Book Review – Small Town Kid by Frank Prem

First published, 2009

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What a delight this book is. Small Town Kid is a collection of autobiographical poetry, focussed on the early life of Australian poet, Frank Prem. It’s just beautiful. In small bursts of verse, we are afforded a glimpse into a life and I just loved it.

It seems churlish to pick favourites, so let’s get started…

loss of faith is beautiful.

nightman is a story of the man who empties out the outhouse and one night, trips over with the bucket onto the street, resulting in some spillage. Very evocative and splendidly written.

sunsets are… is glorious. I have to go to Australia. I have to.

state of the art made me chuckle, actually out loud, startling my Jack Russell. A favourite line for me was – “papier-mâché is just messy rubbish.” Love it.

The language is fluid and profound, the poems are stunning and a joy to behold, the use of lower-case lettering throughout is a delight. You must read this book. You just must.

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