VERITY LA POETRY PODCAST Episode 6: Melinda Smith

MELINDA SMITH: In this edition of the Verity La Poetry Podcast, Podcast Producer Alice Allan and Managing Editor Michele Seminara chat with Melinda Smith about her new book, Goodbye Cruel, just published by Pitt Street Poetry.

We also hear how Melinda’s poem manifest was created, before diving into a discussion of motherhood and writing. Melinda talks about how she tackled the theme of suicide in Goodbye, Cruel, and about how Janet Frame’s poem The Suicides was an important cornerstone for her.

Finally we hear what’s been happening in the Canberra poetry scene over the past few years and consider how much things have changed since the days of Wright and Hope.

Listen to the episode here.

Missed our earlier episodes? Listen here!


ACT poet Melinda Smith won the 2014 Prime Minister’s Literary award for her fourth book of poems, Drag down to unlock or place an emergency call. Her most recent collection is Goodbye, Cruel. Her poems have been anthologised widely in Australia and overseas, and translated into multiple languages.