Small Town Kid

by Frank Prem

Small Town Kid is the experience of regional life as a child, in an insular town during the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, remote from the more worldly places where life really happens, in a time before the internet and the online existence of social media.

It is a time when a small town boy can walk a mile to school and back every day, and hunt rabbits with his dog in the hours of freedom before sundown. He can hoard crackers for bonfire night and blow up the deputy school master’s mailbox in an act of joyous rebellion.

It is a time when a small town teenager will ride fourteen miles on a bicycle for his first experience of girls, and of love. A time when migrating from a foreign country to a small town means his family will always feel that they are strangers, while visitors to the town are treated like an invading host.

It is also the remembrance of tragedy for inexperienced friends driving on narrow country roads.

This collection of poems and stories shares the type of childhood that has mostly disappeared in contemporary times. Come and revisit it here, in the pages of a Small Town Kid.

Genres: Poetry, Ebooks, Nonfiction

107 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 6, 2018

About the author

Frank Prem has been a storytelling poet for forty years. When not writing or reading his poetry to an audience, he fills his time by working as a psychiatric nurse.

He has been published in magazines, zines and anthologies, in Australia and in a number of other countries, and has both performed and recorded his work as ‘spoken word’.

He lives with his wife, in the beautiful township of Beechworth in northeast Victoria (Australia).

Franks web page is located at: www.FrankPrem.com.

YouTube video of Frank reading 'callignee butterflies', from Devil In The Wind.

Reviews

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry was not something I had read nor had any interest in until I came across Aussie author Frank Prem. To be honest, I thought poetry would be boring and I’d find it difficult to get my head around, but thankfully I was wrong and it’s quite the opposite.

Small Town Kid was a delightful read about how life was for kids growing up in the 60’s and 70’s. A time before the internet was invented where kids enjoyed the outdoors and got up to mischief, but at the same time they were just doing what kids did back then.

I absolutely loved this beautifully written collection of poems by Frank Prem. If like me, you’ve never read poetry, but would like to give it a go then do yourself a favor and read this book because once you do you’ll be wanting to read more.

With thanks to the author for providing me with a digital copy of this book to read and review.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magic! Aussie author Frank Prem’s Small Town Kid is written in verse, but it’s poetry as I’ve never read before (and I’ve never been a poetry person!) It brought back memories for me – the cracker night; the bonfires all around town; blowing up the teacher’s letterbox with a penny banger. I’m sure I got up to all the mischief Frank and his friends did!

Easter and the fete, with the ducks which went too fast and avoided the pellets to win a prize; the clowns which invited the balls into their mouths, again for a prize. And fairy floss and its sugary delight. The author tells it from his young age right through to adult and fatherhood; the fun, the mischief and the tragedies.

Frank Prem writes in a fascinating and intriguing style, capturing memories with ease. Small Town Kid is one I highly recommend.

With thanks to the author for my digital copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

[S. Pearce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small Town Kid provides a snapshot of how life used to be, told through the author’s eyes as he grows from a small boy into adulthood, and as his interests and the world change. The gentle tones of the poet underscore the quiet pace of a humble Australian small town life now lost to the encroaching dogma of modernity. Nowhere is this more evident than in the poem Poppy Cakes, where the child observes how the innocent practice of baking is outlawed by uninterested and uncaring all-encompassing laws. Here, the price of modernity is, quite literally, the loss of childhood sweetness. As an adolescent the poet then stumbles through school, discovers girls, all the time leaving his innocent worldview further behind. Death calls his faith into question and, finally, the author looks back with older and wiser eyes, remarking that “it seems long ago we were just kids, watching time pass away in a place where open space formed the barriers and walls of nowhere to go”. This is a moving and personal account of the author’s journey from a young child into adulthood, and neatly raises questions of how the complex world of today could take a step back and learn some valuable lessons from the past.

Simon Pearce,
Mo

[Sally Cronin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many poetry collections over the years, but Small Town Kid is unusual and intriguingly different. It flows through the different ages of the author from a very small boy to fatherhood, sharing the highs and lows of childhood and the coming of age years.

