"In this moving and personal account of death in the family there is a deep feeling not only of loss but also of lives lived and shared, so that it becomes universal in its outreach. The technical accomplishment in the writing contributes largely to the achievement; I particularly admired the villanelle. The set of sonnets gives a boundary to the anecdotal account of hospital visits, pushing these into a memorable expression. In the free verse the poet does not lose the sense of command over line-lengths and the assured cadence that typifies the collection as a whole. The book deserves to reach a wide readership."
Thomas Shapcott. Professor Emeritus of Creative Writing at the University of Adelaide

Early in 2008, when Noel Volk was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, there was no anticipation of his death nine months later. However, in late March he was admitted to hospital, and was to remain there without break, with frequent periods of intensive care, until he died at the end of September.

Nothing could have prepared him or his wife for the experience that they shared.

Valerie wrote In Due Season, a collection of poetry
sub-titled Poems of Love and Loss, as an expression of her feelings during the last year of her husband’s life. Writing became her coping strategy, a way of dealing with the experiences and emotions that the passing months brought. Its publication by Pantaenus Press is an unanticipated outcome.

The book of poems is both a chronicle of a year of great sorrow and great joy, and a recollection of Noel and Valerie's lives together. It is also a tribute to a remarkable man, and the richness of the marriage that Noel and Valerie shared.

The poetry is varied in both form and mood, ranging from formal and measured sonnets and rhymed poems, to the more anguished raw emotion of the free-verse poems. Throughout, there is a personal tone which makes this poetry accessible to all readers.

"No matter our colour or creed, our intellect or status, grief will humble, level and unite us. Yet in our holding of the pain and the love in the same moment we have the potential to be transformed. Valerie Volk, in her poems of grief, offers a voice to the strange confusion that confronts each of us. It is her gift to us."
Judith Murray, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology,University of Queensland

Lecturers and counsellors in the grief and loss field believe that the feelings explored in these poems will be recognised by anyone who faces similar experiences.