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Local Armidale poet launches Heartscapes
By GARY FRY
[This article was published in The Armidale Independent, 7 April 2010.]
Wordsmiths gathered with literary zeal in Armidale last week for the launch of Heartscapes, a book of poetry by Kaye Mill. It is referred to as a chapbook, as it is 40 pages in length.
Heartscapes is the third in the Matilda Poets’ series that was established in early 2009.
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Heartscapes author, Armidale poet Kaye Mill with the editor and publisher of Blue Tongue Press, Yve Louis.
Image: Danieli Studios. (Click on image to enlarge) |
Kaye Mill explained that her book of poetry is called “Heartscapes” because the collection of poems reflects the heart of the landscape. It conveys how emotions are reflected in the landscape, or perhaps, how landscape is reflected in emotion,” she said. “I’ve been writing poems for a long time and when Yve Louis asked me if I’d like to be a Matilda Poet, I started to put them together into a coherent order.
The Matilda Poets are a group of contemporary female poets from the New England region. Their chapbook series is ensuring that they leave their mark on the cultural heritage of the region. Profit from the publications is neither expected nor hoped for. The Matilda Poets are not publishing for money; they are doing it for poetry, for themselves and their heartland.
Kaye Mill described what she has achieved, and the legacy she leaves behind in her chapbook. It represents one view of the New England region, with the poems providing snapshots over many years, from my childhood to my senior years.
Sometimes, you might capture a moment, an instance that triggers a whole series of memories that are completely personal, yet when you put them into words, they could belong to anyone, she said.
Each chapbook is distinct in writing style and subject matter, yet as published works, they come fittingly together as a collectable treasury of New England poetry that might otherwise be lost.
While photographs and artworks capture and preserve our physical environments for future generations to observe and understand, literary works like Kaye Mill’s publication seek to illustrate heart, soul and character of landscapes and people.
Yve Louis edited Heartscapes. She is behind Blue Tongue Press. The Armidale-based publishing house grew from the commitment of New England writers in the face of tightened government purse-strings.
According to Ms Louis, little private sector and Government support has led to the vibrant local literary collective publishing their own work, leaving bound literary and cultural legacies for future generations. Given a few more of these 40-page books, we will have produced a good documentation of feeling for the strength of the poetry of women in this area, she said.
Heartscapes was a local production in every respect. Yve Louis edited, Fara Williams designed the cover and Susan McMichael was the typesetter.
The book can be purchased at Armidale booksellers, Readers Companion and Dymocks.
For an illustrated step-by-step guide see: How to Make a Chapbook
The New England Writers' Centre is assisted by the NSW Government through Arts NSW.