{"id":4172,"date":"2022-12-13T11:28:04","date_gmt":"2022-12-13T11:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/english-news\/?p=4172"},"modified":"2022-12-13T12:05:20","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T12:05:20","slug":"david-herds-walk-song-named-book-of-the-year-by-the-australian-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/english-news\/2022\/12\/13\/david-herds-walk-song-named-book-of-the-year-by-the-australian-book-review\/","title":{"rendered":"David Herd\u2019s Walk Song named a Book of the Year by the Australian Book Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re delighted to announce that\u00a0Professor\u00a0David Herd’s\u00a0<\/a>collection of poetry,\u00a0Walk Song<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>has been named a Book of the Year in the\u00a0Australian Book Review\u00a0<\/a>(ABR).\u00a0In making his selection, the writer\u00a0John Kinsella<\/a>\u00a0praised\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u2018the inviting and inclusive act of walk-speaking that is Walk Song \u2026with its \u201clocal action\u201d and \u201cact of welcome\u201d: the political lyric that walks the page\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The ABR accolade follows a series of excellent reviews of\u00a0Walk Song<\/em>.\u00a0Litter Magazine<\/a>\u00a0described the book as \u2018a humane and vitally important collection\u2019, while\u00a0Blackbox Manifold magazine<\/a>, commented that, \u2018This is a fine fine collection \u2026passionately engaged, moving towards real change, charged with the vivid strength of a collective commons\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Written between 2015 and 2020,\u00a0Walk Song<\/i>\u00a0weaves in and out of the\u00a0Refugee Tales<\/a>\u00a0project, of which Professor Herd is a co-organiser. Addressing the environments contemporary politics has made, including the border and its hostilities, the poems\u00a0<\/i>set out the need for a language of welcome. Through its exploration of landscape and politics, friendship and movement, the book builds, across a series of poetic sequences, towards action and hope.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

You can listen to an excerpt from Walk Song<\/em> below:<\/p>\n