AustLit
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Notes
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Contents indexed selectively.
Contents
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Poetry and History : Australian History in Poetry,
single work
criticism
'During the nineteenth century, history and the higher forms of art were seen as going hand in hand. The 'history picture,' involving a large-scale depiction of a well-known historical event, was regarded as much more prestigious than a portrait or landscape; tragedies were always set in the past and Sir Walter Scott, it was claimed, made the novel respectable by making it historical. Poets were not immune from this contagion, especially as writing a long poem was still believed to be the way in which a poet could truly prove his worth (gender not really coming into it then). Nineteenth-century Australian poets naturally went along with these notions, producing tragedies set in ancient Rome or, at the latest, Elizabeth England. Charles Harpur, as the self-proclaimed first national Australian poet, initially tried to break with tradition, writing a tragedy about a bushranger and an epic about exploration. Successive revisions of The Creek of the Four Graves, however, show him introducing increasingly archaic language in an effort to provide historical distance. And even Harpur later chose non-Australian topics for his long poem Genius Lost, about Thomas Chatterton, and The Witch of Hebron : a Rabbinical Legend.' (p. 13)
- Poetry and History Interviews : The Words to Say It : Benito Di Fonzo, Angela Stretch (interviewer), single work interview (p. 20-22)
- Rum and Heroini"There's a body in the front room blue as a violet cortege,", single work poetry (p. 23)
- Poetry and History Interviews : The Words to Say It, Angela Stretch (interviewer), single work interview (p. 25-27)
- Empty Coffins to Godi"Until nations unite in peace", single work poetry (p. 28)
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Wind over Water : The Fourth Haiku Pacific Rim Conference,
single work
criticism
A report of the fourth haiku Pacific Rim Conference held on the 22nd to 25th September, 2009, at Terrigal, Australia.
- To Develop a Readership : A Response to John Leonard, single work criticism (p. 51-58)
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Sixth International Tanka Festival, Tokyo, October 10-12, 2009 : An Australian Perspective,
single work
criticism
This criticism reports on the Sixth International Tanka Festival, Tokyo, October 10-12, 2009
- How Poets Work : Kerry Leves, single work autobiography (p. 63-68)
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To Be Eaten by Mice,
single work
review
— Review of To Be Eaten By Mice 2009 selected work poetry ; (p. 69) - Mother Sits with Mei"Mother sits with me in my room", single work poetry (p. 69)
- Hooligani"Hooligan", single work poetry (p. 70)
- Calfi"I first saw birth at thirteen in a Cheshire cowshed.", single work poetry (p. 71)
- Primo Levi's Precisioni"Down the stairwell, three storeys down.", single work poetry (p. 72)
- Convalescing in Athensi"Discharged, alone and broke, I was,", single work poetry (p. 72-73)
- The General and the Deadi"night, a murder of voices, soughing across the water-", single work poetry (p. 73)
- Watching the World Turni"It was 3:27PM, and", single work poetry (p. 74)
- Dolphins at Nooni"In shadowy lunchtime light, at the corner table,", single work poetry (p. 75)
- Yer Mad Bastardi"Yer shout", single work poetry (p. 76-77)
- Some Days I Wear My Bodyi"Like someone else's suit.", single work poetry (p. 77)