swimming underground

Though its title suggests a dark netherworld the poems in swimming underground offer striking glimpses into the past present and possible future. Some movingly recall childhood trauma others celebrate iconic Sydney places and people such as Cockatoo Island and Mr Eternity. There are pointed satires of Centrelink bureaucracy and the current appalling treatment of refugees. And finally a vision of a world where peace is the rule rather than the exception. Whether celebrating or denouncing Jenni Nixons voice is compelling and evocative. - Emeritus Professor Elizabeth Webby AMThese evocative poems bring to life the complexity and beauty of Sydney and its outsider citizens and history. These deeply moving fragments of a citys life take us underground by stirring our own deepest memories especially through a vivid sense of place. Nixon takes us around the harbour and through the streets of Sydney. We smell the salt and hear the cries of birds and people. And we remember. This is a marvellous collection. - Julie McCrossin journalist and broadcasterJenni Nixon is a performer and political poet par excellence... Nixons is the voice of the twenty-first century and her strident protests leave no sacred cows upstanding... Lines delivered with the rapid-fire intensity of an expert cannot fail to find their mark. - Dr Margaret Bradstock Agenda!