S. K. Kelen’s oeuvre covers a diverse range of styles and subjects, and includes pastorals, satires, sonnets, odes, narratives, haiku, epics, idylls, horror stories, sci-fi, allegories, philosophical musings, prophecies, politics, history, love poems, portraits, travel poems, memory, people and places, animals, trees, cars, meditations and ecstasies etcetera. The poems’ vision is encyclopedic and intimate, humorous yet deadly serious; bustling with imagery, voices, dreams, spirit, fun, adventure, and serenity.
. . . a marvellous ear and restless eye, a gift for narrative that challenges as much as it reaffirms, and a willingness to tackle anything that takes his attention. . . a close-ordering of the senses, breaking open into a visual and aural feast.
Anthony Lawrence, Australian Book Review
. . . sharpens the Australian vernacular against suburban experience, while foraging through the shipwreck of Western literature. His lyricism is rich with allusion and dislocation. . .and a redemptive, recurrent sense of grace.
Michael Brennan, Australian Book Review
