Author(s): John Kinsella

Poetry

Based on the Japanese collaborative poetic form, Renga: 100 Poems is a co-authored book by Australian poet John Kinsella and American poet Paul Kane. Each poem in the book, written across a decade, replies to a previous one by the other poet, creating a rich and layered texture of meaning and effect. Using a call and response format, the two poets explore the similarities and differences encountered in their mirror lives, as each has spent years living in the other's country and is deeply engaged in both Australian and American literature. As both poets live in rural areas and have been concerned with ecological issues, many of the poems focus on the global environmental crisis, but the various thematic threads that make up this book weave a complex pattern that deepens and transforms over the course of the book.