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y separately published work icon Jack single work   novel   historical fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 2006... 2006 Jack
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'This fast-paced verse novel is set on a pearling lugger in the Torres strait in the 1930s. Using historical evidence from the documentary record and the participants themselves, Japanese, Islander, Aboriginal and European, Johnson offers insights into life at sea as part of one of the most dangerous occupations, where divers routinely died or were crippled by the bends.' - Back cover

Notes

  • Novel in verse form.
  • Dedication: For Rob, Joel, Trent and Hannah.

Affiliation Notes

  • Associated with the AustLit subset Australian Literary Responses to 'Asia' as the work contains a Japanese character.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Acton, Inner Canberra, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory,: Pandanus Books , 2006 .
      image of person or book cover 8785225634406361681.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: vii, 294p.p.
      Description: map
      Note/s:
      • On cover: Pandanus Poetry
      ISBN: 1740762053 (pbk), 9781740762052 (pbk)
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Picador , 2008 .
      image of person or book cover 2754921070561307088.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 295p.p.
      ISBN: 9780330424226

Other Formats

Works about this Work

‘Country’ in Australian Contemporary Verse Novels Linda Weste , 2014 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 14 no. 3 2014;
'Research is yet to describe the stylistic preferences that shape contemporary Australian verse novels which provide political and social critique. This article examines Lisa Jacobson’s The Sunlit Zone (2011), Judy Johnson’s Jack (2006), and Geoff Page’s Freehold (2005), texts which share a stylistic preference for representations of speech and thought that are closer to ‘naturally’ occurring oral communication, and which maximise use of vernacular, regional idiom, and colloquial diction. A close reading of these texts identifies the expressivity markers by which they depict attitudes, beliefs, and values pertaining to ‘country’, with particular focus on analysing the interplay of poetic and narrative elements that is instrumental to foreground the ‘natural’, and to correlate their narratives with mimetic, real-world representation.' (Publication abstract)
The Silver Age of Fiction Peter Pierce , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 70 no. 4 2011; (p. 110-115)

‘In human reckoning, Golden Ages are always already in the past. The Greek poet Hesiod, in Works and Days, posited Five Ages of Mankind: Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroic and Iron (Ovid made do with four). Writing in the Romantic period, Thomas Love Peacock (author of such now almost forgotten novels as Nightmare Abbey, 1818) defined The Four Ages of Poetry (1820) in which their order was Iron, Gold, Silver and Bronze. To the Golden Age, in their archaic greatness, belonged Homer and Aeschylus. The Silver Age, following it, was less original, but nevertheless 'the age of civilised life'. The main issue of Peacock's thesis was the famous response that he elicited from his friend Shelley - Defence of Poetry (1821).’ (Publication abstract)

Talking With Judy Johnson on her Approach to Poetry Cathy Bray , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: Five Bells , Winter vol. 15 no. 3 2008; (p. 24-26)
Rhyme of the Mad Mariner Sarah Holland-Batt , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 10-11 May 2008; (p. 31)

— Review of Jack Judy Johnson , 2006 single work novel
Pick of the Week Cameron Woodhead , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 19 April 2008; (p. 22)

— Review of Jack Judy Johnson , 2006 single work novel
From One-Eyed Jack to a Grand Cadenza Peter Pierce , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 3 February 2007; (p. 12)

— Review of Jack Judy Johnson , 2006 single work novel ; Lawrie and Shirley, The Final Cadenza : A Movie in Verse Geoff Page , 2006 single work novel
Off the Shelf Owen Richardson , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 17 February 2007; (p. 30)

— Review of Jack Judy Johnson , 2006 single work novel
Looking Out at the Lights : New Poetry Kerry Leves , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 189 2007; (p. 77-79)

— Review of The Passenger Laurie Duggan , 2006 selected work poetry ; Windchimes : Asia in Australian Poetry 2006 anthology poetry ; The War Sonnets Barry Hill , 2006 selected work poetry ; Love in the Place of Rats Paul Hardacre , 2007 selected work poetry ; Jack Judy Johnson , 2006 single work novel ; Portrait of a Friendship : The Letters of Barbara Blackman and Judith Wright 1950-2000 Barbara Blackman , Judith Wright , 2007 selected work correspondence ; Not Finding Wittgenstein J. S. Harry , 2007 selected work poetry
Poetry : A Survey of Verse Novels Rebecca Edwards , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: Island , Summer no. 111 2007; (p. 57-60)

— Review of Jack Judy Johnson , 2006 single work novel ; Lawrie and Shirley, The Final Cadenza : A Movie in Verse Geoff Page , 2006 single work novel ; The Barrier Range: A Journey to Broken Hill: Burke and Wills Ray Liversidge , 2006 single work novel
Memory's Beautiful Mariner Anthony Lynch , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 300 2008; (p. 57-58)

— Review of Jack Judy Johnson , 2006 single work novel ; Navigation Judy Johnson , 2007 selected work poetry
Talking With Judy Johnson on her Approach to Poetry Cathy Bray , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: Five Bells , Winter vol. 15 no. 3 2008; (p. 24-26)
The Silver Age of Fiction Peter Pierce , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 70 no. 4 2011; (p. 110-115)

‘In human reckoning, Golden Ages are always already in the past. The Greek poet Hesiod, in Works and Days, posited Five Ages of Mankind: Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroic and Iron (Ovid made do with four). Writing in the Romantic period, Thomas Love Peacock (author of such now almost forgotten novels as Nightmare Abbey, 1818) defined The Four Ages of Poetry (1820) in which their order was Iron, Gold, Silver and Bronze. To the Golden Age, in their archaic greatness, belonged Homer and Aeschylus. The Silver Age, following it, was less original, but nevertheless 'the age of civilised life'. The main issue of Peacock's thesis was the famous response that he elicited from his friend Shelley - Defence of Poetry (1821).’ (Publication abstract)

‘Country’ in Australian Contemporary Verse Novels Linda Weste , 2014 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 14 no. 3 2014;
'Research is yet to describe the stylistic preferences that shape contemporary Australian verse novels which provide political and social critique. This article examines Lisa Jacobson’s The Sunlit Zone (2011), Judy Johnson’s Jack (2006), and Geoff Page’s Freehold (2005), texts which share a stylistic preference for representations of speech and thought that are closer to ‘naturally’ occurring oral communication, and which maximise use of vernacular, regional idiom, and colloquial diction. A close reading of these texts identifies the expressivity markers by which they depict attitudes, beliefs, and values pertaining to ‘country’, with particular focus on analysing the interplay of poetic and narrative elements that is instrumental to foreground the ‘natural’, and to correlate their narratives with mimetic, real-world representation.' (Publication abstract)
Last amended 17 Jun 2020 10:09:31
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  • Torres Strait Islands, Queensland,
  • 1938
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