Leaving New Jersey

This collection recounts the story of leaving America, where the author was born, and of arriving in Australia, where she did not plan to stay.  It is a tale of unsettling and resettling, of leaving as an ongoing process.  Each micro-scene is a snapshot of time and place - spanning decades and moments, continents and conversations, wars, dreams and kitchen tables - to capture the psychological and spatial tensions between 'here' and 'there'.  Leaving New Jersey is a lyrical re-experiencing of putting down roots and tearing them up, an extraordinary poetic account of an ordinary woman's quest for home. Barbara Kamler was born in New Jersey and came to Australia in 1972. She is the author of many academic book titles, over sixty journal articles and book chapters, as well as a poetic memoir based on the life of Blanka Wise. She has published poetry in The Age, The Australian, Australian Poetry Journal, Poetrix, Poetry New Zealand and various anthologies. Barbara is Emeritus Professor at Deakin University, Melbourne, and mentors early career researchers on academic writing and publishing in Australia and overseas. She lives in Melbourne.