Lemons in the Chicken Wire

by Alison Whittaker

Winner 2015 black&write! Indigenous Writing Fellowship – a partnership between the State Library of Queensland’s black&write! Indigenous Writing and Editing Project and Magabala Books.

From a remarkable new voice in Indigenous writing comes this highly original collection of poems bristling with stunning imagery and gritty textures. At times sensual, always potent, Lemons in the Chicken Wire delivers a collage of work that reflects rural identity through a rich medley of techniques and forms.

It is an audacious, lyrical and linguistically lemon flavoured poetry debut that possesses a rare edginess and seeks to challenge our imagination beyond the ordinary. Alison Whittaker demonstrates that borders, whether physical or imagined, are no match for our capacity for love.

Genres: Poetry, Indigenous, Australia, Queer, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published March 1, 2016

About the author

Alison Whittaker is a Gomeroi poet, life writer, and essayist from Gunnedah and Tamworth north-western New South Wales. She now lives in Sydney on Wangal land where she studies a combined Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Technology Sydney. Her work has been published in Meanjin, Vertigo, Colouring the Rainbow: Blak Queer and Trans Perspectives. She is author of the award-winning poetry collections Lemons in the Chicken Wire and blakwork.

Reviews

[ALPHAreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Lemons in the Chicken Wire’ is Alison Whittaker’s debut poetry collection, available from Magabala Books. Alison is a Gomeroi poet, life writer and essayist from Gunnedah and Tamorth, north-western New South Wales.

I’m going to be upfront and say I don’t read a lot of poetry. But there are certain publishers and voices keep me coming back for more – and Magabala is one of them. They published one of my favourite verse novels in Ali Cobby Eckermann’s 'Ruby Moonlight', which I just love intensely. When I heard that the 2015 black&write! winner was again a poetry book, I was really excited and knew I’d seek it out. And I’ve got to say … Alison Whittaker surpasses expectation, and in one book has become another favourite poet of mine, a new voice I’m eager to read more of.

Whittaker isn’t just a poet; she’s also a law student who actually won the 2015 Indigenous law student of the year annual award. But in her debut poetry collection ‘Lemons in the Chicken Wire’ she’s mostly taking readers away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, to explore and remember her life growing up on country in rural New South Wales.

This collection of Whittaker’s feels very grounded in some ways – as she observes life growing up on country, with this real sense of place and connectedness to her culture. But in another sense she’s examining big constructs that lift the reader even out of their own pre-conceived ideas and, yes, prejudices … as ‘Lemons’ is largely exploring aboriginality, and dislocation alongside gender, sexuality, and queer aboriginal identity.

And now let me take a moment to recommend that you listen to Whittaker speaking on Radio National about her collection – especially for her honing in on the ideas around queer aboriginal identity. Because she says there is this assumption that the city is the only place to go where you will be accepted as a queer aboriginal person, and ‘Lemons’ for one thing is completely counteracting that idea.

The entire collection is deliciously audacious – and you really do get this sense that Whittaker revels in the subversiveness of her themes and explorations, countering what many people will imagine aboriginality to be, and where it exists in modern Australia. She is exploring rather weighty themes, but there’s a sultriness to her woks, a cheeky lightness – ‘Wattle in the Dykes’ – and a beautifully languid touch that can turn to biting sting in a few keystrokes;

-ing; -ly
I sucked her fingers one by one
where I lingered, rings of lipstick stayed
on one knuckle, then another
hot and red and suddenly
sticky
like a surprise cut
red marks like keen slices
as if she moved them, presently
they would split at the joint
like a doll whose ball sockets rotted
dislodge into my throat
gut
and choke me
instantly

As I said, I don’t read much poetry. I know what I like, and I like what I like and I really like – even love – Alison Whittaker’s ‘Lemons in the Chicken Wire’. Sometimes it’s her absorbing, precise language that paints such an image;

The Sticking Place

Last nights make a gluey bubble
in thin crepe expansive time
tonight I watch that lingering bubble
cloud the moon, and mine the light.

Here time is halted, as if the earth
stopped turning to gaze at a lover
you turn your gaze to country
mournfully, feet curled into the earth
aware that dawn waits to prise you.

But time, it stands back-to-back with you
and it leans, and sometimes you
gain momentum with its weight, other times
it’s a limp carcass whose shoulders dislocate.

This night, time is still
a warm, soundless bubble
shrouds dreads of the morning.

The last night on country
you bury yourself in the earth under time’s weight
to hold this touch
you gasp it, gasp it, eat it.

… sometimes I just liked that Whittaker was taking me outside of myself, and poking at my own assumptions – cracking them open or squeezing till they pulped. ‘Lemons in the Chicken Wire’ just introduced me to a favourite new voice in indigenous and poetry writing, and acts as a reminder of why I seek out these works from the indelible Magabala Books.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finished: 20.08.2019
Genre: potry
Rating: C-
#TBR list 2109
Conclusion:

What can I say...poems are very personal.
You like this one and I like that one.
Collection: 50 poems and I like just 13 = 26%
Blakwork ....is Whittaker's 2018 prize winning
collection of poems.
Lemons in the Chicken Wire pales in comparison.
C'est la vie.

