Michael Farrell

Ashbery Mode Michael Farrell

Poetry. LGBTQIA Studies. When the editor of Tinfish Press wrote on a Facebook comment stream that she was interested in publishing work from the Pacific that responded to Ashbery's poetry, she did not expect Michael Farrell to respond that he already had such a manuscript in hand. ASHBERY MODE is that precise anthology, one that includes dozens of Australia's best contemporary poets writing in the mode of Ashbery. Like his New York School colleague and friend, Frank O'Hara, Ashbery proved crucial in relaxing the strictures of Australian poetry, releasing it from its formal and tonal bonds. It's wonderful to see Ashbery transmogrify into a local Australian poet. This book is a companion piece to Eileen R. Tabios's WITNESS IN THE CONVEX MIRROR (Tinfish Press, 2019) and, like her book, shows how poetic influence gets activated across national and oceanic boundaries, as well as how source texts can open up into radically new perspectives.