Issue Details: First known date: 2019... 2019 “A Need for Voices” : The Poetry of Dennis Haskell
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'This article presents a critical reading of the poetry of Dennis Haskell. Inspired by the experience of hearing the poet read, it uses the concept of poetic voice as an entry point for critical analysis. Haskell has described his poetic aim as being to “write a poetry that incorporates ideas but never ostentatiously … with as quiet as possible verbal skill, and in a way that evokes the deepest emotions” (Landbridge) . The paper identifies key aspects of voice in the poetry, drawing on arguments by Robert Pinsky and Al Alvarez that voice implies a reaching out to an auditor or reader, and thus has social and cultural dimensions. Attending to both technique and meaning, it first analyses two short lyric poems by Haskell, “One Clear Call” and “The Call,” which explore the power of voice in poetic and pre-linguistic settings respectively. Poetic voice becomes a vehicle of social critique in “Australian Language’s Tribute to the Times,” a bemused satire on the clichéd language of modern politics and economics. In the next section of the paper the focus shifts to his recurrent creative interest in poems of international travel and in particular international flight. The experience of flying is the subject of lucid, practical philosophical reflections in “GA873: The Meaning of Meaning” and “Reality’s Conquests,” while in “As You Are, As We Are” and “Our Century,” Haskell presents vivid intercultural encounters in a voice that is candid, observant and responsive to others.' (Publication abstract)

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    y separately published work icon Asiatic Special Issue on the Poetry and Poetics of Dennis Haskell vol. 13 no. 2 December 2019 18622942 2019 periodical issue 'This issue of Asiatic (Vol. 13, No. 2) is dedicated to the life and works of Dennis Haskell (1948-),a long-standing friend of the Journal, who has been on its Advisory Board since the Journal’s inception. He is also an ardent champion of Asian literature who has been at the forefront of literary representations of Australian-Asian interactions and has shown an extensive understanding of Asian cultures both in his creative and critical works.Together with Edwin Thumboo and late Bruce Bennett, he has been a driving force behind the Biennial Symposium on Literature and Culture in the Asia-Pacific Region, which began in 1982 and has been taking place since every two years in different countries of the region, two of which (2009, 2017) were, indeed, hosted by the same institution where Asiatic is also housed, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Moreover, he came to IIUM as a visiting professor in 2018.' (Honouring Dennis Haskell : A Poet and an Amigo of Asiatic and Asian Literature, editorial introduction) 2019 pg. 6-18
Last amended 4 Feb 2020 13:06:39
6-18 https://journals.iium.edu.my/asiatic/index.php/AJELL/article/view/1660/919 “A Need for Voices” : The Poetry of Dennis Haskellsmall AustLit logo Asiatic
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