These were: very good
Growing Soon -…loved the structure/symmetry
Carry the One - …young girl’s thoughts at school
AH -..young girl’s observations + “ I go by Koori time”
Cinnamon Eggs - ...young girl’s unexpected bike accident

These were: good

EXT.INT. exterior, interior...thoughts as stage directions
A Funeral …family around grandfather’s grave….
Insider Knowledge …family knows more than you think!
Preface: Another Funeral ...memories Great Nan’s death
Whatcha glimpse in a of a young girl’s life
The Sticking Place ...time, a limp carcass…soundless bubble
Epilogue: A Funeral
Do Ya?
Chicken Wire Lemons

[Tonymess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Opening with a dedication “To the land, and those who grow from it.”, the Aboriginal connection to country is placed foremost in your mind, the opening poem, “Land-ed”, continuing the theme;

land
takes dead skin from my feet
and slips
from under me
while the city
puts dead shoes on my feet
and slips
right into me

this train, the wind, ploughs on
through suburbs I barely glimpse
but there is
land and land and
I am landing

There are many laments and hints of tragic nostalgia, as the subjects move through domestic violence and the importance of family, in “Ext Int.”, memories and celebrations of deceased relatives, as seen in “Preface: Another Funeral”, or emotionally draining moments as in “Growing Soon” and “Tidda//Jidgja”. Mix this with the powerful feminist rant as presented in expected female behaviour in “Whatcha”, a poem of tampons, shaving and dark towels, the reader has in their hands a Pandora’s box of wonderful breadth and depth.

For my full review & an interview with the poet go to
Lemons in the Chicken Wire – Alison Whittaker PLUS bonus poet interview | Messenger's Booker (and more)
https://messybooker.wordpress.com/201...

[Larissa Conolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

this train, the wind, ploughs on
through suburbs I barely glimpse
but there is
land and land and
I am landing


Some of these poems I just loved
Many I appreciated
Some just passed me by

I need to read more poetry and this was a great reminder of that

[Elly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not the best at rating poetry because unlike prose my response to poetry is often solely connected to my emotional reaction. For me; poetry is about emotive language and in this collection I definitely felt... sad and mournful and bittersweet and stretched thin by words. I will never understand the depths that brought these poems into being, but in the time that I was reading them they filled me up with those temporary emotions that poetry is designed to inspire.

[Georgia Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of poetry, so there is probably a bunch of cleverness here that flew right over my head.
Even so, I enjoyed this slim little book.
It felt like flicking though a photo album. Each poem a little snapshot of everyday life as a queer, Blak woman in Australia.
I loved sounding out the Gamilaraay words sprinkled throughout the pages.
I also loved seeing things like Countrylink trains, devon sandwiches and grandmotherly sass worked into the poems.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a collection of poetry around the themes of grief, family and identity. While I did enjoy this, I did not find this collection as captivating as Blakwork.

[Ms Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is raw and unflinching and pretty cool poetry. A bit of language (the c-word was underlined by a student within hours of this hitting the library shelves!) and sex, but it’s good to read some diverse and interesting poetry (especially when contrasted with the Malouf stuff I read recently).

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the rust, dust and lemons.
This was so fresh and unlike anything I have read before. Personally, I heard both a gritty and soft voice, and I see this work as an essential addition to the browning of the queer canon in Aus literature.

[Tamzen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not much of a poetry reader, but I liked this enough that I'll give Blakwork a go. Don't know how many stars that makes it, so I've gone with a middle of the road 3, but please don't let my rating influence your decision to read this collection in any way.

[Helena Rann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written collection of poems. Whilst I want to read this again and again (and am sure that I will takeaway something new each time), the first read through struck me as an exploration of intersectionality.

[Emory Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

cw for periods, great, really enjoyed it :)

[Azlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly outstanding. This was poignant, heart felt and powerful. Thank you for sharing your stories, Alison.

[Lisa Rodrigues · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some heart-achers in here, very worth the read.

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A powerful meditation on what it means to be queer, female, and Aboriginal. Some really visceral imagery.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Debut collection of feminist indigenous Australian poetry, humorous at times, but laying bare the inequalities in this country. Read aloud, they bite and roll the tongue.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing style:🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
Engagement:🌟 🌟 🌟
Content:🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
Purpose:🌟 🌟 🌟
Value:🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
Overall: 3.6/5

[Kat Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such interesting poetry.

[Erin Kercher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favourite Poems:
- Bangers // Mash
- Insider Knowledge
- Taste A // Verse
- Watcha
- The First Coolest Thing
- Heavy Tongue
- The Double Mirror

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raw. Beautiful. Humorous.

[Hayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think maybe I’m not a huge poetry person.

[Carris · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars*

Whittaker writes with technical skill, wit and lyrical beauty.

Favourite poems:

1. Bangers / / Mash
2. Cinnamon Eggs
3. The Sticking Place
4. The Second Coolest Thing
5. Smells Like Whistling
6. O, Eureka!
7. Come Back Black
8. Big Smoke
9. The Tender Sheds
10. Chicken Wire Lemons

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

"And then, at every drawn goodbye like a choir, leaning each to the other to hold a clap my nan clasps my hands and whispers to me decolonising epistemology, and critical autonomy, and affective phenomenology. And what she says is: remember yourself, and call me once a week on which I ruminate O, Eureka!"
I read and reread Blakwork several times before picking this one up, and inevitably that shapes my impressions. I didn't love the whole here in the way I did Blakwork, but when Whittaker soars she certainly soars - I love those that juxtapose worlds and expectations, and those which play so expertly with rhythm. Each has a form of honesty though, and all carry some power.

[Sarah Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, full review forthcoming

[Jaq · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this collection. But alas I just wasn’t swept up by it. But then poetry is like this, some poems I take to on the first reading others are a slow burn.