The City of Empty Rooms

Synopsis

This is the most recent collection of poems by Tom Shaocott, prize winning Australian writer; this is a poet at the height of his creativity and ranges from poems about family, ancestry, beginnings, to poems about social issues, particularly the worldwide phenomenon of refugees and the stressed world we live in.

Praise for this Book

‘Tom Shapcott has a rare talent for renewing himself. Surprising, humorous, passionately engaged, endlessly acute and curious, about the body, the world, family, place, this is a late book that sometimes sharply, sometimes forgivingly looks back, but always with the freshness of things felt and seen anew in a living present.’ —David Malouf

‘Tom Shapcott is many poets rolled into one: a poet of ethics, a poet of politics, a poet of history, a poet of travel, and a poet of cultural exchange. He is also a poet of great versatility and difference. From narratives to lyrics, from traditional forms come out of many languages, to fresh and invigorating open verse structures, his work ranges widely. Tom Shapcott never stays still for long, and wherever he ventures he takes his vast experience, consummate technical skill, and renowned generosity along with him. If it’s not been made before, he’ll make it. He is a door-opener and a path-finder. It all makes for fascinating poetry.’ —John Kinsella