Alchemy of the Sun
is a book about journeys. Sent to "open up the country", ignorant of Aboriginal strategies for coping with the terrain and climate, many of the desert explorers failed, some dying in the attempt. Today's battle is with man-made climate change and its after-effects, an ongoing fecklessness that has disturbed the delicate balance of elements and environment. These poems seek to challenge the mindset of "conquering" the land, and offer instead the opportunity of mediation with the forces that shape the planet and our lives.
"The poems in Margaret Bradstock's latest collection take the reader into a range of worlds so richly perceived that, on reading each poem, we feel as if we are there. In this volume, time hardens, refracts, draws backwards into history and beyond, or moves forward into the world we inhabit, relentlessly, subtly, compassionately, and often with an ironic sting to remind how the lives we live now are bound to what humanity is doing to the planet. Always thematically connected, the poems in
deftly traverse acute observations with finesse and skill, each poem keeping the reader grounded in place and time, and in life celebrated even down to its devastating endings. An impressive collection by a poet working with full technical and conceptual acuity, and with an eye on life's perpetual new beginnings." - Marcelle Freiman