AustLit

'Numb and Number collects together poems written between 2011 and 2019. At its core is a confronting sequence of confessional poems which arises from depression and includes poems on the death of the poet’s mother. It also includes a number of narrative poems which range from a long poem in the voice of the former boy convict George Bruce in 1811 to a meditation on historical contingency in From a Train in Connecticut and some satirical poems such as Ode to Australia’s Most Ambitious Poet and Homecoming, which satirises Australians’ current fetish for travel. 

The emotional range of this collection is remarkable, and the formal variety is equally intriguing, making this a long-awaited addition to this major poet’s oeuvre.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'As In Murray approaches his 80th birthday it is worth trying to assess the continuity of his achievement over a career that has now entered its 53rd year. In this chapter I approach this through examining, primarily in his later work, what I see as two central and linked preoccupations — a fascination with distortion, exaggeration and (re) framing, combined with a sense of an abject sexuality. I argue that 'late' Murray arrived relatively early, around the time of his return to Bunyah in the late 1980s, when he was in his late 40s, but also that this 'lateness' has clear and discernible roots in his early lyric poetry.' (Introduction)
 

'This book is aimed at providing criticism of contemporary Australian poetry in a form that is accessible to general readers of poetry. It is intended to be the first in a series which will grapple with the bewildering diversity of the contemporary poetry scene. Part of the need for this scholarly collection is remedial; as we will argue, poetry review culture often lacks critical bite and the exigencies of academic research often bypass critical evaluation. The recent publication of Contemporary Australian Poetry (2016) highlighted the strength and vitality of the art form in Australia over the last quarter of a century. Feeding the Ghost I: Criticism on Contemporary Australian Poetry is intended to complement that body of work which has surprised so many readers with its vigour and depth. ' (Introduction)
 

'On First Looking publishes poems by student writers at Avondale College of Higher Education alongside work by some of Australia's best contemporary poets. It is the fifth volume in a project which has run over the last decade, and like the books it follows, this anthology introduces a diverse range of poetic voices and places them within the context of a wider poetic community. With a nod in homage to John Keats' poem 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer', this collection celebrates a long tradition of connections between writers. It is a unique showcase for work by new and mature poets, all of them united by poetry's gift of bringing us the world as if it has been looked at for the very first time.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'This book is aimed at providing criticism on contemporary Australian poetry in a form that is accessible to general readers. It is intended to be the first in a series which will grapple with the bewildering diversity of the contemporary poetry scene. Australian poetry deserves a criticism that accompanies the astonishing momentum and luminosity that has developed, which both elucidates the scale of poetic achievement and is also not afraid to evaluate that achievement through a rigorous and disinterested critical lens. Australian poets have been feeding the ghost with extraordinary energy and acumen over the last quarter of a century; it is now time for Australian poetry criticism to catch up.' (Introduction)

'Misreadingsand othering aside – did Π.Ο. actually read any of the poems, or did he just know they were wrong? – there are important issues raised by Π.Ο.’s review. It may be worth saying something about the most important – regarding the level of understanding that the reader brings to the poem. Poetry’s role has changed over the last century or two. Most of our stories are now told in other formats – novels, films, TV. Most of our declarations of desire or loss are now sung for us as pop songs (though not all: there are still great love poems). Most of our declarations of loyalty and tales of patriotism have, thankfully, receded into a past of bad newspaper verse, and earnest recitals. But poetry has continued to do some things better, perhaps, than any other art-form: to find clear ways of saying what is otherwise only partially understood, to weigh those articulations emotionally, and, sometimes, to make them sing. It works a frontier: not just of our understandings, but of our responses to them: a complex edge of meanings and the weight of meanings. We think Π.Ο. has completely missed the innovation, the distinctiveness and the radicalism of contemporary verse.' (Introduction)

'All These Presences publishes poems by creative writing students at Avondale College alongside work by a selection of established Australian poets. Like the three earlier volumes it follows, Wording the World (2010), Here Not There (2012) and A Way of Happening (2014), it is a unique collaboration between writers at very different stages of learning and practising their craft.

'Poetry writing is an intensely personal expression of experience. The poems themselves, however, have a magical ability to move from silence into a world of unexpected conversations and deep connections, not only with readers, but also with other poets. All These Presences is an exciting illustration of that connectedness. It is a vibrant gathering of presences: a fresh and wide-ranging collection of new and mature voices from Australia's contemporary poetic community.' (Publication Summary)

'The quality of Australian poetry has never been higher, nor the number of distinctive voices greater. A landmark publication, this collection presents the astonishing achievements of Australian poetry during the last quarter of a century. Over ten years in preparation, gathering over 200 poets and 500 poems, it makes the case for this country's poetry as a broadening of the universal set for all English-speakers. 'Somewhat astonishingly,' the introduction notes, 'and while no-one was looking, Australian poetry has developed a momentum and a critical mass such that it has become one more luminous field in the English-speaking imagination. Increasingly, anyone who seeks to explore the perspectives or music available in English will also have to consider the perspectives and music which have originated here - Australia having turned itself, too, into a place in the mind.' Both survey and critical review, this anthology offers a rare opportunity to explore the major national achievement of contemporary Australian poetry. (Publication summary)'

'In this book-length poem, (which starts in a manner reminiscent of Beckett’s Company), the isness of voice is its central preoccupation: it is considered from as many different aspects as there are parts to this multiform poem. Highly exploratory, with words sometimes rising from or inspired by selected Renaissance wood-cut engravings, Anatomy of Voice is divided into four Partitions – across which are lyricised the shiftings of the question ‘what is a voice’, and the poem’s speculative and evocative answers.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Research background :

'Current international developments in poetry have foregrounded the poem as a linguistic artefact which is relatively autonomous from its referents. As such, there has been increased emphasis on creating poems according to models which are in sympathy with this stance, such as homophonic translation or John Tranter’s ‘The Anaglyph’ (2009: 105ff). This research uses phonemic rearrangements and an aleatory process to generate the poems of ‘The Second Partition’.'