Poetry from Byron Bay and Beyond (Anthology) “Sensoria brings into conversation poems by poets living along Australia’s most eastern seaboard. It’s a little dangerous, sometimes sexy and sometimes wry, but there’s never any doubt that it’s always plugged-in to the human seat of sensation.” – Bronwyn Lea. “Here is a group of writers as obviously concerned with craftmanship as impulse. These are poems that could hold their own against any urban offerings… The poems tread with a respectful lightness on the world, but they do not comment lightly on it.” – Judy Johnson.

by Max Ryan (Winner of the 2005 Anne Elder Award) “Max Ryan brings both the skilled eye of a technician and the compassion of hard won experience to these poems. Pain and joy are never far from the surface. His lyric gift and sure–footed narratives work emotion through the fire of art: the end result is compelling.” – Judy Johnson. “Max Ryan’s poetry is disarming and fresh – the image inhabits his work like a mindful, meditating presence, and this, coupled with his large–hearted cadences makes his work enormously readable. His words sift deep into life, and are full of power and insight. These are clear and shapely poems written from an empathetic heart.” – Judith Beveridge.

“The most obvious aspect of Ringland’s poems is their original and true-to-life images from nature. But there is another component; I would call it wisdom. Moving through all the poems is the wisdom of one who has looked carefully and thought deeply.” – Dr. Shirley Walker, author Roundabout at Bangalow. “Fence-posts, salty plums, a father’s felt hat, the joys and sorrows of a life recalled in its autumn years; Jean Ringland takes us on a lyrical journey into Seamus Heaney’s ‘heartland of the ordinary’ and returns us quietly altered.” – says local award-winning poet, Max Ryan.

“In All the Way Home, every poet sings a fresh note. From the lyrical elegance of Max Ryan’s award winning poem Jim, through to John Bird’s deeply moving tanka sequence, blunt bayonet and Kathryn Boorman’s bone-raw elegy, Chuc Mung Nam Moi, this anthology deftly explores the terrain of our homeward journeys.” – Graham Nunn. Away from home, tired and jaded in my hotel room, I read All the Way Home: I was refreshed, transported and moved beyond thought. “My strategy: savour one poem each day, for seven weeks. When I finish? Begin again.” – Jeni Caffin, Director, Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre and Byron Bay Writers Festival.