Rod Usher's "Sly humour, understated lament"

Judith Quaempts reviews Rod Usher's Convent Mermaid, in The Internet Review of Books

Rod Usher has authored two previous poetry collections, three novels, and three non-fiction titles. His second novel, Florid States, was short-listed for the MIND Book of the Year Award in the UK, and his work appears regularly in leading literary magazines and anthologies. He has worked as a journalist, is a former literary editor of The Age, former chief-sub-editor of The Sunday Times, London, and a former senior writer for TIME magazine in Europe. 


No surprise then that his third poetry collection, Convent Mermaid (Interactive Press, The Literature Series) is filled with imagery and wit, loss and sadness, themes universal to us all. 

“First Hotel,” opens the collection, taking us on a wild ride from our ‘First Hotel,’ to arrival in the world. “If I Go First,” is the last poem, about dying and what we might hope for those we leave behind.

Many of Usher’s poems begin in a humorous vein and end on a serious note. One example is, “If Not More.” Here, a Cro-Magnon man enjoys the simple comforts of his cave while thinking of retiring from long days of hunting, though his wife is against the idea because she doesn’t want him ‘getting in her way’ all day. His children want to ‘move up a rung,’ and modernize the cave. The reader sympathizes while smiling – his predicament isn’t so different from twenty-first century concerns – until the final lines, when this husband and father ruminates on the meaning of beauty and we realize there are more important things in life than, ‘moving up a rung.’

One of my favorites is the deceptively simple, “Hard Rain,” an understated lament of loneliness and sadness over the loss of a pet:

tongue-lashes the bedroom window
water talking its way in
through the unsnug frame,
pooling on the tile floor.
I ought to get up, I say,
do some caulking with the red towel
that dried the dog before…

As in all good poetry, Usher’s poems contain more than meets the eye. His sly humor shines often, as in the title poem, “Convent Mermaid.” A modest, convent-bred girl sheds her clothes to swim in the nude. She is far enough from shore that a voyeur cannot see anything of note, but then he calls out with a request to take a photograph. At such a distance, she thinks, what could it matter? 

Guesstimating distance to darkness of pine,
She treads the wrapping water, shrugs.
Once more she is supine.
He clicks before shyness can its shell resume,
Before Convent Mermaid has time to remember
Our camera has zoom.

Geoff Page Reviews B N Oakman's Second Thoughts

Geoff Page, Poetry Editor at the Canberra Times, has provided an in-depth review of B N Oakman's latest IP title, Second Thoughts.

B.N. Oakman's Second Thoughts is a very different sort of book – much shorter for a start and a tight collection of free-standing poems. Some are related by subject matter, e.g. the poet's deep appreciation of the Spanish poet, Antonio Machado (1875-1939) and Spain more generally. Others have a reasonably savage political edge; still others are love poems to his partner, Barbara, who has been prone to serious illness in recent years.

Nearly all the poems are strongly affecting emotionally, partly as a result of Oakman's unusual skill with last lines. These can turn quite suddenly in a new and disconcerting direction – or brutally sum up what we've just seen. This directness of feeling, along with Oakman's leftish political edge and fluency with different linguistic registers, brings to mind the early poetry of Bruce Dawe when he was making his mark on the somewhat conservative Australian poetry establishment of the mid-1960s.

Two early poems stand out in this regard – Neurosurgery and Watching TV News in Madrid, All Saints Day 2011. The first reminds us how, when visiting a loved one in hospital, we can also be deeply upset by the situation and fate of other patients we don't even know. Neurosurgery is constructed of simple observations, cleverly arranged, e.g. the rapid plot development in: "She'll be dead by now / The woman with bright curly hair / The one I saw in Admissions / She and her man and her boy and her girl." Later, the poet sees the woman's empty room and senses the impact her death has had on all three members of her family. The poem concludes: "And then I returned to another room to sit beside another bed / And I took a woman's hand in mine / And gripped it / Hard / Too hard / Much too hard".

The second poem, Watching TV News in Madrid ... is one of several set in Spain, often dealing with the impact of the Spanish Civil War.  Oakman watches an old man on the television screen whose "words defeat my  feeble Spanish". He is looking through graves recently excavated in "a town overrun by rebels early in the war. / The weeping man is Rafael Martinez. / He is 89 years old. He's searching for his father."

Among the other 47 poems in Second Thoughts, there are many of comparable quality. Don't read them in a coffee bar; you might well embarrass yourself by shedding justified but unseemly tears.

iBooks Author and Kindle Creator software battle it out for supremacy

Apple and Amazon continue to battle it for the educational and children's market.

iBooks Author is now in version 2.2, and it's still the product to beat, despite Amazon's new Kindle Kids' Book Creator, and, more recently, Kindle Textbook Creator.

The overall strategy for all three products is to simply the process of moving from standard files authored in Word, Pages or Adobe Acrobat to eBook formats that mimic the open-source ePub3 format. Authors can easily import, lightly edit and publish their files to the respective Apple or Kindle platform, and then sell, sell, sell.

