Sinking Lessons

by Philip Armstrong

The poems in Sinking Lessons portray the vitality of a world full of things and beings we too often disregard, using language that vibrates in harmony with the lively tales it tells—from small, everyday events to stories of shipwrecks and strandings, resurrections and reanimations, arctic adventures and descents into the underworld. The cast of characters includes members of the poet’s family alongside heroes from myth and literature, such as Orpheus, Scheherazade, and Frankenstein’s Creature. And crowding in upon these, at all times, a multitude of non-human sun and stars, wind and water, mud and sand, body fluids, decaying matter, chemicals organic and inorganic, and a great many fishes and birds and beasts. Sinking Lessons is the first collection of poetry from Philip Armstrong, winner of the 2019 Kathleen Grattan Poetry Award.

54 pages, Paperback

Published October 31, 2020

About the author

Professor of English

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow

[Pegasus & Chrysaor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this- the cast of family members really elevate the text. The theme of water and being submerged in it is conveyed consistently and effectively. What a nice book of poems!