AustLit

'The Bright and the Cold: Selected Poems of Anne Elder compiled by Catherine Elder and The Heart’s Ground: A Life of Anne Elder by Julia Hamer are companion books in their representation of the oeuvre and life of a poet whose literary career began in the mid-1950s and subsequently produced two collections: For the Record in 1972 and Crazy Woman and Other Poems, posthumously in 1976. Anne Elder’s name is well known, synonymous as it is with the prestigious annual award for the first book of poetry published in Australia, an award inaugurated by her husband John Elder following her death. While each of Elder’s individual books received a few critical reviews, her full oeuvre has had minimal critical attention. Her books have long been out of print and this in itself will have limited her readership. Catherine Elder writes in her “Preface” that the concurrent publication in 2018 of a biography and the Selected, marks two milestones: the 100th anniversary of her mother’s birth and the 40th year of the Anne Elder Poetry Award.' (Introduction)