Manfred Jurgensen Manfred Jurgensen i(A9547 works by)
Born: Established: 1940 Flensburg,
c
Germany,
c
Western Europe, Europe,
;
Gender: Male
Arrived in Australia: 1961
Heritage: German
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Works By

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1 Letter to a Friend Manfred Jurgensen , single work review
— Review of Busy in the Fog : Further Adventures of Grafton Everest Ross Fitzgerald , 1990 single work novel
1 A Look Back in Doubt. “Confessions of a Heretic” : Multicultural Literature in Australia Manfred Jurgensen , 2019 single work biography
— Appears in: Coolabah , no. 26 2019; (p. 12-32)

'It is argued that the emergence of ‘multiculturalism’ in Australia during the Nineteen-eighties was almost entirely determined by political considerations. An application of the concept to literary culture was not anticipated. Nor was there a discourse of migrant or ethnic literature before post-war immigration.

'As part of the Australia Council’s decision to sponsor a literary culture of ‘New Australians’ it encouraged the creation of a journal for multicultural literature, Outrider. This article is an attempt to characterise a group of perceived ‚multicultural writers’ by raising doubt about their real or assumed status. It is true they employ highly individual creative imagination and variations of literary style by questioning the nature of migration (often without being migrants themselves). However, such writing is hardly unique to inherent characteristics of   ‚multicultural aesthetics’. Formally and thematically these authors’ language frequently employs a wide range of elective affinities, alienation techniques or correlative analogies. They can hardly be considered ‚minority writers’ of limited literary genius. In truth they are creators of sophisticated poetry and prose by overcoming (or ‘integrating’) foreign language restriction.  To them migration is not merely a subject or theme: it is a consciousness manifesting itself in literary form and style. The best ‘migrant writing’ invokes dimensions of alienation shared by a readership whose cultural dislocation is not confined to refugees, asylum-seekers or social outcasts. In the contemporary global end game, migration has become a shared state of mind.

'A brilliant and complex linguistic approach to ‘multicultural writing’ has been argued by Australian sociolinguist Paul Carter. He rejects the negative view of immigration as a form of displacement. Applying his well-balanced analysis of “migrant aesthetic” dialogue promises not only “a new kind of history”. In the end it means refining a new, distinctively migrant poetics.' (Publication abstract)

1 y separately published work icon Three Suns I Saw : A Life in Letters Manfred Jurgensen , Ulrike Fischer (editor), Moorooka : Boolarong Press , 2016 8480390 2016 selected work correspondence prose art work

'Three Suns I Saw is a unique collection of prose, verse and visual art in acknowledgment of the German-Australian writer Manfred Jurgensen and his prodigious literary work over the past 55 years.' (Publication summary)

1 y separately published work icon The Other Wife Manfred Jurgensen , Melbourne : Hybrid , 2015 9082586 2015 single work novel romance

'What is the nature of human love? Burt enters his office one day to find a large handwritten folder marked "CONFIDENTIAL".

'The unexpected package has come from an old university mate: a charming, successful, and well-loved Australian man named Ted Harris. Twenty-five years post-university, Ted seems to have it all: a partnership in a successful law firm, respect, wealth, and the perfect wife.

'However, as Burt delves deeper into these documents - which turns out to be an intensely personal confessional - he discovers that things are not what they seem, and that Ted harbours a dark and mysterious past relating to his first wife, peculiar Swiss biochemist Yvonne.

'In The Other Wife, Manfred Jurgensen uses his unique writing style and several narrative voices to examine the internal conflicts of disease, our responsibility for those we care for, and the very nature of this undefinable thing we call love.' (Publication summary)

1 1 y separately published work icon The Last Australia Day Manfred Jurgensen , Moorooka : Boolarong Press , 2013 Z1913260 2013 single work novel 'This book raises the provocative question: Are we in danger of becoming a morally bankrupt people "who have had it too easy for too long?"

In the context of a continuing international "war against terror" and other ideological or military conflicts, a global economic crisis and volatile politics, the novel takes us to celebrations of our National Day in a Brisbane surburban backyard, surrounded by the deadly waste and wreckage of Queensland's recent floods. This year's Australia Day party is destined to end in tragedy.' (Publisher's blurb)
1 1 y separately published work icon Five Weeks at Humanitas Manfred Jurgensen , Ormond : Hybrid , 2010 Z1763641 2010 single work autobiography 'Manfred Jurgensen, a multiple-award-winning writer, editor, literary critic and translator, was born on the border between Denmark and Germany in 1940, a 'midnight child'. He has always been sensitive to boundaries and what's beyond the borders, emotionally and physically.

He has chosen to reveal his life history - to a very large extent dominated by World War II and its aftermath - in a highly original form. The protagonist and his lifetime experiences are wrapped within a semi-fictional presentation through which he philosophises about the nature of 'coincidence' as a life-force. Set in Switzerland, this imaginative narrative begins just after the author suffers a nervous breakdown while delivering a doctoral seminar at the University of Basle.

In a luxurious sanatorium for mentally disturbed patients called Humanitas, he is asked to write about his life experiences, including his own awareness of the Nazi era and what it meant to be one of 'Hitler's children'; he is regularly interviewed by a Board of distinguished psychiatrists based on these accounts. An involuntary prisoner, he longs to achieve his freedom and be reunited with his wife. ' (Source: Publisher's website)
1 3 y separately published work icon Under the Skin Manfred Jurgensen , Melbourne : Hybrid , 2009 Z1579601 2009 single work novel

'Brett Sheldon, a middle-aged international art dealer and survivor of a devastating plane crash, and Nanda, a beautiful sixteen-year-old part-time street kid and daughter of a prostitute, meet as fellow passengers on a CityCat ferry on the Brisbane River. Nanda is offended by the obvious interest Brett shows in her.

