A poem by Lang Leav: ‘Cabramatta was dubbed Australia’s drug capital. But it was also a place of refuge’

Each week during Australian Poetry Month, a poet walks us through one of their works. Here, Lang Leav reflects on tense trips to Cronulla beach in the 90s

Survival Is a Promise by Alexis Pauline Gumbs review – a cosmic perspective on Audre Lorde

An innovative biography that recognises the continuing influence of the American poet and activist

Poem of the week: Sudanese Saying by Pierre Joris

Short, stinging lines convey the pain and injustice of the 2016 demolition of the Calais refugee ‘jungle’

A poem by Jazz Money: ‘There are times I want to run away but I know my responsibility is to the here and now’

Each week during Australian Poetry Month, a poet walks us through one of their works. Here, Jazz Money reflects on her relationship with Country

Poem of the week: Ceremony by Christopher Arksey

The remembered sounds of his mother’s living routines lead the poet’s imagination somewhere beyond loss

A poem by Paul Kelly: ‘My lyrics are often stolen from songs, poems, novels, conversations’

Each week during Australian Poetry Month, a poet walks us through one of their works. Here, singer-songwriter Kelly explains his collaboration with poet Dana Gioia

Simon Armitage: ‘You’re not going to get me to say anything bad about any bird’

As part of Australian Poetry Month, the UK’s poet laureate shares his least favourite word and his most controversial pop culture opinion

The Guardian view on reclaiming the Seine: hope for 21st century rivers

Editorial: Paris 2024 has pointed the way towards a brighter future for urban waterways in post-industrial cities

The best recent poetry – review roundup

Bluff by Danez Smith; Fantasia by Nisha Ramayya; a great shaking by Edwina Attlee; Ruin, Blossom by John Burnside; Tanya by Brenda Shaughnessy

Meshell Ndegeocello: No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin review – a fire reignited

Baldwin’s stinging words on race and America are matched with the kind of musical eloquence that the great writer himself so admired

Poem of the week: Phoenician by Angela Leighton

A chilling double sonnet finds the echo of ancient ritual sacrifice in modern ‘collateral damage’

Adam by Gboyega Odubanjo review – in memory of the missing

Inspired by an unidentified boy found dead in the Thames, the first – and only – collection by the late poet is an imaginative meditation on death and those who disappear

Irish author Edna O’Brien dies aged 93

After early novels that won international acclaim but were banned at home, the Irish author had a prolific career lasting more than half a century

Thom Gunn by Michael Nott review – sex, drugs and San Francisco

A sensitive account of the poet’s wild life on the West Coast

Thom Gunn: A Cool Queer Life by Michael Nott review – the poet laureate of Haight-Ashbury

The San Francisco poet’s work is richly illuminated by this detailed account of his early traumas, dread of ‘deep emotion’ and addiction to casual sex