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* Contents derived from the 1998-1999 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
'Bruce Dawe's reputation as a vernacular poet can be a disadvantage. I
once heard an eminent Australian critic remark that once you'd read his
poems there wasn't much more you could say. The implication was that
his work had an immediate appeal but no depth and that to exercise
one's critical faculties on work so colloquial in pitch and perspective
would be a waste of a well-trained mind. At the same time I encountered
the poetry of Philip Martin. Martin is a writer Dawe acknowledges as
his friend and mentor, yet Martin's poetry seems at first very
different: the accent is more cultivated and the focus more personal.
There is, however, at least one important similarity: both practise
'the art that conceals art', exercising great control of rhythm and
speech stress to create an apparently uncomplicated voice. It is only
when you do read their poems — that is, read within rather than over
their poems — that you find there is much more you could say.' (Author's abstract)