'From this first abrasive encounter an unlikely and intricate relationship slowly forms, based on their common need for shelter from their present lifestyles. The plane crash Brett survived killed his wife and teenage daughter, and besides enduring his grief, Brett guards a terrible secret connected to a great work of art.

'Despite their contrasting backgrounds and experience of life, Nanda moves into Brett's apartment. Teenage drug culture and social alienation play their parts as the narrative leads to a violent and horrifying finale.' (Publisher's blurb)

1 7 y separately published work icon The American Brother Manfred Jurgensen , Ormond : Hybrid , 2007 Z1376998 2007 single work novel

'What happens when the war against global terrorism also destroys individual integrity and personal freedom? This is the bold, disturbing theme of Manfred Jurgensen’s The American Brother. Harry Greene, although a serious-minded intellectual, finds himself at times in absurdly humorous situations.

'Set in Australia and America, the novel laments the manipulation of identity when economic globalisation and international terror are intertwined. As we are carried through a series of breathtaking incidents, we confront the grim reality of how a tyranny of political counter-intelligence has set out to destroy the truth of individual, social and cultural self-determination. … A gripping and beautifully written novel which will change the way you think.' (Publication summary)

1 8 y separately published work icon The Eyes of the Tiger Manfred Jurgensen , Briar Hill : Indra Publishing , 2005 Z1204540 2005 single work novel

'This is a novel of friendship, love and corruption. Set in Brisbane during the disastrous 1974 flood, two very different men, the immunologist Mark and the charismatic 'Prince of Spice' Sannes, struggle for the affection of the feisty, fiercely independent lawyer Jessica. In a highly charged, profoundly disturbing relationship, betrayal of friendship and violation of love interact and collide with the ever-increasing moral deterioration of the 'Moonlight State'. Jurgensen's novel depicts evil as a seductively demonic power of rampant decomposition, generating from the realm of personal intimacy to the corruption of civilised society. Its narrative of power and passion takes the reader on a frightening journey, culminating in the apparition of a predatory God. Residing in the eyes of the tiger are the violent beauty and terrible knowledge of an irredeemable love.' (Publication summary)

1 Man's Best Friend i "The one image that will not go away:", Manfred Jurgensen , 2004 single work poetry
— Appears in: Small Packages , no. 8 2004; (p. 91) The Weekend Australian , 23-24 July 2005; (p. 14) The Best Australian Poems 2005 2005; (p. 80)
1 The Poppy i "Lying next to her", Manfred Jurgensen , 2004 single work poetry
— Appears in: Australian Multicultural Book Review , vol. 7 no. 2 2004; (p. 65)
1 4 y separately published work icon The Trembling Bridge Manfred Jurgensen , Briar Hill : Indra Publishing , 2004 Z1109837 2004 single work novel historical fiction
2 The High Mark (for Nick Lynch) i "begins with the nod of head", Bruce Dawe , 1987 single work poetry
— Appears in: The Age , 19 September 1987; (p. 13) Sometimes Gladness : Collected Poems 1954-1987 1988; (p. 245) Sometimes Gladness : Collected Poems, 1954-1992 1993; (p. 228) Sense, Shape, Symbol : An Investigation of Australian Poetry 2013; (p. 85)

— Appears in: 'Hier und anderswo' / 'Here and Elsewhere' : Ausgewahlte Gedichte / Selected Poems 2003; (p. 102-103)
1 The Beautiful Enemy Manfred Jurgensen , 2003 extract novel historical fiction (The Trembling Bridge)
— Appears in: Kalimat : An International Periodical of English and Arabic Creative Writing , March no. 13 (English) 2003; (p. 81-83)
2 Distances i "Living distances will call", Bruce Dawe , 1995 single work poetry
— Appears in: Westerly , Spring vol. 40 no. 3 1995; (p. 79)

— Appears in: 'Hier und anderswo' / 'Here and Elsewhere' : Ausgewahlte Gedichte / Selected Poems 2003; (p. 146-147)
2 When First the Land Was Ours i "When first the land was ours we thought", Bruce Dawe , 1990 single work poetry
— Appears in: This Side of Silence : Poems 1987-1990 1990; (p. 50-51) Sometimes Gladness : Collected Poems, 1954-1992 1993; (p. 236-237)

— Appears in: 'Hier und anderswo' / 'Here and Elsewhere' : Ausgewahlte Gedichte / Selected Poems 2003; (p. 192-197)
1 When the Acceptably Beautiful i "When the acceptably beautiful creatures have gone the way of the rainforests and the wetlands = Wenn die als schön geltenden Geschöpfe wie die Regenwälder und Sümpfe verschwunden sind,", Bruce Dawe , 2003 single work poetry
— Appears in: 'Hier und anderswo' / 'Here and Elsewhere' : Ausgewahlte Gedichte / Selected Poems 2003; (p. 136-137)
1 Inheritors i "Seeing the baby ape on its length of rope", Bruce Dawe , 2003 single work poetry
— Appears in: 'Hier und anderswo' / 'Here and Elsewhere' : Ausgewahlte Gedichte / Selected Poems 2003; (p. 122-123)
1 At the Crossing i "As the trucks rattle past, each with its freight", Bruce Dawe , 2003 single work poetry
— Appears in: 'Hier und anderswo' / 'Here and Elsewhere' : Ausgewahlte Gedichte / Selected Poems 2003; (p. 118-121)
1 Visualising Armageddon i "Visualising Armageddon is a job", Bruce Dawe , 2003 single work poetry
— Appears in: 'Hier und anderswo' / 'Here and Elsewhere' : Ausgewahlte Gedichte / Selected Poems 2003; (p. 98-101)
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