Publications

You can actually part with money and own a hard copy of some of the verse that first appeared on this blog, along with occasional other bits and pieces. You can send me an email at jonathan @ shawryan . id . au (without the spaces), or buy from Lulu at the links below.

Take Five (2020)

A fifth collection of November verses, plus just a few others. The others include a longer narrative poem about the Innisfail Incident, which created headlines around the world in December 1928 and January 1929 and has since disappeared from our collective memory – until now. Cover is a painting by Penny Ryan, photographed by Alex Ryan.

Available from Amazon and lulu.com. Discounted price at Lulu is USD $9.43.

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Four, Good Measure (2018)

Another three years worth of November verses, plus just a few others. Having in past years versified speeches by Alan Jones, Tony Abbott and Scott Ludlam, I have failed to do anything with the utterances of the 45th President of the United States. Cover illustration once again by Penny Ryan.

Available from Amazon and lulu.com. Discounted price at Lulu is $10.15.

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Third Time Lucky (2015)

Two years worth of November verses, plus fragments from other stuff written in 2015, and a versification of Tony Abbott’s speech relinquishing the prime ministership. Cover image is a sculpture in clay by Penny Ryan, photograph by Kate Scott.

You can buy a copy at lulu.com for the discounted price of $11.33. It’a also available at Amazon. Previews possible on both those sites.

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More November Sonnets and Other Stuff (2013)

A second collection, that goes back further in the blog and includes poems that have been previously published elsewhere. Cover drawing by Penny Ryan.

Available at lulu.com for the discounted price of $14.20. You can see a preview there as well.

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November Sonnets and Other Poems (2012)

A collection of light verse from the blog including 14 sonnets from each November from 2010 to 2012, and a versification of Alan Jones’s epic fauxpology for using Julia Gillard’s father’s death to attack her. Cover photo by Penny Ryan.

What I enjoy about these poems the most is their engagement with what another fine poet, Randall Jarrell, called ‘the dailiness of life’.  Jonathan’s subjects can often be called ‘mundane’, but in a positive sense: they are about his world, and ours.  They are snapshots of Sydney and beyond.  And above all, they are snapshots of a playful, inquisitive intelligence bringing language and structure together for the delight of creation.

From the late Will Owen’s blog, Aboriginal Art and Culture: An American Eye

You can see a preview and buy a copy at lulu.com for the discounted price of $8.78.