Victorian haiku poet Robyn Cairns held a very successful launch for her new chapbook In Transit (Ginninderra Press) at the Dancing Dog Café in Footscray – in the heart of Melbourne’s industrial west – on Sunday, 17 July.
As diverse as it was engaging, the launch featured Robyn’s readings of her poetry, as well as musical interpretations of her poems on clarinet, all enhanced by haiga she has likewise created.
After giving expressive readings from all five chapters in her new chapbook, Robyn proceeded to play atmospheric interpretations of further poems from In Transit on clarinet, before being accompanied by her instrumental music teacher, noted jazz clarinetist Jon Hunt.
Haiga created by Robyn also helped to make this launch so diverse and compelling, with colourful linocut images complementing her poetry.
Many of the poems read by Robyn Cairns (including tanka as well as haiku) have a strong urban focus, evocative of Melbourne’s industrial west, where she has lived for several years:
soft sky –
waiting for a crane
to lift the sun
Robyn was supported at her launch by fellow members of the Red Kelpie Haiku Group, including its leader Lorin Ford, as well as by a number of other friends and loved ones.
A strong sense of family was a further theme to emerge at this launch, just as it does through Robyn’s chapbook:
night rain –
never too old
for a lullaby
Selected for publication in its Picaro Poets series, In Transit can be ordered through the Ginninderra Press website:
http://www.gininderrapress.com.au/
- Rodney Williams
Australian Haiku Society 