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Robert Adamson

Robert Adamson

Robert Adamson’s most recent book is Reaching Light: Selected Poems, edited by Devin Johnston. He was formerly the CAL Chair in Poetry at the University of Technology, Sydney. (Photograph by Juno Gemes)

'The First Chance Was The Last Chance' by Robert Adamson

February 2003, no. 248 • 01 February 2003
Down sandstone steps to the jetty; alwaysthe same water, lights scattered across the tide.Remember we say, the first time.Our eyes locked into endless permission; this dark gift; why can’t I let goand be the man in your life, not the one who writesyour name down for the dedication page;whatever the name, you know who I write for; you know how private, how utterly selfishthe muses are – This ... (read more)

'Inside Robert Creeley's Collected Poems' a poem by Robert Adamson

October 2001, no. 235 • 24 May 2022
We moved out from the stone of Mallarmé’s mind, through silence of thoughtfrom the start knowing the difference between sex in the headand sex in bed, the form of women becamea way to hold chaos that singing birdin an imaginary cage that was projected therejust ahead of where our eyes remembered the lookthat kills, our unbelieving bodies listening to the rock’s voicethe sails, the oceans the ... (read more)

Robert Adamson reviews 'Salt', Volume 10 edited by John Kinsella

September 1997, no. 194 • 01 September 1997
When a poet reviews a poetry magazine, it can be like walking out over a virtual minefield. I have a few more books to write before they take me out, so let me say straight away, I come in peace. These are cynical times, so maybe nobody will be taken in by this tone. After all, Salt is published and edited by John Kinsella, a highly successful poet who has established himself in record time. Let ... (read more)

Robert Adamson reviews 'The Gatekeeper’s Wife' by Fay Zwicky

December 1997–January 1998, no. 197 • 01 December 1997
It’s been four years since Fay Zwicky’s Selected Poems 1970–1992 was published by the University of Queensland Press in their long-running poetry series with the infamous pencil portrait covers. The Gatekeeper’s Wife is one of two books in a poetry series by a relatively new publisher. The design is reminiscent of the wonderful Cape Editions edited by Nathaniel Tarn in the sixties. Brandl ... (read more)