PublishedUwa Publishing, February 2018 |
ISBN9781742589596 |
FormatSoftcover, 100 pages |
Dimensions21cm × 14cm |
Winner of the WA Premier's Book Award for Premier's Prize for Emerging Writer
'This deeply personal book is also an important historical record. Written from the heart and covering a period of time working on Christmas Island with asylum seekers until her return to Australia with an urgency to bear witness, Pettitt-Schipp's steady eye is levelled at a facade of Australian inclusivity and openness "this land's edge /has always been an invitation/a white-toothed smile/ to walk on". To those denied entry, those white teeth become menace, exclusion, shark, crocodile. In a book filled with heart-breakingly tender portraits, borders and bodies, sanctions and sanctuary are held close to each other in ways which articulate the space but also, the common ground between "us".' - Amanda Joy
'These beautiful Christmas Island poems capture both the despair of asylum seekers imprisoned by rock and sea and their ancient will to continue.' - Gillian Triggs
