Lupa and Lamb

"Lupa and Lamb is a remarkable achievement from a gifted poet. Hawthorne's book is a gem and a 'must-read' for anyone interested in women's spiritual traditions, women's history, mythology, archeology, and archeomythology." Mary Saracino, the Goddess Pages. Feb 2014. See her complete review below!
'Lupa and Lamb' begins with a descent into the unknown in the cave of the Sibilla Cumana, and then swirling through stars and constellations. Susan Hawthorne encompasses la grande bellezza (sweet Roma where else would you want to be?), leading us to the emotional leap into other realms / a transit out of time into timelessness to find the unfound and unfindable.Marina Morbiducci, Professor of English Language and Translation, Sapienza University, Rome
Whod have thought that erudition could be so exotic, erotic and dazzlingly entertaining? In this triumphantly inventive excursion into feminist revisionism, Hawthorne is fully mistress of language and genre as she brings her Roman women into view in the diverse roles lover, poet, prostitute, martyr and the sometimes dark fates that await them as living instances of she-wolf and lamb.Jennifer Strauss AM
This vibrant collection of lyric poetry exhumes female ardour from among old male traditions. It asks us again and again why we are not open to the emotional rhythms that come down to us from the Aegean and from Rome: but also from mythic vibrations that were awake even far earlier. These poems ask us to wake up and live.Chris Wallace-Crabbe AM
Reading Susan Hawthorne's 'Lupa and Lamb', I was transported back to a time of wondering and wandering. Where bones and museum artefacts lose their dryness, become fully fleshed and whisper their stories intimately in your ear. Here the full pagan glory of Italy meets the inquisitive and absorbing gaze of Australian poet Susan Hawthornes eye. Heartbreaking, sensual and unexpectedly funny.Kavisha Mazzella, singer and songwriter
Combining erudition with emotion and eroticism, intellect with imagination, Susan Hawthorne weaves womens forgotten history into a magic web of remembering and re-imagining. With her playful juxtapositions of words, names, times, places and species, she shows there is freedom in not forgetting, and that the world could have been can be different.Robyn Arianrhod, author of 'Seduced by Logic'
Susan Hawthorne has created a wonderfully rich imaginative poetic tapestry, weaving together fragments of lost and found memories, mythology, archaeology, ancient languages and modern cosmology. An erudite feminist, once again thought provoking and fun.Meryl Waugh, PhD (Astrophysics), University of Melbourne
Susan Hawthornes words honour ancient inspirations, revive and celebrate the past and transport the reader to new horizons.Powhiri Wharemarama Rika-Heke, Learning Leader, Social Sciences, Alfriston College
'Lupa and Lamb' which follows the root and transformation of languages through their own transmigration, is more than poetry, more than history, more than a mnemonic tool which can assists the initiated in re-engaging with women centred psychology. At the core of 'Lupa and Lamb' is a treatise in confronting and understanding the self in the present, through a panoramic prism of the mythical past.Lella Cariddi, poet, artist, curator
Reading 'Lupa and Lamb' is not like opening Pandoras box. The treasures released: poetry that redeems the voices and torn whispers of millennia of women, give only delight. Playful Curatrix eases us through ancient languages, myths and the intricate details of love and lust. Always we are reminded that poiesis is fabrication, creation and re-making; this is how the past can be found and reworked into divine gifts.Lyn Hatherly, author of 'Acts of Abrasion and Sapphos Sweetbitter Songs'
a complicated and dense book. Wonderfully written and so much depth in it.Robyn Rowland AO, author of 'Seasons of Doubt and Burning'
Inspired by her residency at the Whiting Studio in Rome, Susan Hawthorne's 'Lupa and Lamb' explores the mysteries of ancient sites and treasures in Rome and nearby countries, linking the past with the present, and collecting hidden treasures the archaeologists have missed. Poems, plays and 'lost texts' of women through the ages are presented in words and imagery that offer sensual and intellectual delights. This is translation in its widest sense - a collection to be treasured and reread.Elaine Lewis, author of 'Left Bank Waltz'
Susan Hawthorne has created a lovely, lively combination of leaning, intellect, passion and fun in 'Lupa and Lamb'. Both profound and playful, these poems entertain, uplift and inform. Curatrixs offering at the beginning and the end are a particular delight as was/is the mixing up of time. Pat Rosier, author of 'Where the Heart Is'"
"Susan Hawthorne, polyglot scholar and poet, invites you too to a party of countless women across the ages! The talk's torrential, the company fascinating, the cultural crossovers dizzying. Expect the unexpected - Pope Francis, Nauru, love-song and prayer, and Palaeolithic Lupa across the table.Judith Rodriguez AM