You are invited in by ‘I can Hardly Wait to Show You‘… that sets the scene of this town where singing waters and scrubby creeks beckon and land supported sheep and gold prospectors tried their luck.

Having accepted that invitation you become a spectator as Oma rocks the cradle of the young child whilst his mother works and makes poppy cakes, and Opa comforts a crying toddler as he contemplates the labour that has gone into cultivating the land around them. We are introduced to other members of this extended family and share in their celebrations, including a wedding in the fire house. This background is important as it highlights the sense of disconnection felt by many immigrant families who settle in a new land and are torn between adapting and still holding on to their old traditions and customs.

We enjoy picnics, and a detailed description of the view from the inside of the outhouse, and its maintenance by the stoic Nightman, and the profitable recycling of newspapers to the butcher. We join in rabbit hunts, school days, drag races, anti-tourist activities, and miscalculations when dispatching rubbish. Easter and the annual fete offer entertainment as does a rather interesting firework distribution method. The teen years bring jostling for status and the discovery that girls have some interesting attributes.

We also share in the lives of members of the group that the author grew up with, including its tragedies. It serves to remind us that however idyllic it might seem to be part of a small town community, it cannot protect you from all of life’s dangers.

I enjoyed all the memories and felt engaged with the young Frank as he navigated through these years. It was brought to life by the storytelling and there was a smooth flow from one story to the next. One of the many personal favourites is ‘Mcalpine’s Cherries’ which mirrored my experience with picking strawberries.

Overall a delightful read that will resonate with readers whose childhood and teen years were considerably simpler than today. I can highly recommend.

[catherine ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a free e-copy of this book through LibraryThing! This review is my full and honest opinion.*

I'm really picky about poetry, but I surprisingly enjoyed this collection a lot. It was very different from a lot of the poetry I've read, which usually talks about heartbreak and mental health and the like. On the other hand, this book was very pure and even though I grew up in a different era and place, I still felt very nostalgic about my childhood. The writing read a lot like a movie script or even a painter—I felt like I was seeing these scenes play out before my eyes.

Some of my favorites:
- the hallways of st joseph's
- state of the art
- relentless
- holes in pockets
- libby's puzzle
- finishing school

[Peggy Bright · Rating 5 out of 5]

A while back, I suggested this book of poems as a choice for my monthly book club. We try to mix up our reading options over the year, covering fiction, non-fiction, biographies, poetry etc.
Our group of eight was supposed to meet tonight to discuss 'Small Town Kid'. As the day progressed, I got messages from those who couldn't attend because of health, emergencies, houseguests and such, but every message included a comment that said, more or less, 'so disappointed I can't come because I really wanted to discuss this book'. In the end, I rang around and we've postponed the meeting until next week.
So the bottom line is that a group of eight women—about half born in Australia—are keen to share their childhood memories. Some memories will align completely with Frank's and others will be far off.
I love these poems and I reckon my book club colleagues do too. This is the first time in more than 12 years that a meeting has been postponed.

[Frank Prem]

