Thread Me a Button

By Jude Aquilina and Joan Fenney

‘Everyone has a button story, but plunging into this collection of button poems is full of surprises; amazing fictions lie scattered amongst poignant memories and the everyday made strange. Far from being buttoned-up, these poems reveal life in all its guises: familiar, heartbreaking, erotic, funny, enigmatic…whatever did happen to

• Language: English
• Publisher: Debbie Lee
• Release date: Feb 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781760410919

Book preview

Thread Me a Button

Thread Me a Button

Jude Aquilina

Joan Fenney

Ginninderra Press

Contents

Copyright

Dedication

Foreword

Buttons defined

In the sewing drawer

Love’s tangled thread

Dark holes

A buttonhole to history

Of kith and kin

Credits

Acknowledgements

About the Authors

Thread Me a Button

ISBN 978 1 76041 091 9

Copyright © text Jude Aquilina and Joan Fenney 2012

Illustrations by Sarah John

Cover design by Joan Fenney

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All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. Requests for permission should be sent to the publisher at the address below.

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First published 2012

Reprinted 2016

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Ginninderra Press

PO Box 3461 Port Adelaide SA 5015

www.ginninderrapress.com.au

For my mother,

Joan, who sat on my bed

countless times as we emptied

the button tin and talked

about anything.

Jude

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For Lynette and Sarah

the creative threads in my life

who inspire me with their talent

and generosity.

Joan

Foreword

‘Buttons should be bold, brilliant, basic or beautiful, but never, never boring.’ – Joyce Whittemore

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Join us on a journey of exploration, from the humble origins of buttons as ornaments and fabric fasteners, to the many meanings the word has morphed into. Since buttons first appeared in ancient times they have been traded, admired as status symbols, sealed with secrets, pressed for war, collected, carved, and crafted by designers. Buttons have