Books

What We Carry

Poetry on Childbearing

This anthology brings together the voices of over 60 contemporary Australian poets and features diverse perspectives and experiences of infertility, conception, termination, loss, pregnancy, birth and the early postnatal period. They provide powerful insights into the potential for childbearing experiences to define us, change the trajectories of our lives, and teach us about what it means to be human. For after all, all of us were carried, at the beginning.

‘These are powerful, subversive, dangerous words, words that break down and build up; words that witness, resist and change… To experience its compelling potency, this anthology needs to be read—not in a single sitting, but gradually, over time, perhaps several months. Then, perhaps, this crescendo of transcultural voices might settle from howl to hum; or they might not..’ Westerly Magazine

‘There’s a bravery and an honesty about the poems in this collection. Each shines with emotional truth, with extraordinary emotional courage.’ The Canberra Times

‘…the multiplicity of experiences examined poetically is the strength of this book. ‘What We Carry’ is a compelling anthology that is hard to read lightly or without emotional engagement…’ Australian Book Review

Read a beautiful review by Emma Darragh here