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João

80 pages
Paperback, 15 x 17 cm
Published March 2018
ISBN 9781925336627
Epdf ISBN 9781925336672
Epub ISBN 9781925336689

João

John Mateer

New collection by award-winning poet John Mateer

In a sequence of 62 sonnets, John Mateer describes the encounters of an alter-ego, João, as he travels across the globe, attending festivals and readings, meeting with friends, lovers, and often-famous fellow authors. Uncertain in his identity, melancholy in disposition, troubled by dreams and memories, João is also an innocent, and given to moments of illumination and joy. Mateer is both ironic and affectionate in his treatment of this picaresque figure, creating through his sonnet sequence a narrative which is new in Australian writing, the worldwide adventures of the poet as comic hero, one who, despite his disappointments, still believes in the power of literature to create a sense of belonging, and to invoke ‘the deep mandala of meeting and friendship’.

About the Author

John Mateer

John Mateer is a poet, writer and curator. His works include essays, books of poems, and Semar’s Cave, a prose travelogue on Indonesia. For two decades he has published criticism on contemporary art. His poetry collection Southern Barbarians was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award.

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