to have a deeper understanding, to belong. This is what Spain does to you if you let it: it draws you in and never lets you go. There is a sense of this happening to Anne as she gives herself over to Spain, while at the same time questioning why this is happening to her. <\/span><\/p>\n

Her trips to Spain span a period of thirteen years, a long enough period for her to have noticed changes, both good and bad, all of which she shares with us. The diverse knowledge she has gained in this time is masterly woven into her vignettes, leaving us with signposts and pathways to follow if we wish to know more. The vignettes, at times a conversation with Spain, would give any traveller a masterclass in how to travel, in how to be more engaged with what lies beneath the surface.<\/span><\/p>\n

Interspersed with the vignettes is Anne\u2019s poetry. Some of the poems are born of her long interest in the life and work of Federico Garc\u00eda Lorca. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lorca\u2019s first major work, <\/span>Poema del Cante Jondo <\/i><\/span>\u2013 <\/span>Poem of the Deep Song<\/i><\/span> \u2013 has clearly influenced Anne\u2019s choice of title for the book, however, the poems she has chosen to respond to, form a conversation with a wider range of his work. <\/span><\/p>\n

This poetic dialogue with Lorca\u2019s work opens up a new way of reading into it, a way, through poetry, of showing the relevance of his work in a 21<\/span>st<\/span><\/sup> century context. <\/span><\/p>\n

In Anne\u2019s poem, <\/span>Learning to Spell,<\/i><\/span> After the life of Federico Garc\u00eda Lorca<\/i><\/span>,<\/span> which I\u2019d like to read to you, she quotes phrases from two of Lorca\u2019s poems, <\/span>Landscape<\/i><\/span> and <\/span>Sleepwalking Ballad<\/i><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Learning to Spell<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The boy learns to spell leaf<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

it turns to leaves on a yellow tree.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Leaf through the mistake of years\u2013<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

a complicated task, a lot of rubbing out.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s knife and shelf, the rule\u2019s the same<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

do your homework. <\/i><\/span>By mistake the evening<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

a knife-edge wind cuts the leaves.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

The alarm, the shelves full of books,<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

the guards are spell-bound.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

The boy changes into a bird<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

watches <\/i><\/span>through the mist on the panes<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

writes sentences with the word leaf,<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

a complicated task, a lot of rubbing out.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

They leaf through the shelves.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

After the wind there was only one leaf left.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

On the page a <\/i><\/span>trail of tears<\/i><\/span><\/span>, the stanzas stretched out.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Her other poems reflect on her connection with and her understanding of Spain, and on her association with the art of flamenco. The flamenco poems make your heart beat to a different rhythm as you appreciate the degree to which this artform has become part of Anne\u2019s life, and she part of the <\/span>\u2018flamenco family\u2019<\/i><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

I can truly recommend <\/span>Listening to the Deep Song <\/i><\/span>to you. <\/span><\/p>\n

And now, I\u2019ll hand over to Anne who is going to share some of her beautifully written pieces with us. Anne\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In conjunction with Hobart Bookshop, Anne’s also recorded a short video explaining more clearly her love of Lorca along with ‘everything Spanish’,  here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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in his endorsement of Anne’s book, Peter Boyle writes\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cPart travel diary, part meditation on Spain and its cultures, part poetic dialogue with the poetry of Lorca, Anne Collins\u2019 \u201cListening to the Deep Song\u201d is a beautifully written testimony to her long enthusiasm for the many sides of Spanish culture. Bringing together her training in flamenco dance, her love of Lorca\u2019s poetry and several of her journeys through Spain, Anne Collins offers her readers a personal response to a unique blend of cultures that continues to speak to the 21st century world. Varied and many-layered, marked by close observation and thoughtful questioning, this is a delightful book.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/blockquote>\n

Finally, the publisher’s description…<\/h2>\n

Like a traveller\u2019s journal written in prose and poetry, Listening to the Deep Song<\/em> records Anne Collins\u2019 travels through various regions of Spain, which took place over many years. The book offers a meditation on Spain\u2019s many-layered history and culture, reflecting on history, landscape, expressions of culture, and change. It reveals places of connection and friction within Spain and across the world; as far as Anne\u2019s home in lutruwita-Tasmania.<\/p>\n

The writing turns on a poetic dialogue and an embodied praxis; the latter being expressed through both Anne\u2019s physical immersion in Spain, and her practice and knowledge of flamenco dance. The latter engages with, especially, the life and works of Federico Garcia Lorca, as well as with other poets and writers of, and about, Spain.<\/p>\n

Listening to the Deep Song<\/em> is deeply personal, yet it offers much that resonates deeply with contemporary concerns. Anne Collins\u2019 writing is varied, thoughtful, observant, poignant and beautiful.<\/p>\n

\n

‘Listening to the Deep Song’ is available from Bright South<\/a>. It sells for $30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lovely to see that Anne Collins has launched her newest collection of poems and prose\u2014’Listening to the Deep Song’ (Bright South)\u2014in Hobart last week.   The book was launched at …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,181,63,180,175,182,2,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-launch","category-bright-south","category-brozek-daniela","category-collins-anne","category-hobart-bookshop","category-meldrum-petrina","category-poetry","category-uncategorized","entry entry-center"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/walleahpress.com.au\/currajah\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/walleahpress.com.au\/currajah\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/walleahpress.com.au\/currajah\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walleahpress.com.au\/currajah\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walleahpress.com.au\/currajah\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=989"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/walleahpress.com.au\/currajah\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1066,"href":"https:\/\/walleahpress.com.au\/currajah\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989\/revisions\/1066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/walleahpress.com.au\/currajah\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walleahpress.com.au\/currajah\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walleahpress.com.au\/currajah\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}