Song of the Shadow of a Seed

Seeds are sacred. They are the minutiae of all life, along with Boodjar (Country), Beeliar (rivers), women, and all bodies and vessels that carry living things.

Mitchell’s debut collection is divided into different cycles around the life of a seed – elders, memory, language, hunger, burning, flowering, flight – and the poems within reflect the ways in which a seed, a person and a nation can contain the long history of what has been, as well as the promise of what is to come. These poems open conversations about connection to Country, the resilience of culture, and the complex articulation of identity as a First Nations descendant.

Inventive, moving and accessible, Mitchell’s work includes conversations-in-poetry with family members that weave connection and shared history into every line.

They are a call to listen, to learn, and to engage with the lived truths of Whadjuk Nyungar Country.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

‘Hers is the rarest of gifts – the ability to hold history and hope in one hand.’ Sisonke Msimang

‘Mitchell’s work is a rematriation, returning us back to the soil. Please plant this book in the ground, so our children can sit beneath it.’ Dakota Feirer

‘This passionate avowal of Country and justice for its peoples is also a deeply personal journey into community.’ John Kinsella