But there is a cost to this ease of publication. Both Apple and Amazon restrict the commercial use of the published files to their stores. You can retain the file for use on your devices, or even give it away, which is fine for university lecturers seeking an easy way to publish and distribute e-course notes. But for academics (or children's authors) who want to cash in on their texts, they'll have to be satisfied with Apple or Amazon holding exclusive distribution rights.

Truth is, Apple's iBooks Author leaves the Kindle software products in the dust in terms of functionality. Once you have your text in iBooks Author, it's easy to add interactivity and multimedia elements. Kids' Book Creator allows you to add "text popups", making text on the page easier to read through magnification, but that's it. And Textbook Creator has NO added functionality other than adding or deleting pages: you simply import your pdf and publish to the Kindle Store. It is only in beta version, but let's hope for more in the polished version.

There ARE ways of creating enhanced eBooks for kids and students outside iBooks Author and the new Kindle tools without having to grant Apple or Amazon exclusive rights to your content, and I'll be addressing this in the latest version of Your eBook Survival Kit, now in development. (pssst... owners of the current version will get the update for free!) The Kit is available in our new online Store.

2015: a good year for rights sales for IP?

A crucial element in any publisher's survival is rights sales, and 2015 may prove to be a good year on this front for IP.

We're pleased that the Australia Council selected us as one of only a few publishers to participate in a delegation to South Korea and Taiwan commencing 4 February when David flies in to Seoul for three days of meetings organised by Austrade. As well as meeting with matched Korea publishers, he'll visit what is essentially a shopping centre where publishers' offices are located along with bookshop outlets opened to the public. What an interesting concept!

From 8-13 February, the delegation will be in Taiwan, again meeting with matched publishers. But this time the venue will be the Taiwan International Book Exhibition (TIBE), one of the largest book fairs in the world. IP will co-locate in the Australia Council booth, where Austrade Taiwan will coordinate meetings and IP titles will be on display. Our Taiwan agency, Nurnberg, will also assist with the itinerary of meetings.

As you can see, IP will be in good company at the TIBE!

For the second year in a row, IP's been selected to attend the China-Australia Publishers' Forum in Beijing. The focus this year will be on children's and young adult publishing, so our IP Kidz titles and Glass House Books for YA will be showcased. David is planning to build on agreements already signed from negotiations last year and will extend his stay with additional meetings with publishers in Shanghai organised by Nurnberg. The staff at the Australian Embassy in Beijing have been very helpful once again, and we want to express our appreciation for all they are doing to make IP visible to the huge Chinese market.

Throwthebook.org reviews Robert Cox's A Compulsion to Kill

We're pleased to support a new online reviews site: throwthebook.org. The way that it works is that we let them know about new releases, and they let their database of reviewers know that the titles are available to review. After they receive an expression of interest, they let us know the prospective reviewer's details, and we send the book to them. That system works well for us by ensuring we send out review copies only to people interested in the book.

We've just received our first review, that being of Robert Cox's A Compulsion to Kill, and we're happy to let Lorraine Cobcroft's review speak for itself:

"Cox includes stories of ''the cannibal convict'', Alexander Pearce; sadistic sexual predator and baby-killer, Thomas Jeffrey; Charles Routley, who burnt one of his victims alive; Broughton and McAvoy, cannibal convicts; Rocky Whelan, who killed five men in just twenty-four days; and John Haley, who killed three people in fits of rage.

Robert Cox claims most of these stories have never been told before. Certainly they have not been related in such graphic detail nor with such impressive accuracy. Cox has clearly researched extensively and diligently and has uncovered a wealth of information about the lives and characters of the killers, as well as about their gruesome deeds.

This book has been described as ''a supremely dramatic page-turner in the true-crime genre''. I would not agree that it is either ''supremely dramatic'' or ''a page-turner''. I found it to be almost text-book/thesis style, but certainly intriguing and insightful. Careful footnotes and a detailed bibliography evidence the extent of research carried out and give the reader confidence in the accuracy of the information. Where opinions, theories or suppositions are advanced, they are clearly documented as such.

A lover of stories from history―especially Australian history―I opened this book with high expectations. I was not disappointed. Cox exposes much interesting detail of life in early Australia, the treatment of convicts, and the effect of that treatment on the minds of some of our most notorious murderers. He delves into the investigative methods used by police and presents newspaper reports and witness statements substantially as originally written, enabling the reader to appreciate the language used at the time and the reporting conventions observed by various newspapers.

Cox holds nothing back when describing the methods used by cold-blooded killers and their butchering and eating of victims' body parts. He covers hangings in grim detail. He presents a frighteningly accurate picture of life in an era when cruel and inhuman punishments were inflicted for relatively minor transgressions and persecution so hardened some men that they lost all respect for human life, if, indeed, these monsters ever possessed any. The stories are unapologetically grisly and horrifying, but this is history as it should be told. In the words of author Douglas Lockhart, it is told '...with the facts of a past savagery skilfully handled and accurately portrayed'."

