ISBN 978-1-923680-22-7
PAPERBACK
The sweetness of dust
‘I guess it’s not surprising. As the living get quieter, the dead get louder.’
In her debut poetry collection The sweetness of dust, Amanda Kube explores what it feels like to close the book on a five generation Wimmera-Mallee farm. Moving deftly between shifts in time and perspective Kube draws us into daily life, where forebears are never far – ‘a glimpse, a shadow, disappearing around the corner’ – providing solace and admonishment.
More tender confessional than outback yarn, Kube’s gaze is wide open; embodied and lyrical. The women of this place step forward and tell stories of loneliness, isolation, and endless chores that sit alongside moments of quiet revelation. The farm always the central, nameless character – both cradle and constraint – connecting this restless family to Wotjobaluk presence. Walk with Adelene who has gone before. She circles the farm, still feeling the gravitational pull to place, with some things on her mind.
About the Author
Amanda Kube is an educator who has spent most of her life in rural and remote Australia. She has qualifications in primary education, teaching English to speakers of other languages, and remedial massage. She is a volunteer fossil preparator at Eromanga Natural History Museum and can make a decent salad from whatever is left in the bottom of the fridge. This is her first poetry collection, centred around the years she lived on a family farm on Wotjobaluk land. Amanda now lives on Dja Dja Wurrung land in central Victoria.