AustLit
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'In ancient Greece ekphrasis was understood more broadly than in the contemporary world, indicating a complex genealogy for this term that encompasses so much fine poetry as well as many other forms of writing. For the ancients, the best ekphrastic poetry was prized because it presented an often dramatic picture in words, enabling the reader to ‘see’ and respond immediately to what was being described or evoked. Ekphrastic poetry provided a way of allowing readers or listeners to appreciate the imagistic and sometimes narrative content of poetry almost as if they might be looking at the object or objects being written about.' (Source : Editorial introduction)
Notes
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Only literary material by Australian authors individually indexed. Other material in this issue includes:
Pyroglyphs by Philip Gross
William Cordova: Machu Picchu after Dark by Stephen Burt
MRI by Katharine Coles
Nosferatu’s Serenade by Dana Gioia
The Rye by Fiona Sampson
Naive Conviction by Mark Yakich
The Hanged Man by Tony Barnstone
Bouquet de fleurs au napperon brodé by Moira Egan
Six Dances by Anne Boyer
An Extra Oyster for the Doctors by Elizabeth Smither
Pablo Picasso: Lithograph: David and Bathsheba by Tom Daley
Closed Captioning for the Black Anima by Airea D Matthews and Ladan Osman
The Photograph Snapped at the Mosque by Sholeh Wolpé
Still Life with Lazarus at the Museum by Joel Long
poems from Fortuna by Megan Kaminski
Calling All Shadows by Charity Gingerich
Autumnal Cannibalism by Kristin LaFollette
Anatomy for the Blind by Andy Brown
after infatuation—ross bleckner—oil on linen by Katie Prince
Lament by Sam Keenan
Contents
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Ekphrastic Editorial: Poetry That Sees,
single work
criticism
'In ancient Greece ekphrasis was understood more broadly than in the contemporary world, indicating a complex genealogy for this term that encompasses so much fine poetry as well as many other forms of writing. For the ancients, the best ekphrastic poetry was prized because it presented an often dramatic picture in words, enabling the reader to ‘see’ and respond immediately to what was being described or evoked. Ekphrastic poetry provided a way of allowing readers or listeners to appreciate the imagistic and sometimes narrative content of poetry almost as if they might be looking at the object or objects being written about.' (Introduction)
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Is Contemporary Australian Poetry Contemporary Australian Poetry?,
single work
criticism
'Contemporary Australian Poetry (CAP) – an anthology of Australian poetry at present, in other words – comes introduced as a ‘survey, and a critical review, of Australian poetry between 1990 and the present (2016)’. What kind of document to this significant time-period does CAP constitute, and what bearing does it have on the question of an Australian contemporary? Most importantly, how do we now read Australia differently? What new forms of reading has contemporary poetry inspired in this country?' (Introduction)
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J S Harry’s ‘Tunnel Vision’, Vicious Sydney and The Car Story,
single work
criticism
'As I began this essay on J S Harry’s poem ‘Tunnel Vision’ several years ago (2006) the radio drive shows in Sydney were full of opinions, mainly angry, concerning a report that a male teacher, in an English class, encouraging students to find as many words in ‘Australia’ as they could, had led the way by showing them how it contains the word ‘slut’, and then, when asked what that meant – it must have been a young primary-school class – had told them that it was a word used to describe women. An hour later I was having lunch with a visiting academic from Jaipur and we spoke about the recent spate of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, and then of the appalling death of an aboriginal elder in the back of a prisoner transport van in Western Australia. No point in claiming that Australia is not a racist country. I did, sometimes, try to claim that, but gave it up long ago. We mask it, that’s all: here on the East Coast we keep much of it beyond the Great Dividing Range, where a lot of other things are kept, out of sight and mind. We then, this Indian academic and I, spoke about Australia’s much-vaunted multiculturalism, its naivety, its need to mature, the stages it has gone through. There is a gap between Australia’s ideas of itself and its reality. A chasm. (Introduction)
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Ekphrasis as ‘Event’ : Poets Paint Words and the ‘Performance’ of Ekphrasis in Australia,
single work
criticism
'To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Newcastle Region Art Gallery (NRAG) in 2007, Lisa Slade and Peter Minter co-curated the exhibition Poets Paint Words. The two curators commissioned some of Australia’s best poets to write poems in response to a selection of paintings held in the NRAG archive. Gallery director Nick Mitzevich was optimistic about the potential of a mixed-media celebration of the NRAG anniversary, saying, ‘This exhibition will attract audiences of all ages, art lovers will be turned on to poetry and likewise poetry lovers will become lovers of painting.’' (Introduction)
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Interview with Sidney Nolan,
Ella O'Keefe
(editor),
Hazel de Berg
(interviewer),
single work
interview
'Hazel de Berg’s recordings take place in the homes or work spaces of the subjects rather than a recording studio. This allows something of these places into the recording whether birdsong, traffic or an r&b song playing in the background. In the recordings, de Berg remains enigmatic, the ghostly presence operating the machine.' (Introduction)
- The Voyage Homei"What’s in the album but time’s", single work poetry
- Raising Lazarus : After Sickerti"This is an old story:", single work poetry
- Their Solesi"The soles of her feet when she", single work poetry
- The Claphamsi"Lord and Lady Clapham are tired, and", single work poetry
- Amytis of Media : Her Telling of the Days of Nebuchadnezzar’s Exilei"White stars stud the indigo", single work poetry
- Etruscan Love Songi"Give me your best archaic smile", single work poetry
- Morris Hirshfieldi"The largest manufacturer of boudoir", single work poetry
- Postscripti"I placed my hand against heart to quench the spark.", single work poetry
- Second Launchi"Now, even from this distance, you notice", single work poetry
- Cape Cod Quarteti"And seated on the step, eyes closed, he bends", single work poetry
- Rooftopsi"He is lying sprawled within one of the spaces", single work poetry
- Winter, Fifth Avenue, New York (1893)i"How I might learn to know", single work poetry
- Counterpointi"Now, for me, the cycle", single work poetry
- The Wabi-sabi Storage Jari"It’s large enough to lair an animal.", single work poetry
- Blue Poles [Number 11, 1952]i"I’m lost in dense bush", single work poetry