Drawing on the energies of 18th century English convict women, including Rhook’s own ancestors, Second Fleet Baby opens raw questions of belonging. In this collection, ‘mother’ is narrated as a long process of becoming. Through stories of childhood, fertility, and of nurturing new life during a pandemic, Rhook casts off the patriarchal weight of history, pulling origins ‘from the seabed to the surface’.
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
‘The language is expertly crafted and the ideas explored are both personal and political, inviting the reader to examine what is carried in our stories of the past and birthed in our own lives.’ Writing WA
‘In these wide-ranging, self-questioning, imaginative poems, Rhook tracks how colonisation works against and through the bodies of women. The poems are shaped by a rare combination of judgement and compassion.’ Lisa Gorton
‘Extraordinary craftswomanship, tender yet piercing stories of nation-building and child-bearing, intricately woven together by the hands of an astute and fearless poet.’ Elfie Shiosaki
Nadia Rhook
Nadia Rhook is a non-Indigenous poet, historian, educator, and mother, born in Naarm / Melbourne and currently living in Boorloo / Perth. She has a PhD in History from La Trobe University and is passionate about embodied ways of connecting with the past-present. She has designed and delivered public walking tours and heritage exhibitions, and […]Explore more from our catalogue
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