Cirrus@Austlit

'The fourth period (1976 -2001) begins with 'Sound Poem' (circa 1977) by Jas H Duke. It was an era in which the forms of poetry and the number of collections published proliferated. Some of the major types were concrete poetry, performance poetry, the verse novel, and language poetry. Feminism, post modernism and environmentalism were important influences. John Forbes's deflation of literary seriousness in 'Afternoon Papers' (1988), is a poem that parodies Les Murray's 'An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow' (1969) included in period three. Coral Hull has stated "I want to tell it like it is, then have something done about it." Her poem 'Koko the Monkey' (1994) shows her environmental and animal liberationist concerns. During this period the verse novel had an upsurge, the most popular being Dorothy Porter's The Monkey's Mask (1994) . During this time we also began to hear the voices of poets from non-European backgrounds, such as Ouyang Yu's 'A Different Moon' (1995). John Kinsella's 'Figures in a Paddock' is an example of his interest in blending the pastoral tradition with linguistic innovation.'

(Source: PoeticA website, ABC Radio National, http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/poetica/stories/s281149.htm)