AustLit
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Les Murray's new volume of poems – his first in five years – continues his use of molten language. From 'The Black Beaches' to 'Radiant Pleats, Mulgoa', from 'High Speed Trap Space' to 'The Electric, 1960', this is verse that renews and transforms our sense of the world.
''No poet has ever travelled like this, whether in reality or simply in mind … Seeing the shape or hearing the sound of one thing in another, he finds forms'—Clive James, The Monthly'
' (Publication summary)
Notes
-
Dedication: To the glory of God
Contents
- The Black Beachesi"Yellow rimming the ocean", single work poetry
- Inspecting the Rivermouthi"Drove up to Hahndorf:", single work poetry
- The Canonisationi"Mary MacKillop, born 1842", single work poetry
- High Risei"Fawn high rise of Beijing", single work poetry
- Nuclear Family Beesi"Little native-bee hives", single work poetry
- When Two Percent Were Studentsi"Gorgeous expansion of life", single work poetry
- I Wrote a Little Haikui"I wrote a little haiku", single work poetry
- Dynamic Resti"Six little terns", single work poetry
- West Coast Townshipi"Cervantes. This one-strum pueblo", single work poetry
- Money and the Flying Horsesi"Intriguing, the oaten seethe", single work poetry
- Sun Taikoi"Across the river", single work poetry
- Persistence of the Reformationi"Seen from this high cutting", single work poetry
- Child Logici"The smallest girl", single work poetry
- Floodtime Night Shelteri"No mattress for the last levee shoveller,", single work poetry
- Powder of Lighti"Hunched in the farm ute", single work poetry
- The Backroad Collectionsi"Verandah shops", single work poetry
- Tap Dogs' Musici"Ponderous cauldrons", single work poetry
- English as a Second Languagei"A coffee cart was travelling down the mountain", single work poetry
- High Speed Trap Spacei"Speeding home from town", single work poetry
- Diabeticai"A man coughs like a box", single work poetry
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
Works about this Work
-
Contemporary Masters
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin , Autumn vol. 75 no. 1 2016; (p. 177-182)
— Review of Waiting for the Past 2015 selected work poetry ; Terra Bravura 2014 selected work poetry ; Indirect Objects 2014 selected work poetry -
Dancing on Centre Stage
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 75 no. 2 2016; (p. 250-259)
— Review of Cocky's Joy 2015 selected work poetry ; Waiting for the Past 2015 selected work poetry -
Memories, Jokes and Inexhaustible Patterns : Waiting for the Past
2016
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The West Verandah : The Life and Work of Les Murray 2016; (p. 47-59) -
Waiting for the Past by Les Murray Review – Matter-of-fact Extravagance
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 7 November 2015;
— Review of Waiting for the Past 2015 selected work poetry -
Les Murray
Jason Steger
(interviewer),
2015
single work
interview
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 10-11 October 2015; (p. 24-25) The Saturday Age , 10-11 October 2015; (p. 24)
-
A Poetic Champion Composes
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 28-29 March 2014; (p. 30-31) The Sunday Age , 29 March 2015; (p. 26)
— Review of Waiting for the Past 2015 selected work poetry -
Widespeak : Waiting for the Past by Les Murray
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , May 2015; The Australian Face : Essays from the Sydney Review of Books 2017; (p. 114-125)
— Review of Waiting for the Past 2015 selected work poetry'This is a riddle from the Exeter Book, an anthology of Anglo-Saxon poetry, which the Bishop Leofric donated to the library of Exeter Cathedral in 1072: ‘I mycel englisc boc be gehwilcum thingum on leothwisan geworht’: a big English book about everything, worked into song.' (Introduction)
-
Lexical Lightning
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 23-24 May 2015; (p. 16-17)
— Review of Waiting for the Past 2015 selected work poetry -
Review : Waiting for the Past
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 4 April 2015;
— Review of Waiting for the Past 2015 selected work poetry -
Vintage Murray
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 6 June 2015; (p. 18)
— Review of Waiting for the Past 2015 selected work poetry -
Les Memorables
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 4 April 2015; -
Les Murray and the Purpose of Poetry
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Quadrant , June vol. 59 no. 6 2015; (p. 64-67) 'Still alive when Les Murray was a young poet, Kenneth Slessor called him to a meeting, and passed on the torch. As far as I know, Murray has never recorded this moment in print, but I once heard him refer to it. He was rightly proud, because Slessor, in those days, was the Australian poet who filled our sky. Today Murray fills the sky not just in his homeland but in all the world. His achievement has been magisterial, and needs no further proving. If he adds more poems now, it can only be because he loves what he does.' (Publication abstract) -
Les Murray
Jason Steger
(interviewer),
2015
single work
interview
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 10-11 October 2015; (p. 24-25) The Saturday Age , 10-11 October 2015; (p. 24) -
Memories, Jokes and Inexhaustible Patterns : Waiting for the Past
2016
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The West Verandah : The Life and Work of Les Murray 2016; (p. 47-59)
Awards
- 2016 shortlisted Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature — John Bray Poetry Award
- 2016 shortlisted Prime Minister's Literary Awards — Poetry
- 2015 winner Queensland Literary Awards — Judith Wright Calanthe Award
- 2015 longlisted Colin Roderick Award