Overview

A verse drama of fifteen sonnets based on many reports of abuse and neglect in Australian nursing homes. Written specifically for live performance, it covers imagined events during the final weeks of an elderly man's life.

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9780645114546

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Reviews

This is an impressive achievement. Hazel Hall writes fifteen linked sonnets which segue seamlessly from one to another to highlight one of the most shocking scandals of our time-the aged care system and its inherent elder abuse. Hall is an excellent poet whose craft and technique is displayed here but what raises this work above the ordinary is her empathy and insight. These qualities are present in the four well-rounded characters she creates and the subtle, skillful way she brings them to life on the page in their 'state of art facility.' Wilson's life and death stand for the many deaths that have occurred in nursing homes, the suffering of their families, and the toll taken on overworked and undervalued nursing staff. This is a thought- provoking, innovative and above all memorable work. It deserves to be widely read and performed to raise awareness of this distressing subject. Moya Pacey Hazel Hall has given us an empathetic and political poetic commentary on the aged care industry. This collection narrates an original view of the experiences of a range of characters using the form of linked sonnets. Immensely readable and conscience pricking. Sandra Renew This is a moving verse drama, a radio play in elegant sonnets, about an old musician accepting death, while a daughter, allied with an underpaid caretaker, skirmishes with a shadowy Diocese and its local Nurse Ratched. A wise and haunting piece. Mark O'Connor

Author Information

Hazel Hall is an Australian poet and musicologist. She has published work in many local and overseas anthologies and journals and featured in various printed journals, websites and blogs. She judged the ACT Writers' Awards with Merlinda Bobis (2019) and the Tanka Society of America's Sanford Goldstein Contest (2019) with Michelle Brock. Hazel coordinates Poetry at Manning Clark House, Canberra. She has edited several anthologies with ACT poets Suzanne Edgar, Kathy Kituai, Moya Pacey and Sandra Renew.

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