Year of the wasp

'A mosquito finds him, gives him an ang pow kiss to mark the going and the coming of the year of the wasp.' In 2012 Joel Deane suffered a stroke. Suddenly he was a poet without language. Year of the Wasp tracks Deane's battle to rediscover his poetic voice. From these deeply personal origins Deane's third poetry collection rises to confront the realities of politics and culture, language and love in contemporary Australia. It is a journey of poetic transfiguration that produces a work of unrivalled power, emotional intensity, and insight.