New poetry anthology Woven weaves together First Nations voices from around the globe
As a reviewer for ArtsHub over the last few years, I have worked with an editorial code that reserves a five-star rating for work that genuinely challenges the boundaries of an art form. Woven is the only work I have ever reviewed at that level. It is the first work of its kind, anywhere in the world.
Magabala Books, in partnership with Red Room Poetry, is thrilled to announce the release of Woven out 1 February 2024, a ground- breaking poetry anthology edited by Fair Trade producer, Anne-Marie Te Whiu, that brings together some of the world’s leading First Nations poets.
In a world first, Woven features collaborations by 30 First Nations writers from around the globe, including Ali Cobby Eckermann and Joy Harjo (USA), Samuel Wagan Watson and Sigbjørn Skåden (Norway), Natalie Harkin and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (CAN), Evelyn Araluen and Anahera Gildea (Aotearoa NZ) with a specially co-written Foreword by Jackie Huggins and Linda Tuhiwai Smith (Aotearoa NZ).
With poets from various First Nations backgrounds, including Sámi, Māori, Turtle Island and American First Nations, and Indigenous Australians, Woven offers a diverse and experimental range of poetic styles, reflecting the rich tapestry of First Nations voices. The poems are anchored in relationality, place, and ancestral connections and are a remarkable example of global Indigenous dialogue.
‘By anchoring the project in relationality, Woven’s foundation is about how we connect with each other and what we are prepared, as First Nation artists, to offer and receive. The emphasis was about (re)generating poetic First Nations bonds – solidarity, consensus, family, land, oceans, the moon, remembering, dreaming, sharing, opening, mourning, respect, celebrating, finding, losing, healing and more healing’
