“. . . one of the finest Australian poets at work today . . .”
—David Wheatley, The Times Literary Supplement

Robert Adamson’s Net Needle brings together the presiding influences of his life, early and late. He casts an affectionate eye on the Hawkesbury fishermen who “stitched their lives into my days,” childhood escapades, lost literary comrades, the light and tides of the river, and the ambiance of his youth. Throughout, he is characteristically attuned to the natural world, sketching encounters both intimate and strange. These are poems of clear-eyed vision and mastery, borne of long experience, alert and at ease.

“Could it possibly be close to forty years ago when Bob Creeley and Robert Duncan first brought back the news about an extraordinary young Australian poet? I’ve avidly followed Bob Adamson’s work since those days, as he has probed the inner and outer landscapes of his environment with inspirited precision. ‘Praise life with broken words.’ Eye and ear, none better.”—Michael Palmer