Gina Mercer

Watermark Gina Mercer

'There's a delicious and compelling weight beneath the surface of Gina Mercer's poems - like a wave with a lick of undertow. Their touch, the silk of their deep-bodied hold, tugs us into each new encounter. There's an exquisite closeness at play here - sensual, yes, and irresistibly transporting. Full of intrigue, full of presence and possibility. I hope never to fully return from the immersion Watermark offers.' - Kristen Lang, Earth Dwellers, Giramondo Publishing

'The poems in Watermark scintillate like sunlight on the River Derwent; cascade down memory's canyons, carving deeper; flood the imagination's tidal shores and, receding, leave a beachcomber's bounty of epiphanies in tide-pools. The interspersed "extracts" from her imaginary Dictionary of Water are liquid gems of witty, magical invention. Whether swimming in Tasmanian waters or walking the Atlantic shores of Prince Edward Island, Mercer poignantly witnesses and honours the interplay of humans and water. Fog, laundry water, clouds, cruise ship bilgewater, dragonfly ripple. She graciously gifts us the fleeting marks we make on water, the permanent marks water imprints in us.' - Professor Richard Lemm, University of Prince Edward Island