Hello everyone! Heartfelt thanks to Carolyn, Wendy and Oscar for granting me the enormous privilege of launching these two inaugural publications from the exciting new Other Terrain Press.
I would like to start by also acknowledging the traditional custodians of the unceded soil on which we are gathered – in my native language which was prohibited during Ireland’s colonisation:
Aithním na daoine Chéad Náisiúin an talamh seo – muintir Wurundjeri, Woi‑wurrung as an Náisiúin Kulin – nár ghéill a dtailte sinseartha riamh. Tugaim ómós dá seanóirí a bhí agus atá ann fós.
I must commend everyone at Other Terrain Press on these two magnificent maiden vessels. To launch an independent press in these times is both a labour of love and an act of faith. These are two beautifully wrought and stunningly produced volumes – my sincerest congratulations to the authors and everyone involved – and especially also to Dee Dee who designed the exquisite covers for both books.
It is my delight and honour to first introduce Oscar O’Neill-Pugh and his glorious and ambitious debut poetry collection, ‘Musings of a Dune Thistle’. I first encountered Oscar when he accepted some of my poems for publication in Other Terrain Journal – that was almost exactly nine years ago! Our association soon grew as we were appointed joint Poetry Editors for Swinburne University’s two literary magazines – spearheaded by Carolyn and Wendy.
What I observed in Oscar back then – as a budding writer – and what shines through from the very first pages, and all the way through this collection is his dedication to learning and honing his craft. As part of that journey, Oscar attained a Bachelor of Professional Writing and Editing at Swinburne University and was part of the founding editorial team for Other Terrain and Backstory journals.
What ‘Musings of a Dune Thistle’ attests to is Oscar’s ongoing commitment to refining his skills, to perfecting his art. As he tells it, Oscar is a poet and writer who has been captivated by storytelling since childhood. This strong narrative focus is evident throughout this book – as is his close attention to detail and his attachment to coastal ecology.
As an avid sailor and birdwatcher, Oscar draws both inspiration and analogy from the natural world, threading evidence of animal and plant life through his own testimony of human experience. Drawing on the beauty and resilience of his beloved maritime influences, Oscar unflinchingly charts his own voyage of self-discovery, survival, and quiet strength.
Renowned Australian poet, Les Wicks observed that the dune thistle is “a truly apt anchor for this book”. I couldn’t agree more! In the dune thistle, Oscar has selected both the perfect journey companion and metaphor – this elegant but hardy coastal native withstands the ravages of salt, wind, and sun to help stabilise the land. Yet, it is often misunderstood and mistakenly removed as an invasive weed. So too, Oscar persists, represents and triumphs in this remarkable debut volume.
Prize-winning poet and editor, Denise O’Hagan has commended Oscar on his “lyrical precision” which she called the hallmark of ‘Musings of a Dune Thistle’. These poems, she observed, “are infused with sensitivity and a joyousness in the sheer ‘eruption of life’ offered by nature where even the smallest plant is ‘shaped under sacred geometry’”. She went on to say “Yet for all the intensity of vision coursing through these poems, their wry humour and embedded promise of hope ensure a universal appeal, particularly as we find ourselves poised at a time of unprecedented ecological crisis”. [End quote]
Through his exploration of the themes of endurance, perseverance, surrender, hope, healing through nature and transformation; through his keen observation and his finely-tuned craft, Oscar opens our eyes and our hearts, stirring our curiosity, our sensitivity and our tenderness.
He opens us up to his world of wisdom and solace gleaned from immersion in nature – the shape of language in a shell, the gutturals of seagulls, the whisperings of sea breezes. This book is a delicate interweaving of love song, ecological outcry and personal journey.
Through it, Oscar offers us a dazzling assemblage of coastal flora and fauna – all presented with a commendable attention to scientific detail. I lost count of the species he captures – from the eponymous dune thistles to eucalypts, poppies and bougainvillea. His flora are accompanied by a startling array of animal life – from the romantically titled moon snail, to gannets, scallops, a crocodile, five varieties of cormorant, stick insects, rats, seagulls, crabs, albatross, dolphins, a black cat, sulphur crested cockatoos, rabbits, feral cats, pelicans, cowries, cockles, periwinkles, whelks, sandcreepers, sealice, jellyfish, barnacles, and clams. ….No doubt I’ve missed a few…! Amongst them, Oscar skillfully interpolates arresting domestic details – the human struggle always foregrounded by his ecological outcry.
Oscar’s attendance to language is commendable. He echoes the rhythms he finds in nature – the lulling of ocean currents, a kiss of sea breeze. He adeptly employs a plethora of literary devices – evocative sensory imagery, metaphor and symbolism, pathetic fallacy, alliteration, assonance, a variety of rhyming forms, not to mention anaphora, anthropomorphism/personification and onomatopoeia.
Interwoven and interconnected with these are classical allusions and historical references – evidencing Oscar’s dedication to his own and his readers’ enlightenment. In support of this, I would direct you to Oscar’s thoughtful and useful explanatory notes at the back of the book.
There is a dreamlike quality to Oscar’s poetry – at times nightmarish! – but always chiselled and with careful attendance to the shape of text in the white space… You will sometimes find his words flying across the page, emulating a bird in flight.
Oscar also has an originality of language encompassing universal insights – he has a fine turn of phrase. Here are a few of my favourite lines and text fragments from the book:
- ‘the promise of a dream written in every fibre of its being’
- ‘shaped under sacred geometry’
- ‘soaking up the soul’s ebb and flow and remaining, unmoved, by the undertow. Once full and reacquainted with the abyss below.’
- ‘Today finds half a scallop shell flat and unassuming / it calls, it speaks / a melody of its past inhabitant’
- ‘Hungry, furrowing substrate until it summits, the moon snail crawls across a tomb’
- ‘found now looking out on a sea stack citadel under moonlight’
- ‘the skies, gloom twisted and weeping obsidian’
- ‘the flash, exposing the storm around, within’ ….
- ‘the crystalline coat of halite brought by brine-mist’.
- ‘The call to step out, release / to take that great and wonderful and terrible leap’
- ’the seed rooted inside sprouts, delivering the cry of life’.
- ‘My breath is for the Salt Queen / her desert of brine and blue’
- ‘The Black Cat saunters towards the dawn, while the little lilac lover lies in effervescent bloom’
- ‘Come, let us stretch our atoms / and intertwine our fingertips / and join in this moment / where everything is forever / until it is no more.’
Like the crab he describes regrowing its severed pincer, Oscar emerges from this beautiful collection as a poet whole, transformed.
I thought I would finish by reading you a single short poem from the book and in doing so I declare ‘Musings of a Dune Thistle by Oscar O’Neill-Pugh officially launched – I hope you will support him and Other Terrain Press by buying many copies for you and all your friends!
The Australasian Gannet
From stern to port quarter,
beam, bow,
and crossing to starboard,
the gannet cuts
a perfect streak of white.
A soft lightning bolt
flashed with a pastel orange,
denoting the head
and all the wisdom
of the wind, waves and water
from which
its daily purpose is determined.
Thank you so much for your kind attention. You will now have the privilege of hearing from the poet himself – as I invite Oscar to come up and address you.
