Books
DiVERSE
Conversations with YA and Children's Verse Novelists
“Expertly compiled, with a strong focus on diversity and inclusive storytelling, editor Linda Weste skilfully uplifts the voices of 28 verse novelists writing for children and young adults to reveal the power of their narratives. As the poet-novelists tell their stories, the reader is granted beguiling insights into this fascinating format that blurs the boundary between poetry and prose.”
—Janice Bland, Professor of English Education, Nord University, Norway.
Inside the Verse Novel:
Writers on Writing
The verse novel thrives in the UK, USA, Australia and Canada. In twenty-two interviews with international verse novelists, Linda Weste closely discusses the genre. Her subjects include Bernardine Evaristo, joint winner of the Booker Prize in 2019. What they have to say enriches our
understanding of the many ways poetry and narratives can meld to create a unique reading experience.
‘... A major achievement in a growing field of scholarship on the verse novel.’ – Cassandra Atherton, Australian Book Review
The Verse Novel
Australia & New Zealand
In these thirty-five interviews with verse novelists from
Australia and Aotearoa–New Zealand, Linda Weste explores the uniqueness of storytelling through poetry and the genre of the verse novel. Her subjects are notable representatives of a region where verse novels for Adults, Children and Young Adults thrive; among them is Steven Herrick, winner of the prestigious Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 2019; and what they have to say enriches our understanding of the verse novel across each of its publishing categories.
Nothing Sacred: A Novel in Verse
"Nothing Sacred is therefore no mere versification of previous accounts of this key period in the history of Rome ... it offers us a fresh way of knowing that world through the very medium of poetry; and as with all worthwhile poetry, it both encourages and rewards repeated and closer reading to enhance that knowledge. This is a remarkable first novel, revealing a degree of virtuosity which suggests it won’t be Linda Weste’s last."– Paul Skrebels, Historian, Publisher Sabretache, Military Historical Society of Australia.
"Nothing Sacred is a powerful work of poetry... an extraordinary depiction of the times."– Susan Hawthorne, Academic, Poet and novelist, Publisher, Spinifex Press
"Nothing Sacred provides an eclectic, erotic and sometimes profane insight into the private and public lives of Republican Rome. The combination of historicity with sensory poetics provides an immersive, visceral reading experience."
– Ruth McIver, Cordite Poetry Review