This review received from a reader, with great pleasure on my part. Thank you, Scott.

~~~~~~~~~~

Small Town Kid is a wonderful collection.

With so few words Frank is able to paint a picture so vivid you can’t help but get lost in the story.

Whether he’s talking about family, a picnic, a trip to the butcher or even the outside toilet it’s difficult not become immersed in the words and imagine yourself right there with him.

Cover to cover this is an excellent read.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book as part of a giveaway on another website. Many thanks to the author and publisher. This is an honest review.

A lovely, short set of poems outlining the author’s thoughts and memories of childhood. It was very relateable.

[Robbie Cheadle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful book of poems by Frank Prem is packed with interesting poems about his childhood, growing up in a small town in Australia. I love history and also enjoy learning about people and how they live so this book appealed to both of these interests of mine.

There are poems about a small child being cared for by both of his grandparents while his own parents work and the little pleasures such as eating home made poppy cakes, and peeks into the lives of close relatives such as an aunt who had a very lively spirit that showed through at certain times in her live belying the prim and proper exterior she was expected to display as a married matron.

One poignant poem is about loss of faith following a tragedy:

"but when the letter for my mother came

in black-lined airmail

from the village of her parents

she wept with bitterness

of injustice and loss and grief

she cried for so long 

I was afraid

she would never stop."

There is a poem about a family picnic and poems about the outhouse, which really intrigued me:

"wide enough

and slippery enough

to swallow a small boy

whole

unless he is carefully perched

on the front edge

as he drums his feet

against the box."

 The author clearly grew up in an old fashioned society where people were careful with things and tried to stretch a penny:

"sixpence

for a couple of pounds of paper

and the news

becomes the wrapping

for another feed

of tender young chops."

My favourite of all Frank's poems, a tricky place (the annual fete) was a superb insight into small town life at the time. I am not going to give you a peep into that poem, you will have to purchase the book and read it for yourself. 

[Elizabeth Gauffreau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frank Prem’s memoir in verse, Small Town Kid, opens with a poem titled “I can hardly wait to show you.” This poem is a direct invitation to the reader to “take my hand in the main street / of this town hewn from honey granite / I will tell you what once stood here and there / and you might help me rediscover what I knew / when I was in the springtime of my life.”

This was an invitation that proved itself irresistible, as I walked with the speaker through his early childhood, his world defined by his family and their ethnic heritage, to the dawning of civilization for his small town when outhouses were replaced with sewerage lines, to his schoolboy days of hijinks and lessons learned, to his adolescence and young adulthood when he began to realize that “we were just kids / watching time pass away / in a place where open space / formed the barriers and walls / of nowhere to go.”

Perhaps most striking about this collection of poems memoir is the voice. The speaker’s voice is authentic, accessible, and compelling. This is a voice with stories to tell and truths to impart, a voice I want to listen to. In addition to the voice of the primary speaker, the poet skillfully interweaves other voices, the voices he would have heard growing up.

I also appreciated the touches of wry humor threaded throughout the collection as the adult speaker looks back on the foibles of childhood: the watchers from below of an outhouse user (“halfmoon at the trapdoor”), a boy’s hatred of the barber who gave him a short-back-and-sides “like a little boy / or an old man” (“hating whitey”), and a schoolboy’s blaming his poor grade in art on the teacher, his flirting with the girls having had nothing to do with it (“state of the art”).

In terms of craft, the poems are written with short lines, no punctuation, and no capitalization except for the first-person “I,” all of which work well to convey the fluidity of memory and the interplay of past and present. Also noteworthy is the use of concrete sensory imagery: the sights, sounds, and smells of this particular childhood.

Small Town Kid is very much a memoir of place, rural Australia in the late 1960s to early 1970s:

“around the base of mount buffalo
between myrtleford and porepunkah on
the low green flats of ovens river
snuggled under the purple
of the uncleared slopes of the mountain
the business was mostly tobacco” (from “picnic story”)

“ . . . watching the kookaburra
silhouetted against the red sky” (from “sunsets are . . . “)

“a line of nails
head high on the paling fence
a sharp knife
and fast hands
are the basic requirements
of the rabbit-o” (from “rabbit-o”)

