Cirrus@Austlit

Murray outlines his criteria for including works in the anthology: that the works be poetry, first and foremost, and that they deal with material 'commonly regarded as religious', or that evinces 'some real engagement with the numinous'. He aims simply to assemble and present poems- in 'loose constellations' - without trying to order them historically or thematically. Indeed, he argues that most of the distinctive and interesting Australian religious poetry is contemporary, or nearly so, and that categories tend to 'entrap' and dominate creative works.

Where some guidance may be helpful, as in the case of Aboriginal poetry, he presents notes of those who have first translated particular texts into English. He refers to his own (Christian) affiliation and its reflection in the selection of poems, including his own.