Fish Song

Maling’s new work is rich and diverse, exploring physical landscapes as well as historical and socio-cultural aspects of place. In her latest, deeply personal, collection Maling travels the coast of Western Australia writing about what the ocean provides – fish, livelihoods, sand and the ever-present sea breeze. In doing so she questions what poetry might offer by way of solace and reconnection in an age of climate change.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

‘Caitlin Maling is an experienced poet with several publications to her record. Fish Song is her third book of verse … The collection was a pleasure to read, and I will be dipping into it throughout the coming year.’ Queensland Reviewers Collective

‘These family poems are full of wry observation of a littoral culture in which an advanced state of crisis is housed … From the outset, then, we are caught by Maling’s crafted triangulation of a morally cauterised Australia, a natural world suffering the most offhand kind of erasures, and the trajectory of her father’s cancer. It is a judiciously shuffled mix, full of courageous personal writing and lucid observation.’ Weekend Australian

‘In her third poetry collection, Caitlin Maling once more shows her mastery of the craft, exhibiting a keen eye for landscape and those who inhabit it … Firmly grounded in Western Australia, this is a beautiful book.’ Writing WA

‘It’s evocative, intense, personal and domestic.’ Subiaco Post

‘Maling is a master of the craft. Her writing is deft, cool and conversational … Fish Song is a beautiful and tragic portrait of the impact of climate change on people and landscapes. This is an intimate and urgent collection.’ Good Reading

‘Mailing’s poems in Fish Song are direct, vernacular and autobiographical …’ Weekend Australian