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Cover image courtesy of publisher.
Note: Includes photographic portrait of Vincent Buckley, sources, bibliography, p. 346-355 and index.
Issue Details: First known date: 2009... 2009 Journey Without Arrival : The Life and Writing of Vincent Buckley
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'I envy artists who excrete a style as a tree gives out gum resin, as something natural to them...For me, the style is existential, expressive and problematic...I am not a canonical person, and find orthodox formularies hard to remember, let alone 'believe in'.

For forty years, Vincent Buckley (1925-1988) was a central figure in Melbourne's literary, political and religious life. A major poet, he was also a leading literary critic, a regular book reviewer and a formidable controversialist. Themes in his work include the nature of God, religious and political responsibility and the place of poetry in a modern society. This is the first biography of Vincent Buckley. (Publisher's Blurb)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

Vincent Buckley and His Land of No Fathers : The Irish Shadow on His Work John McLaren , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Shadow of the Precursor 2012; (p. 38-47)
‘Vincent Buckley maintained that as an Irish Australian he had grown up as a member of a persecuted minority. He also claimed that, although this minority was crucial in shaping the Australian identity, its members had failed to keep an imaginative connection with their homeland. Much of his work can be read as an attempt to rediscover this link, but his understanding of the Irish element changes over his career. In his earlier work, his concern is with the Irish tradition of WB Yeats and James Joyce, and with his own forefathers as people dispossessed by the heartless English. Later he becomes involved with the fate of the nationalists in Northern Ireland. This leads him both to take direct political action in Australia and to write some of his most significant poems. These show the influence of Seamus Heaney or John Kinsella rather than Yeats, but also bring to bear a distinctly Australian sensibility.’ (38)
Untitled Lyn Jacobs , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Transnational Literature , November vol. 2 no. 1 2009;

— Review of Journey Without Arrival : The Life and Writing of Vincent Buckley John McLaren , 2009 single work biography
Untitled Tom See , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Overland , Spring no. 196 2009; (p. 20)

— Review of Journey Without Arrival : The Life and Writing of Vincent Buckley John McLaren , 2009 single work biography
On the Road to Revelation Peter Craven , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 22-23 August 2009; (p. 32)

— Review of Vincent Buckley : Collected Poems Vincent Buckley , 2009 selected work poetry ; Journey Without Arrival : The Life and Writing of Vincent Buckley John McLaren , 2009 single work biography
The Skull beneath the Skin Gregory Kratzmann , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , July-August no. 313 2009; (p. 17-19)

— Review of Vincent Buckley : Collected Poems Vincent Buckley , 2009 selected work poetry ; Journey Without Arrival : The Life and Writing of Vincent Buckley John McLaren , 2009 single work biography
Buckley's Second Chance Alan Wearne , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , February vol. 4 no. 1 2009; (p. 22)

— Review of Vincent Buckley : Collected Poems Vincent Buckley , 2009 selected work poetry ; Journey Without Arrival : The Life and Writing of Vincent Buckley John McLaren , 2009 single work biography
Seductive Melancholy of a Poet's Last Works Carolyn Masel , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Eureka Street , 9 April vol. 19 no. 6 2009;

— Review of Journey Without Arrival : The Life and Writing of Vincent Buckley John McLaren , 2009 single work biography ; Vincent Buckley : Collected Poems Vincent Buckley , 2009 selected work poetry
A Romantic Sensibility Peter Craven , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 9 May 2009; (p. 22)

— Review of Vincent Buckley : Collected Poems Vincent Buckley , 2009 selected work poetry ; Journey Without Arrival : The Life and Writing of Vincent Buckley John McLaren , 2009 single work biography
Biography as Reprimand Patrick Morgan , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Quadrant , May vol. 53 no. 5 2009; (p. 109-111)

— Review of Journey Without Arrival : The Life and Writing of Vincent Buckley John McLaren , 2009 single work biography
Buckley's Varied Voice Heard Again Geoff Page , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 11 July 2009; (p. 14)

— Review of Journey Without Arrival : The Life and Writing of Vincent Buckley John McLaren , 2009 single work biography ; Vincent Buckley : Collected Poems Vincent Buckley , 2009 selected work poetry
Untitled Penelope Buckley , 2009 single work correspondence
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 4-5 April 2009; (p. 2)
Untitled Barry Oakley , 2009 single work correspondence
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 11-12 April 2009; (p. 2)
Vincent Buckley and His Land of No Fathers : The Irish Shadow on His Work John McLaren , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Shadow of the Precursor 2012; (p. 38-47)
‘Vincent Buckley maintained that as an Irish Australian he had grown up as a member of a persecuted minority. He also claimed that, although this minority was crucial in shaping the Australian identity, its members had failed to keep an imaginative connection with their homeland. Much of his work can be read as an attempt to rediscover this link, but his understanding of the Irish element changes over his career. In his earlier work, his concern is with the Irish tradition of WB Yeats and James Joyce, and with his own forefathers as people dispossessed by the heartless English. Later he becomes involved with the fate of the nationalists in Northern Ireland. This leads him both to take direct political action in Australia and to write some of his most significant poems. These show the influence of Seamus Heaney or John Kinsella rather than Yeats, but also bring to bear a distinctly Australian sensibility.’ (38)
Last amended 17 Apr 2014 11:21:38
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