At the same time, there was much I recognized from my own childhood growing up in a small town in northern Vermont: the intense rivalry with a neighboring town, the teenage pregnancies, the schoolmates lost to careless driving, the drudgery of dairy farming for a living, even the boy who accidentally set fire to the pasture.

The standout of the collection for me was “a tricky place (the annual fete),” in which the adult speaker returns to the abandoned churchyard where the town’s annual fete was once held. Although the church “seems small now / almost shrivelled / lifeless,” every detail of that annual event is still a clear, living memory.

Ultimately, memory itself is the tricky place when a small town kid returns later in life. He mourns for the place that is now gone, yet he had to leave it to become the person he wanted to be. I will definitely be returning to Frank Prem’s poetry again and again.

[Claire Tennant · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Scots born Aussie, I found this book of memories delightful. From the opening poem “I Can Hardly Wait to Show You” to the “Circular Square Town” Frank’s reminiscence of life as a country kid growing to manhood open doors that would otherwise remain shut. His descriptions of picnics and eucalyptus aromas are so vivid you can smell the pork roasting amid the peaceful surrounds. Best of all his father’s advice in the “Picnic story” relating to what is left of the sacrificial pig had me in stitches.
The description of the wailing baby in the crib and the adults need for sleep, or the child who simply needed Grandfatherly comfort; to the torment of schooling takes the reader on a journey one could never forget. There must have been tragedy and strength; no Immigrant survives without these, but the narratives are simple humorous and realistic. I really loved how the writing evoked nostalgia without the need (as there usually is in my case) for wads of tissues, or a lingering melancholy. The pearls of wisdom written by an adult but through a child’s eyes show respect and affection.
It is a book you must read again as often as your own particular stresses require soothing. It is cheaper than alcohol but of itself pure gold.

[Pamela Jeffs · Rating 5 out of 5]

A personal and poignant glimpse into the life of the author. Beautifully written, this collection of poems, gives younger generations the opportunity for precious insight into how life was lived and how much has changed in the years between. A recommended read for lovers of poetry.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this childhood memoir told through poetry. Even though I'm a California girl who grew up in the 70's/80's, I could still somewhat relate. The funniest poems in this collection had to do with the outhouse: From Inside the Outhouse, Nightman, and Half Moon at Trapdoor. I never thought poetry and poop would go together but it worked! The saddest ones were: Loss of Faith and Swimming on the Royal Reserve. The sweetest and most loving ones were: On a New Year's Eve and Between Sink and Stove.

Special thanks to LibraryThing for this free e-book I won through the Member's Reviewers' Giveaway and the opportunity to read and review this poetry collection.

[Mick Canning · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have enjoyed Frank’s poetry ever since I discovered it a couple of years ago.
Small Town Kid is a book of poems about growing up in a small town in Australia during the 1960’s and 1970’s. The town is provincial, the way that small towns invariably are, where everyone knows everyone else, and everyone else’s business.
In those days, a small town was very different to a small town today, now the internet and social media have changed even the slow-paced life of these places forever. And so those of a certain age will recognise many of the situations and much of subject matter of these poems, while to those much younger they may well seem almost alien.
Rich in emotions, as well as in visual detail, we listen to Frank describe experiences such as hunting rabbits, letting off fireworks, and going on picnics, turning his nose up at his mother’s cooking and enjoying his grandmother’s cakes, suffering school and returning home at the end of the day. We find ourselves both observing and participating in the day to day life of his town.
This could be any small town, and any child. If you could extract the peculiarly Australian nuances and replace them with others, the poems might be about a small town anywhere and any child who grew up in it.
The poems are presented in an order showing the boy growing up from his earliest years through to reaching young adulthood, taking the reader on a journey alongside him.
And they have that power, that they transport you there.
Frank writes sparingly, knowing like an artist when to stop. But everything is there, and the writing invariably has beauty no matter what its subject matter.
Unhesitatingly, I give this book five stars.

[Candice Daquin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small Town Kid, By Frank Prem. Published by wild arancini press

In today’s climate, it is easy to forget some people who are still living, have had quite different experiences of growing up. As people gravitate ever more to the cities, those whose childhood was the slow countryside life, are often overlooked or trivialized, but many a great novel has been set in such settings, from Cormac McCarthy’s work to John Steinbeck. We can learn from different experiences, and poetry has an immediacy that allows us vivid glimpses into such lives. As with all country-based work, there is also a rich homage to the land and the beauty of nature that is evocative and spell binding in its imagery.

