Echidnas Don't Live Here Any More

'This powerful collection leads readers through the harrowing reality of losing everything to bushfire. Broughton experienced the unimaginable. In one terrifying day, she and her husband lost everything: the home where they'd raised a family, all her memorabilia, her journals, all their artwork. And the landscape she'd loved and tended for over forty years was burned beyond recognition. Using a lyrical mix of free verse, Japanese form and prose poetry, this important collection explores loss and renewal on physical, spiritual and ecological levels. Intimately observed and heartbreakingly philosophical, Broughton creates a clear-eyed self-portrait of a woman gently tending hope even within the maelstrom of sorrow. Finding strength in the resilience of her bushland home, Broughton creates a lyrical personal history that speaks of what it means to lose everything, yet still trust in family, community and the natural world to sustain her through the darkest of times.' - Rachael Mead