About the Book

At the end of 2019, the state of New South Wales erupted into flames. Intense local bushfires joined fronts and the subsequent megafire threatened lives, communities, and dramatically challenged how Australians saw themselves and their nation. Confronted by his burning world, poet and resident of the Blue Mountains, Humphrey Hartney, captures the drama and emotion of this great tragedy. Catastrophic is a powerful poetic witness account that reveals exactly how flammable we are.