Frank Prem’s experiences are set in a country I have only ever visited once, and yet, there is so much to share between an Australian childhood and a country many miles away. Again, when you are comfortable speaking through poetry, this can be accessed with ease and the reminiscence is so acute, all of us find something to relate to. The insight and sensitivity of a child’s perspective adds to this, as Prem says, “small children can see/ right through adults.”

Frank Prem’s work is intensely of a bygone era, and yet, there is something comforting about his recollections of childhood that many of us, who have not had the same experiences can appreciate. Perhaps there is something ever beautiful about a ‘simpler’ life, and the idea of innocence and coming of age, which nowadays, the saturation of media denies so many young people. What makes this even more than the recollections of a middle-aged man thinking back to his childhood, is that Frank Prem’s family were immigrants to Australia themselves, so it’s also the reconciliation between a prior culture, a losing of roots, a gaining of a new country and the invariable blending, humor and discomfort that can bring. “the porker was stitched / with a belly full of apples and onions / before suspension above glowing coals / to slow roast.” (picnic story).

This isn’t the kind of poetry collection I would typically purchase (and that is my oversight), but reading it, I found myself greatly admiring the poet’s ability to convey detail and the ‘voice’ of both his original and adopted culture(s) in a sometimes-quixotic way that is moving and poignant. Prem has a stellar command of language and vocabulary, he utilizes many observations and fine recollections whereby this does not appear the memories of a man but the experience of a wise child. The young Prem was clearly an astute, sensitive boy who was far more aware of what was going on around him than anyone knew.

Poetically, there are some achingly lovely lines in some of the poems, notably; “In the weeks of heat and holidays / the cherry-lined branches / are burdened deep purple / or black or red / with the promised succulence / revealed through the light loam dust / raised by a shower of passing rain.” (mcalpine’s cherries). The sheer beauty of those lines is breathtaking and so well balanced and conveyed simply and perfectly, poetry at its best.

There’s something undeniably masculine about the voice of these poems, but with the softness of childhood and I appreciate how they are all quite different, and cover a multitude of connected subjects. While it may be predictable that a man should reminisce about his early loves and talk of the girls he found attractive, and this isn’t anything new, there is a lovely arc of variety to other poems that consider a time and a world with both tenderness and a stark honesty; “Christmas beetles / carrion / and paddocks bathed in heat / scrawny cows / with white in their eyes / awaiting milking / for relief.” (a cocky’s morning). I found those observations very moving, trying to imagine how a young boy can hold onto such gorgeous detail and imagery and translate that world as a man. Surely this is the greatest gift a writer bestows their audience.

A favorite poem was Vale, written about the loss of loved ones in a presumed car accident, it is written with such tenderness and affection, yet is not overly emotional and the pace and revealing is hardly enough to understand what has happened, but sufficient to feel and become acutely part of that moment; ”five minutes from home / three minutes delay / ten minutes post contact / they are gone.” This particular poem was hauntingly well written and stayed with me long after reading. I find the ability to speak poetry in this deep and lasting way, a rare and striking talent few possess.

The title of the collection, ‘small-town kid’ is a great choice for both title and as another powerful poem. It speaks to the core of why we return to our childhood, why it remains relevant and necessary as part of our experience and how others can appreciate our sharing of it. “growing without mirrors / our young eyes never noticed / the fleeting glimpses / of mental barricades.”

A poet picks their subject(s) sometimes with care, sometimes intuitively, sometimes selfishly. I found this collection was very intuitive and that worked really well with the pace and intensity of some pieces, set against the soft appreciation of others, and the everyday feel of some. It was like walking through a snap-shot of experiences too myriad to truly understand, but gathering a flavor and appreciation of the over-all. Nowhere more so than in ‘broken english’ where Prem juxtaposes the old world and its language with being a growing boy in a new country. “I hear it when a woman rings the phone / and I tell her she’s got a wrong number / she says sori / she meant to dial somebody else / but the sound of her voice is so familiar / it makes me want to go back / to see the people that say / frenki / kako si / you go okay / frenki boy.”

