This book contains an introduction centred on migration, exile, «the other», and the experience of multicultural communities in the modern world, followed by three sections of original poetry. In Part I, poems deal with Britain, Canada, and China (mainly Hong Kong). In Part II the focus shifts to Australia and then Europe again (mainly France). Part III, entitled «Shards» presents fragmentary lyric voices suggesting the processes of cultural fragmentation and change. In each part the poems connect with individual experience, historical events such as the French, Russian and Chinese revolutions, myth and art. Multicultural experience as a modern reality, loss, regeneration and creativity are all major concerns in the poems. Their many artistic references include, among others, Apollinaire, Bonnefoy, Michael Bullock, Rosalía de Castro, Dante, Robert Desnos, Anne Frank, Li Po, Magritte, Albert Namajira, Sidney Nolan, Bill Reid, Laura Wee Lay Laq and Zhang Ji. From the experience of living in modern multicultural societies, the writer envisages the kind of international modernity that tries to preserve the dignity of individuals and humane values. Such modernity has emerged from cultures fragmented by revolutions, globalization, and rapid change. These poems occupy both hemispheres, inhabit temperate and tropical zones, and make cultural transfers across them.
