{"id":3090,"date":"2017-05-24T15:48:06","date_gmt":"2017-05-24T04:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/?p=3090"},"modified":"2017-05-24T15:51:04","modified_gmt":"2017-05-24T04:51:04","slug":"mike-ladd-at-adelaide-uni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/?p=3090","title":{"rendered":"Mike Ladd at Adelaide Uni"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Mike Ladd with work by Cathy Brooks<\/p><\/div>\n

Last year I missed the launch of Mike Ladd\u2019s latest book Invisible Mending\u2013 a refreshing collection which ranges across genres including essay, memoir, short story and poetry.<\/p>\n

Later in the year I caught up with Mike and got my copy. I have to say I was so impressed with the mixed-genre approach that I\u2019m considering doing a similar thing myself!<\/p>\n

Last week I went along to an evening sponsored by Friends of Adelaide Uni Library. Mike spent some time reading from the collection and giving background.<\/p>\n

As the blurb says \u201cBased loosely on the ideas of scarring and healing, Invisible Mending extends from family intimacies to connection and disconnection in the Australian community, environmental damage and repair. It also has an international view.\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mike spoke of his interest in the pantun<\/em> form, his artist\u2019s residency in Malaysia which was interrupted by the sudden death of his father. All of these elements prompted an inspired sequence of pantuns: \u2018A Book of Hours at Rimbun Dahan.\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The light comes so slowly<\/em><\/p>\n

Another hazy, smoky dawn.<\/em><\/p>\n

Dreams of my dead father woke me early.<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s too much time, then there\u2019s none.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These poems are so economic, so dense. Like a well-written haiku; an observation (generally of the natural world), then an acerbic \u2013 often enigmatic \u2013 line which might reflect or could refer to the first two lines, perhaps something deeper.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And another:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I start the great four-bladed ceiling fan.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Seconds later, a gecko drops to the floor,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 stunned. Yes, the world\u2019s like that.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We all hang on as long as we can.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Mike tried to write one pantun a day while he was in Malaysia. Anyone can write four lines of poetry but those punchlines don\u2019t come easily. As Mike says, it\u2019s so easy to cross the line into aphorism or appear overly moralistic. But Mike never succumbs to this. None of these poetic gems are the stuff of memes or back-of-bus-ticket philosophy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Under the mosquito net, settling to sleep,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 you feel safe from the world\u2019s attacks.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then you hear the needling, invisible whine<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 of that one mosquito inside the net; the mind.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are four poems in this collection with which I feel a long connection: \u2018Meeting the Ghost of Don Dunstan on Norwood Parade\u2019, \u2018Learn to speak the Language\u2019 (the title of which I stole for a poem of my own!), \u2018Bedroom Ceiling Fan\u2019 and \u2018Night Drive: The Hume\u2019. Early versions of these were performed when Mike and I were in Max_Mo. It\u2019s good to learn a poem orally and then to see a final print-published version.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018Tide: My Father\u2019s Dementia\u2019 brought back for me the memory of my own father\u2019s death when my son Ben & I, after the triumph of winning the Newcastle Poetry Prize awoke in a motel room to the news of my dad\u2019s passing. There\u2019s a similar feeling of grief, yet fatalism, yet relief, in these words:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 What can stay?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Something willed<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 from love and words and time<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 whispers from the shore<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and in the curtains\u2019 dance.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A tide washes over his rippled brain,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 makes the estuary without him tomorrow.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The prose (I\u2019m not sure whether to call them short stories or essays) \u2018A Neighbour\u2019s Photo\u2019 and \u2018Ken\u2019 (about Mike\u2019s African refugee and indigenous neighbours), \u2018Breakfast in Valparaiso\u2019 (impressions of the Chilean city, centred around a stray dog), \u2018Gaudi and the Light\u2019, (a brief Gaudi bio and Mike\u2019s personal reaction to seeing Sagrada) and \u2018Gaps\u2019 (Mike\u2019s reunion with his son after several years) have a style I really like. Like Mike himself, these essays deal with emotional events without resorting to the maudlin. They are self-effacing, very human stories told in a matter-of-fact manner and are all the better for it. I don\u2019t think that I can do any better than Barry Hill\u2019s description of \u2018flinty\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The stories\/ poems\/ essays are interspersed with photos by Mike\u2019s wife, Adelaide artist Cathy Brooks, who also created the rather unique giant embroidered thumbprint on the book\u2019s cover and the works featured in the slide-show which accompanied Mike\u2019s address.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0Details: Wakefield Press<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year I missed the launch of Mike Ladd\u2019s latest book Invisible Mending\u2013 a refreshing collection which ranges across genres including essay, memoir, short story and poetry. Later in the year I caught up with Mike and got my copy. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3090"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3098,"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3090\/revisions\/3098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}