Without having to be obviously emotive, Prem’s work resonates emotively with the reader, and you feel for the little boy slipping between worlds and his sensitive and striking ability to notice details few of us do. The last poem in the collection is a perfect ending; “the old town is different now / so am I / but the circle / is set to be squared / at last.” (circular square town). I had a lump in my throat finishing this collection and an appreciation for a man I do not know, who has the sensitivity and intelligence to bring to life so vibrantly and with such beauty and sadness, a time passed, but one that has such enduring value.

More of Frank Prem’s work can be found at www.frankprem.com

[Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the dedication poem, “I Can Hardly Wait to Show You”, to “Circular Square Town”, Frank Prem's chronological journey from infancy to the present has a familiar feel to it. Almost as if you were take a walk through your own memory lane to recall the innumerable small, but unforgettable moments that make up a life. Frank's style is minimalist, with plenty of room to fill in the blanks with your own conjecture or possible parallel memories. Written about an Australian town that was a gold-rush town in its day, it touches on those times as well as describes the landscapes there. Frank's work is approachable, understandable, and sensitive in its handling of the most delicate of subjects.

My favorite poems, in a book of favorites – they're all good! – are: “poppy cakes”, “frenki boy”, “the exuberance of my aunt”, “loss of faith”, “picnic story”, “the dawn of civilisation”, “the hallways of st. joseph's”, “pumpkin rock terrorists”, “a tricky place (the annual fete)”, “fight”, “sweet maureen”, “libby's puzzle”, “vale”, “palmer's not”.

[Janet Gogerty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first time I have downloaded poetry onto my Kindle. I had read some of the author's verses on line which led me to buy this and his following collection. The verse, without punctuation, words kept to a minimum, is liberating. I was gently lulled into the first poem, setting the scene for a quiet country town. Delicious cooking, a wedding, church on Sunday, but suddenly a letter changes Sundays. Then there is a picnic, a picnic bigger than most of us have known. All life is here including the outhouse. The boy grows, school, seasons, school report, growing up, the town changes with modern life, friends lost and in the last verse closing the circle.

[Jan Mc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming small poems about growing up in Australia during the 1950s and 1960s. The lack of uppercase letters and punctuation took me a bit to get used to, but the nostalgia won out. I took my time and savored the pieces instead of rushing through.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a fan of a good love story and Frank Prem’s memoir, Small Town Kid, doesn’t disappoint. This small book of exquisitely written poetry traces Frank’s life from infancy through to young adulthood in the small town of Beechworth, country Australia during the 1960s and 1970s. Frank Prem’s reminiscences are rooted in place, whether that be the family home, the outhouse, the main street, memorial park or the Beechworth gorge. In I can hardly wait to show you, Prem invites readers

to the places where my spirit lies
along singing waters and scrubby creeks
the green and granite-bouldered hills
that never stop calling
and won’t let me deny them

It is a real love story. We are introduced to a seeming childhood nirvana, where young larrikins run amok away from the eyes of preoccupied parents; where snaffled contraband and a hint of danger add to the day’s excitement (see fast-track perambulation, pumpkin-rock terrorists, holes in pockets). It was a place where the passage of seasons was marked by community ritual and a good party (see fires of autumn, at easter, a tricky place, crackers). Yet, like many country towns of its era, Prem's town could be tribal, intolerant, and had its fair share of tragedies (see the hallways of st-joseph’s, relentlessness, fight, vale, and palmer’s not).

Mr Prem’s writing is rich in sentiment yet the emotion is restrained. Prem tells his story with wit, humour and compassion. But there is also a less pleasant side to living in a small regional town, which is couched in a good dose of irony that will not be lost on readers. The language of his verse is beautiful — complex but simple, compelling, reflective and lyrical.

While his memories are crystal clear, the passage of time illuminates. Frank Prem’s poems about his migrant family are particularly moving, conveying as they do such warmth and joy, even though the family’s “difference” often causes young Frank considerable embarrassment. In this coming of age story (both for Frank and the town), we see Frank as both an active participant in, and independent observer of, the story. Life in town can be difficult for those that are different and struggle to fit in. There is a sense too of Frank as the ‘other’, which grows stronger as time passes. Could it be his ethnicity that sets him apart, or perhaps it comes from being a thinker and a wordsmith, and not a footballer (see in the rooms), forester or farmer (see a cocky’s lot)? Or maybe it is his lack of athletic prowess?

