And the Waves
Found a better price? Request a price match
And the Waves
Is poetry writing labour? Perhaps I am so damaged that I don't consider writing poetry labour. Every weekend I replenish myself by collapsing and every week I work within a system that is hideous and greasy, that remains ineffective in dealing with whatever it claims to tackle.
Is poetry writing labour? Perhaps I am so damaged that I don't consider writing poetry labour. Every weekend I replenish myself by collapsing and every week I work within a system that is hideous and greasy, that remains ineffective in dealing with whatever it claims to tackle.
I am essentially the system: ineffective, hideous, greasy... confused. I profit from the work I do, from the system that I am. Then I confront myself. Then I turn to poetry. And if I am successful, I want my poetry to resemble the way my body labours, like the waves, coming and keep coming.
There seems no beginning nor end in labour. Across borders of gender, language, immigration, experience, and the lyric 'I', I position myself as a non-Subject that confronts Capitalism in my own turn/term.
Divided into five sections, And the Waves investigates the ethics of producing/'labouring' poetry. I (and 'I') am essentially not Australian (whatever that means), you see.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781923099654
Publisher: Puncher and Wattmann
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 01 November 2025
Country: Australia
Imprint: Puncher and Wattmann
Illustration: Illustrations
DIMENSIONS
Width: 148.0mm
Height: 210.0mm
Weight: 180g
Pages: 80
Collections
About the Author
Luoyang Chen was born and raised in a small town in Fujian, China, and they are residing on the unceded Whadjuk Noongar Boodja (otherwise known as Perth, Western Australia). Luoyang is the author of Flow (Red River/Centre for Stories, 2023), and their poems have been published in journals, such as Overland, Cortide, Rabbit, APJ, APA, Portside Review, The Suburban Review, and Westerly. Luoyang's poetic interests include the lyric "I", labour, language, migration, and the body
More from Arts & Culture
View allWhy buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 80,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
