Confessions of a Minor Poet

 Confessions of a Minor Poet

Reviewed By  Janet Mawdesley       November 21, 2025

 

Author  Phil Brown

Distributor:      Transit Lounge
ISBN:                 978-1-923023-41-3
Publisher:         Transit Lounge
Release Date:   October 2025  

Website:    https://transitlounge.com.au/shop/confessions-of-a-minor-poet-a-memoir/ 

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It was an absolute pleasure to sink into the funny, irreverent, bitter sweet Confessions of a Minor Poet from Phil Brown, a man who has truly lived his life, followed his dreams and in spite of his better efforts at times, lived to tell the tale of what it takes to become a minor poet, or any sort of poet, published or unpublished.

Spending his younger years in the halcyon days of Hong Kong he did not transplant well to the coastal life of Queensland in the 1970’s. He pushed back at school and started surfing, spending much of his time at the beach chasing the next wave.

He felt he had an affinity with several of the great writers such as Hemmingway as well as a burning desire to record life through the challenging art of poetry, an ambition that saw him scribbling down thoughts, scratching away at the words that often would form into their own configuration.

As he progressed through University, until he did not, he lived the dream of a starving writer in an attic which eventually saw poetry created but also time spent in hospital recovering from the excesses of such a lifestyle. 

As he matures so too does his verse carefully inserted throughout the book which is an absolute treat. His simple verse penned as a teen, grows into words that are full of depth and meaning as he seeks enlightenment, agonises over the many rejections slips, finally gets published and learns to find balance in a world of words.

Confessions of a Minor Poet is in so many ways a trip down memory lane for those who grew into adulthood in the 1970’s. It is also a window into what it takes to truly follow your dream, refuse to give in or give up and eventually to achieve his heart’s desire, that of a published poet.

Biographies, Non Fiction, Poetry