Lyric essays as transformative practice in Cooke and Holden's new collections

Two new books of lyric essays, Stuart Cooke's 'Apples and Oranges: Adventures in Poetics' and Kate Holden's 'The Ruin of Magic: Longing and Belonging in Strange Times', explore the relationship between personal experience and planetary concerns. Cooke's collection, published by Puncher and Wattmann, reflects on encounters with ravens in Death Valley, fish in Brisbane, and stray cats in the Andes, while also considering poetics as a transformative practice. Holden's book, published by Black Inc., was written after her move to Dharawal Country in the Illawarra, New South Wales, and muses on themes of belonging, home, and gender. Both authors grapple with what it means to be Australian in a global context, with Cooke drawn to the Americas and Holden yearning toward Europe. They also address Indigenous presence in Australia's narrative, with Cooke arguing for an Australian poetics that centres Indigenous voices and embeds itself in Country. Holden questions settler complicity, asking whether non-Indigenous Australians can ever truly be 'homed' on stolen land. The lyric essay is positioned as an antitoxin to a poisoned world, with potential for decolonisation and reconciliation if non-Indigenous writers engage with Indigenous knowledge.