beautiful, unfinished

Synopsis

This wondrous book of parables, meditative cantos, mysterious songs, lyrical and exploratory poems mapping interstices between experience, emotion, and realization casts Zen-like nets – those of a boldly honest, brilliant Western heart-mind – and from there opens onto the palpable world that shapes and impels our lives.

Reviews of this Book

‘I can stick to straightforward words of praise, such as brilliance of technical address and originality of utterance, when describing her verse.’ —Peter Porter, The Age

‘She is a time and space traveller on a grand scale …’ —Barry Hill, The Australian

‘This 'unfinished' collection by M.T.C. Cronin is better than almost all of the polished, earnest Australian collections I have read in recent years. She is a genius of poetry. Many of her poems intentionally baffle expectations set up in the first lines; others link apparently unrelated images and hint at their conjoined possibilities; still others invite you to search for their meaning in other poems or places outside the text. Even her most fragmentary or cosiest-seeming pieces point skyward to meta-realms.’ —Stephen Lawrence, Journal of Australian Studies

‘All great books just tell you the story, all great poetry is a result of an artist capturing the truth, even if there is no story, the truth of our aloneness in the vast unknown. Beautiful, unfinished – parable, song, canto, poem is a masterpiece of music in words. Buy this book. Read it a whole bunch of times. It is a necessary addition to your brain-software in this techno-mystical age.’ —Brentley Frazer, Cordite Magazine

‘beautiful unfinished is a book of tremendous riches, and a quite exhilarating power. Ms Cronin is one to follow – no doubt of that.’ —Tony Frazer, Shearsman