2014 IP Rolling Picks Winners & Commended

This is Year 2 of our Rolling Picks competition that takes entries from February to August each year and awards winners in up to five categories in December.

Thanks to the authors who entered over the year, and a special congratulations to the winners and commended in their respective categories.

Winner, Best Fiction

Kafiristan by Ron Howard. The judges were impressed by Howard's successful transition from travel writing to fiction, and the depth of his insights into Afghanistan culture and political. Certainly a book for its time.

Winner, Best Creative Non-fiction 

A Compulsion to Kill by Robert Cox. Veteran Tasmanian historian created a real page-turner here, getting into the minds of our first serial killers, uncovering the past with a thoroughly researched and documented book.

Winner, Best Poetry



Second Thoughts by B N Oakman. In his second title with IP, B N Oakman showed a impressive scope of subject matter, while always remaining accessible to the reader.

Highly Commended, Best Poetry



Convent Mermaid by Rod Usher. Usher's work had a depth of subject matter and insight that rewards careful and multiple readings.

Winner, Children's / YA



The Handkerchief Map by Kiri English-Hawke. Originally crafted when she was in high school, this Holocaust novel in its second edition penetrates the psyche of people caught up in the horrors of World War II.

Winner, Best First Book



Furniture is Disappearing by Gemma White. In her first poetry volume, White impressed the judges with her mature eye and controlled craft.

IP Rolling Picks will be open again for entries in February, and, for the first time, authors world-wide will be eligible not only to publish with IP but to have their works considered in the competition.

We look forward to your entries in 2015, and wish everyone a healthy a safe holiday season and a very productive and creative New Year!

Kafiristan: Timely New Fiction

Ross Howard is author of Kafiristan, one of our latest releases. A distinguished travel author, Ross decided to turn to fiction for his latest book, set in Afghanistan. In the feature that follows, he explains why.

Kafiristan emerged from the experience of journeys to distant lands where my imagination was tempered by reality and the ability to see things as they are. These were places where power was often exercised by a privileged few. Some were secular dictators others comprised a religious elite. What they all had in common was the maintenance of structures designed to maintain their power. Often through a process of oppression against those who they perceived were a threat.

Kafiristan is also about the strength of the human spirit and the inability of those who thirst for power to extinguish that burning light. We may be of different lands and different cultures, have different beliefs and observe different rituals. But the basic needs of all are fundamentally the same: food, shelter and safety for ourselves and our families.

Those in prosperous nations are hardly conscious of such issues. Yet for most of the world’s people, the struggle to meet the basic needs is a struggle that repeats itself every day for most, if not all of their life. The storyline for Kafiristan emerged from observing such struggles and reflecting on the forces that contribute to their creation and perpetuation and the options available to the oppressed and dispossessed to achieve a better life.

Kafiristan draws upon a rich tapestry of experiences: needing to move on quickly due to the unfriendly preachings of the local religious figure, before emerging into the next valley and being entranced by the contrasting friendliness of those you meet. The refugee held in a desolate detention centre in a country they believed was a safe haven from persecution. The family living on less than $2 a day and the elderly couple crouched over the grave of their only son in a cemetery designated for martyrs. They all have a story worth telling and sharing.

The opportunity for the oppressed to speak of the iniquities and inequities is, in many places, limited to contact with the occasional foreign traveller. The contact is spontaneous and sometimes under the cover of darkness. They talk of the actions they would take if the opportunity arose. Sometimes it is one of violent retribution and sometimes it is one of flight.  Others look over their shoulder before speaking and simply say "there is little we can do."

It is said that writing a novel is an indulgence that contributes little to the benefit of mankind. On the other hand, it is possible that some issues are best canvassed in a novel rather than reduced to a self-serving sound grab. 

Kafiristan explores several controversial issues of social interest, particularly in today's world of conflicting religious faiths and extremist violence. The expression of these in a non-fictional forum, often leads to them becoming obscured by the outrage of those who believe their beliefs are being questioned or they are being asked for clarification of intent and meaning on matters they believe are truths beyond question. The schism between religious extremists and religious moderates is a case in point, where the latter see their peaceful beliefs in danger of being overwhelmed by vicious extremists.

Kafiristan also considers the other side of the equation; those who object to people seeking refuge from persecution by arriving uninvited to our shores. The exchanges involve issues the objectors often don’t understand and just as often don't wish to understand in case such understandings challenge their view of the world. Rather, they begin to act in a manner reminiscent of those from whom the refugees were fleeing. 

Kafiristan seeks to place the competing issues within a recognisable social context, drawing on challenges both current and in the recent past. In such circumstances the novel can be a potentially countervailing force that increases understandings.  The novel allows the reader to consider the merits of what they read and make judgements without the issue being obscured by the voice of ignorance or vested interests. 

Kafiristan tells of how the exercise of narcissistic power can disrupt the fine balance within a peaceful village.  How a sequence of events leads to violence and the triggering of a response that takes a maturing boy to the other side of the world and the creation of a man who questions the substance of previously unquestioned beliefs, combined with a desire for retribution.

Each element contributes to the mosaic that is Kafiristan.