Merlinda Bobis's guest appearances

Merlinda Bobis

Poetry on the Move podcast

ABR's States of Poetry

Poetry in Process

Agam the Climate Podcast

Melinda Smith

Jen Crawford

Christian Bök

Alison Whittaker

Jill Jones

Jane Williams

Simon Armitage

Alvin Pang

Kei Miller

David Stavanger

Fiona Wright

Susie Anderson

Sarah Holland

David McCooey

Judith Beveridge

OwlTail

 Poetry – “Most of the time, it’s an accident of composition.” Hello poets and readers, We’re delighted to be able to bring you an interview with Filipino-Australian poet Merlinda Bobis. Bobis’ assertion that the writing of poetry is accidental is reflected in the title of her most recent collection Accidents of Composition (2017). Her poetry is characterised by a sense of universal connection with the natural world, reflected in the use of other voices and points of view, including the fishes and birds of the air. Writing is part of that whole, with art as natural an act as the world spinning (2017a, 65). Bobis’ writing is extremely embodied; lines like “always flesh / never relic” (2017a, 50) reflect this orientation, even where acts of remembrance concern the dead – in another poem, the dead breathe as the living do (2017a, 100). Remembering is an important function of literature, and contemplation of the victims of war and colonialism and refugees are found both in Accidents of Composition, as well as in earlier works, such as the epic poem ‘Cantata of the Warrior Woman Daragang Magayon’ (from Summer was a Fast Train without Terminals, 1998), and ‘Detainee’ (originally published in Rituals, 1990). Her writing also contains multilingual elements, used in original ways, for example in her poem ‘Siesta’ (from Summer was a Fast Train’), the footnotes give a translation of Filipino phrases but also add new lines which offer challenging cultural insights – Bobis calls this a ‘footnote poem’ (2017b, 24). She is also a novelist and playwright and the different genres have obviously informed each other. For example, the structure of Accidents of Composition can make it seem like a verse novel, with its recurrent themes and references to cycles and arcs, and a sense of poems speaking to each other, almost like cinematic scenes. Back we come, then, to connections. ReferencesMerlinda Bobis, Accidents of Composition: . . . There could be Accidents of Kindness Here (Spinifex, 2017a)Merlinda Bobis, ‘Subversive Translation and Lexical Empathy: Pedagogies of Cortesia and Transnational Multilingual Poetics’, in Narratives of Difference in Globalised Cultures, eds. B Martin-Lucas &amp; A. Ruthven (Palgrave MacMillan, 2017b, 13-35)

<blockquote> Poetry – “Most of the time, it’s an accident of composition.” </blockquote>Hello poets and readers, We’re delighted to be able to bring you an interview with Filipino-Australian poet Merlinda Bobis. Bobis’ assertion that the writing of poetry is accidental is reflected in the title of her most recent collection Accidents of Composition (2017). Her poetry is characterised by a sense of universal connection with the natural world, reflected in the use of other voices and points of view, including the fishes and birds of the air. Writing is part of that whole, with art as natural an act as the world spinning (2017a, 65). Bobis’ writing is extremely embodied; lines like “always flesh / never relic” (2017a, 50) reflect this orientation, even where acts of remembrance concern the dead – in another poem, the dead breathe as the living do (2017a, 100). Remembering is an important function of literature, and contemplation of the victims of war and colonialism and refugees are found both in Accidents of Composition, as well as in earlier works, such as the epic poem ‘Cantata of the Warrior Woman Daragang Magayon’ (from Summer was a Fast Train without Terminals, 1998), and ‘Detainee’ (originally published in Rituals, 1990). Her writing also contains multilingual elements, used in original ways, for example in her poem ‘Siesta’ (from Summer was a Fast Train’), the footnotes give a translation of Filipino phrases but also add new lines which offer challenging cultural insights – Bobis calls this a ‘footnote poem’ (2017b, 24). She is also a novelist and playwright and the different genres have obviously informed each other. For example, the structure of Accidents of Composition can make it seem like a verse novel, with its recurrent themes and references to cycles and arcs, and a sense of poems speaking to each other, almost like cinematic scenes. Back we come, then, to connections. ReferencesMerlinda Bobis, Accidents of Composition: . . . There could be Accidents of Kindness Here (<a href="http://www.spinifexpress.com.au/Bookstore/book/id=296/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spinifex</a>, 2017a)Merlinda Bobis, ‘Subversive Translation and Lexical Empathy: Pedagogies of Cortesia and Transnational Multilingual Poetics’, in Narratives of Difference in Globalised Cultures, eds. B Martin-Lucas &amp; A. Ruthven (Palgrave MacMillan, 2017b, 13-35)

Podcast: Merlinda Bobis’ process

In this episode of Australian Book Review's States of Poetry podcast, Merlinda Bobis reads her poems ‘Lucy afloat’ and ‘After Reming’  which feature in the ACT anthology.All the States of Poetry anthologies will be available to read on the ABR website. You can read the anthologies here:https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/poetry/states-of-poetry

In this episode of Australian Book Review's States of Poetry podcast, Merlinda Bobis reads her poems ‘Lucy afloat’ and ‘After Reming’ which feature in the ACT anthology. All the States of Poetry anthologies will be available to read on the ABR website. You can read the anthologies here: <a href="https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/poetry/states-of-poetry" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/poetry/states-of-poetry</a>

States of Poetry ACT | Two poems by Merlinda Bobis