And My Heart Crumples Like a Coke Can

They say those born overseas will always ache for the sky under which they were born. Ali Whitelock's particular bit of sky hovers above Scotland and spends most of its time obscured by clouds almost permanently pregnant with rain, hail, occasionally snow. Her first book, poking seaweed with a stick and running away from the smell, was published to critical acclaim in Australia and the UK. A few years later, after an abrupt life lesson, she stumbled upon Mary Oliver's Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? and took the decision to give up her spectacularly boring day job in order to write full-time. The book you are holding is her first poetry collection. Her poems have appeared in newspapers, magazines and journals in Australia, the UK and the USA, which Ali very much enjoys telling anyone who'll listen. She currently lives in Sydney.