LAUNCH OF “The Divorce Papers” by Ray Liversidge at Collected Works Saturday 29th Oct 2011.
I was lucky enough to be amongst those to witness Ross Gillett launch this new chapbook from Ross Donlon’s MARK TIME PRESS up in Castlemaine and authored by the poet Ray Liversidge. There have been a number of worthy releases on the Australian poetry scene recently and this is one of them.
I have been praised by a critic in Oxford UK (yes, not in my own country) for my insistence on emotional truth in my poetry and this stands out strongly as a marvellous characteristic in this collection. And it comes in a context of subtlety and integrity, gentle humour, soft but deep insight into the loss and grief associated with the splitting of a meaningful relationship by people whose goodwill at one stage was focused toward the creation of a loving lasting relationship.
It is a strong book and herein lies a slight worry. It is small but it is not a slight book. In my opinion the whole of this little collection needs to find its place in the context of a larger book which will be more visible, accessible and saleable in the marketplace. I sincerely hope this will be its fate. It is too good a work to be misplaced amongst the more substantial collections on the shelves.
This is a book for reading and treasuring. It rewards close reading and I look forward to it finding its way into a larger and more comprehensive representation of the work of Ray Liversidge. He deserves it.