Barrina South
Makarra
Recent Work Press, 2024
The poems in this collection were written over the past few years in various locations: riverbanks; hospital corridors; writers retreats; oceans; in the leaf litter photographing fungi; by the fire with my two dogs; hotel rooms on business trips. I am inspired by all the poets that have walked beside me and have written words to fuel the fires for positive change and peace.
Yellow Tailed Black cockatoos have just flown over and, as always, I run to catch a glimpse. My dogs have learnt their cry and join me on the back deck. These birds often arrive marking key episodes in my life, including this last piece of writing for this collection. Makarra is reflected in my poems, rain nourishes my words, water cleanses my thoughts and refreshes the path of the life journey ahead of me.
“Makarra is Barkinji for rain. Barrina South’s debut collection of the same name showers us with a wealth of poetry that is at the same time visceral, tender, political and personal. Like the Baaka River – ancestral home of the poet, Blak sisterhood, motherhood, womanhood, kinship, friendship, solidarity, hope, loss, fear, and aspiration braid and flow effortlessly and seamlessly through these poems that are grounded in love of Country, people and language. Barrina weaves a powerful, tribute through beautifully crafted words to the resilience of First Nations people; and our continued resistance to colonial oppression and dispossession.”
About the Author:
Barrina South is a Barkindji woman living on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country. As well as being an emerging poet, she is a visual artist and academic committed to Aboriginal women’s autobiographical narratives. She has facilitated several workshops on her visual art and academic research MA (Hons) Sociology.
Her current poetry commission for the Kindred Tree Project can be accessed here. You can hear a two-part interview on Barrina's poetry, influences and practice which was aired on 31 December 2023 and 7 January 2024 here.
