the Ascendant

'Zajkowski's writing has that kind of imaginative rightness that tells us something essential about ourselves and reads like something no one has ever said before. Imbued with human vulnerability, mystery, wonder and awe, the poems testify to a largeness of vision about what poetry can be and what a poet can accomplish. If it is possible that sometimes the soul just 'appears' then it has done so in this fine collection.' - MTC Cronin and Peter Boyle Originally from New Zealand, Maria Zajkowski is now based in Melbourne. For the past two decades she has published her poetry in local and international journals. Her work has been funded by Arts Victoria and The Australia Council for the Arts. In 2007 her manuscript 'From an Island' was shortlisted for the Alec Bolton Award. Two suites of poems from 'The Ascendant' won both the 2011 and 2012 Josephine Ulrick Poetry Prize.