Lisa Bellear' s poetry moves sharply between street-smart portrayals of poverty and dispossession, and the complexity of Black love, identity and experience. She reaches into the unspeakable parts of a colonial past in order to unpick the ongoing repercussions of Australia' s invasion and history. Written with poetic prowess and political bite, Bellear' s work is a reckoning force set against a backdrop of urban community and strength. Her boundless energy and activism shine throughout, ensuring that each poem has a striking clarity of vision. Dreaming in the Urban Areas is an incandescent work of integrity and truth that charts the enduring struggles for survival and recognition.