Riverside comprises Ray Liversidge's work over the last 21 years. It includes selections from three books of poetry, a collection of poems and flash fiction, a verse novel, a chapbook, Issue One of Triptych Poets, plus 28 new poems and flash fictions. From his first collection, Obeying the Call, Liversidge's writing was recognised as "of a high order, reminding us of poetry's origins in ceremony and its ability to name and locate experience" (Island Magazine, 2003). Since then, Liversidge has experimented with various genres in a verse novel described by Jordie Albiston as a "true postmodern epic". Using a version of the Spenserian stanza he celebrates the lives of 29 poets. In a bilingual book, he lamented the massacre of 642 people in France by the Nazis in WW2. His marriage breakdown is eloquently chronicled in a suite of poems. Of late, he has embraced flash fiction after finding a volume by Alex Epstein at a book sale. Riverside offers the reader the opportunity to connect with or rediscover previous work and encounter new writing in this formidable addition to the Australian literary canon.
Writers are often asked why they write, and poets often asked why poetry. I took on board Seamus Heaney's observation that he doesn't write because he must but because he can, and I
consider myself fortunate that I can write and that publishers continue to value and support my work.
As well as being asked why we write, poets are also often asked what poetry is and/or what does it do. Personally, I avoid this navel gazing, but I do like these few quotes:
Poetry is a momentary stay against confusion
Art is not an email. It's not supposed to send a message
A poem should not mean/But be
Poems and flash fiction in this collection - other than new works - have appeared in my published books and Issue One of Triptych Poets (2010). Those published books comprise a collection of poems and flash fiction, three books of poetry, a verse novel and a chapbook.
The book uses time shifts to bring knowledge and understanding of current culture to the chronicle of events.
