A Needle In The Heart

On a hot September night in 1960, Dr James Yeates was beaten about the face and head and stabbed through the heart with a hypodermic syringe. The unsolved Yeates Case has been one the most enduringly mysterious murders in the annals of Australian crime.

This is a first collection from a significant new voice in New Zealand poetry. Through fun and gore, love and monsters, Sugar Magnolia Wilson's riveting first collection takes readers inside a world where past and present, fiction and fact, author and subject collide. Playful and yet not so sunny, these poems invite you in with extravagant and surprising imagery, only to reveal the uneasy, Frankenstein world within.

A collection of six compelling stories linked by a central issue in the lives of the main characters, the defining incident that shapes their futures. The disappearance of a brother; an illegitimate child born to a young girl; a traumatic court case; a woman caught between the deep friendship of two men; a lost lover; a betrayal. These are mostly stories about country women, whose children have grown up and moved away to the cities, while they have remained surrounded by tight communities and an enfolding countryside. The central story is of a woman who has a drifting sewing-machine in her body. Every time she thinks she has composed her life, she is reminded of something that happened in her past and feels as if the needle is 'passing through her heart'. 'She has a rare ability to capture a sense of place and time . . . [Her] stories remind me of Alice Monro.' - Booksellers News

A collection of six stories linked by a central issue in the lives of the main characters. The defining events that shape their futures are: the disappearance of a brother; an illegitimate child born to a young girl; a woman caught between the deep friendship of two men; a lost love; and a betrayal.

On a hot September night in 1960, Dr James Yeates was beaten about the face and head and stabbed through the heart with a hypodermic syringe. The unsolved Yeates Case has been one the most enduringly mysterious murders in the annals of Australian crime.

A Study Guide for W. D. Snodgrass's "Heart's Needle," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.