(facade catches)
high up
look closely
inside the granite triangles
the signature markings
of a young boy’s dreams
live in the shapes
left behind by a muddy tennis ball
on a solitary day after rain

The yearning to connect, to belong, is physical and mental. However, sometimes a square peg has to leave so that he can come home.

(circular square town)
I’m watching a circle form
from the start
at the point where I had to leave
….
the old town is different now
so am I
but the circle
is set to be squared
at last

I was very moved by this book, and I think you will be too.

[Martii Maclean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small Town Kid is filled with rich memories of childhood and family. Frank’s poems paint vivid pictures of a time when the rhythms of life were less hurried. This poetry collection comes together into a joyous, warm quilt of memories.
‘Poppy Cakes’ took me back to my granny’s kitchen, tasting the delicious mysteries of her secret recipes. ‘From inside the outhouse’ made me shudder, as I remembered fears of falling in and being lost for good, but these humorous recollections of a pre-flush generation brought a smile to my face.
‘Crackers’ took me back to amazing cracker-nights and the thrill of those pocket-money explosions.
I very much enjoyed spending some time in Frank’s home town. It reminded me of those simple pleasures and people that make us who we are. It was delightful to share these treasured memories.

[Joy Kidney · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author of these delightful poems is from Australia, but his mosey down memory lane are so compelling to this reader from middle America. The words "sarma" and "rakiya" were brought to Iowa by Bosnian refugees. The author's background is also eastern European, with such delightful poems about his aunt who was married in a fire station. I especially enjoyed "the exuberance of my aunt" and "mum's cooking." There's even one called "from inside the outhouse." A very enjoyable collection with universal themes.

[Paulette Lancaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome read. I love poetry and I love history and this gives both my loves a trip down memory lane.
I love hearing about others experiences growing up but Frank Prem's is from a different country which adds to his story. if you love or like poetry you'll love this one.❤️

[Christine Goodnough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frank Prem gives us a flashback to a simpler age

While I'm not a boy and grew up an ocean plus a hemisphere away, I've enjoyed travelling with the writer through the scenes if his childhood and teenage years. Some things were much the same when my siblings and I were growing up.

[Maria Parenti · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely and true collection of life as it was.

[Cage Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC, but it makes no difference. This book of poems is an intriguing and insightful look at country towns - one of my favourite subjects. This book has poems that show an Australia that's gone - or is it? The stories are wonderful, closely entwined with the people and place. It will bring a smile, maybe a wink, and you will enjoy every word.
It's also worth listening to the presentations at the library (see his website).
Fun, Frank, and wondful reading. Thank you.

[Petrina Binney · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delight this book is. Small Town Kid is a collection of autobiographical poetry, focussed on the early life of Australian poet, Frank Prem. It’s just beautiful. In small bursts of verse, we are afforded a glimpse into a life and I just loved it.

It seems churlish to pick favourites, so let’s get started…

Loss of faith is beautiful.

Nightman is a story of the man who empties out the outhouse and one night, trips over with the bucket onto the street, resulting in some spillage. Very evocative and splendidly written.

Sunsets are… is glorious. I have to go to Australia. I have to.

State of the art made me chuckle, actually out loud, startling my Jack Russell. A favourite line for me was - “papier-mâché is just messy rubbish.” Love it.

The language is fluid and profound, the poems are stunning and a joy to behold, the use of lower-case lettering throughout is a delight. You must read this book. You just must.

https://amzn.to/36KHjIp

[Catherine Habbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

 A very interesting genre, written entirely in verse like the booker shortlisted 'The Long Take'.

Set in a small town in a time when there was no internet or the online existence of social media.

This delightful book follows the author as he metamorphs through the different stages of his life in easy poetry.

[Victoria Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is raw, emotional and honest book. Each piece (or poem/or step/or chapter) resonates with me long after I’d read it. Love, childhood, school, family, love, heartbreaks, Easter, fights, hate - you will not be disappointed. Talented and touching...the story of a little boy or an older man = two in one. It is an interesting read for those who enjoy poetry (free verse) that moves and speaks to your heart and soul. Full review I’ll post on my blog in April.