y separately published work icon Acts of Defiance : New and Selected Poems selected work   poetry  
Issue Details: First known date: 2010... 2010 Acts of Defiance : New and Selected Poems
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Notes

  • Dedication: for Rhonda, Kieren and Cameron

Contents

* Contents derived from the London,
c
England,
c
c
United Kingdom (UK),
c
Western Europe, Europe,
:
Salt Publishing , 2010 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Near Gwabegari"Past town children who", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 1-2)
Visiting Friends at Henleyi"We cross the street, and along the path", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 3-4)
The Calli"A stilled room to which I am called", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 5)
Incomplete and Nagged Ati"The worst thing is being alone.", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 6)
The Kids Push Fingers...i"The kids push fingers toward a window", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 7-8)
The Basis of All Knowledgei"He is a child", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 9)
Samuel Johnson in Marrickvillei"Sometimes you walk along,", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 10-15)
Abracadabrai"Taking off is like itself:", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 16-18)
No-One Ever Found Youi"No-one ever found you self-seeking or dishonest.", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 19)
Threadsi"So the trip is over. All the cases empty,", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 20)
Night Flighti"Entering this symmetrical hulk of metal which will fling us", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 21)
The Mitchell Freewayi"Straight and smooth and stretched", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 22)
At Greenwood, a Meditationi"In a humdrum household", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 23)
Letter to Rosemaryi"Rosemary, because we are not likely", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 24-25)
Flying West, Driving Westwardi"The wheels rock on the runway, skitter", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 26-28)
Thaipusami"It teems rain, tropical rain, rain", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 29)
Tappingi"My love, that odd window knocking", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 30-31)
Light the First Light of Eveningi"In solitude", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 32)
One Clear Calli"Holidays, the bush, dusty Coonabarabran", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 33)
The Livin Is Easyi"When Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin died", Dennis Haskell , single work poetry (p. 34)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

Provisional Meanings : Belonging and Not-Belonging in the Poetry of Dennis Haskell Paul Hetherington , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: Asiatic , December vol. 13 no. 2 2019; (p. 58-69)

'Dennis Haskell’s poetry persistently explores images of home and departure. As it does, it questions what we may know and depend on, suggesting that many of our understandings are provisional. Haskell’s poetry also contrasts what is imagined and desired with what is knowable – giving prominence to quotidian knowledge and observable reality – and restlessly explores the relationship of religious belief to lived experience. In this light, the elegiac strand in his work becomes a way of probing the gap between death and the limitations of language, highlighting the sometimes problematic relationship between thought and expression. Yet, poetry provides a means of access to otherwise unapproachable thoughts and feelings and connects the poet (and reader) to an articulate human community. It enables the delineation of a simultaneously observant, detached and engaged subjectivity that consistently seeks to find connections – whether at home, while travelling or in international settings. This poetry joins the familiar and unfamiliar in works that question how people understand one another and their unique circumstances, and how the ineffable, while it may be evoked in words, nevertheless retains its deep mysteries. Haskell is interested in the ways in which we make and disturb meaning, and in questioning how belief in God or an afterlife may be understood despite scepticism and doubt.' (Publication abstract)

The Sliding Scale of Self-Repair in Dennis Haskell’s Acts of Defiance Page Richards , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: Asiatic , December vol. 13 no. 2 2019; (p. 36-57)
'The contemporary lyric’s rich possibilities for resituating history and life stories still remain largely unexplored. Lyric poetry and history have always had, understandably, an uneasy relationship; the lyric is traditionally linked to the symbolic, not to fact or even necessarily, as we know from medieval or earlier poems, to a speaker that we can name or authorise. Yet, the instrument and agency of lyric evolve too, like science and technology, making room for strengths previously unexploited, rooted and waiting. Dennis Haskell’s powerful body of work, balancing on a delicate and self-referential focus on human language itself, offers us a glimpse into the future. This article offers a critical study of 21st ecosystems of human language, as acts of self-repair, a perspective permeating Dennis Haskell’s pioneering and poetic cycle of work, resonant with medical discoveries in our era. As we look ahead through the lens of Haskell’s “geographies of time,” we also explore lyric legacies of the elegiac, pointing us to update continuously our apprehension of the human body of language among the larger balances, of earth and space, and, then again, with one another, up close.' (Publication abstract)
“A Need for Voices” : The Poetry of Dennis Haskell Kieran Dolin , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: Asiatic , December vol. 13 no. 2 2019; (p. 6-18)
'This article presents a critical reading of the poetry of Dennis Haskell. Inspired by the experience of hearing the poet read, it uses the concept of poetic voice as an entry point for critical analysis. Haskell has described his poetic aim as being to “write a poetry that incorporates ideas but never ostentatiously … with as quiet as possible verbal skill, and in a way that evokes the deepest emotions” (Landbridge) . The paper identifies key aspects of voice in the poetry, drawing on arguments by Robert Pinsky and Al Alvarez that voice implies a reaching out to an auditor or reader, and thus has social and cultural dimensions. Attending to both technique and meaning, it first analyses two short lyric poems by Haskell, “One Clear Call” and “The Call,” which explore the power of voice in poetic and pre-linguistic settings respectively. Poetic voice becomes a vehicle of social critique in “Australian Language’s Tribute to the Times,” a bemused satire on the clichéd language of modern politics and economics. In the next section of the paper the focus shifts to his recurrent creative interest in poems of international travel and in particular international flight. The experience of flying is the subject of lucid, practical philosophical reflections in “GA873: The Meaning of Meaning” and “Reality’s Conquests,” while in “As You Are, As We Are” and “Our Century,” Haskell presents vivid intercultural encounters in a voice that is candid, observant and responsive to others.' (Publication abstract)
Sometimes Difficult, Always Diverse : Aspects of Contemporary Australian Poetry 2010-11 Paul Hetherington , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Westerly , July vol. 56 no. 1 2011; (p. 50-66)

— Review of Ashes in the Air Ali Alizadeh , 2011 selected work poetry ; Pebbles on the Roof Merle Goldsmith , 2009 selected work poetry ; Carnival Edge : New and Selected Poems Katherine Gallagher , 2010 selected work poetry ; Glass Clouds Grant Caldwell , 2010 selected work poetry ; I Painted Unafraid Robyn Cadwallader , 2010 selected work poetry ; Burning Bright Caroline Caddy , 2010 selected work poetry ; An Absence of Saints Rosanna Licari , 2010 selected work poetry ; Chemistry Jamie King-Holden , 2011 selected work poetry ; Lines for Birds : Poems and Paintings Barry Hill , 2011 selected work poetry ; Selected Poems of Dorothy Hewett Dorothy Hewett , 2010 selected work poetry ; Acts of Defiance : New and Selected Poems Dennis Haskell , 2010 selected work poetry ; News of the Insect World : And Other Poems Susan Hampton , 2009 selected work poetry ; Graphic : Two Sequences David McCooey , 2010 selected work poetry ; The Drunken Elk Shane McCauley , 2010 selected work poetry ; Possession : Poems about the Voyage of Lt James Cook in The Endeavour 1768-1771 Anna Nicholson , 2010 selected work poetry ; The West : Australian Poems 1989-2009 John Mateer , 2010 selected work poetry ; La, La, La Tatjana Lukic , 2009 selected work poetry ; Porch Music Cameron Lowe , 2010 selected work poetry ; Postcards from the Centre Ron Pretty , 2010 selected work poetry ; Swallow Claire Potter , 2010 selected work poetry ; Little River James Quinton , 2010 selected work poetry ; Where N Equals a Determinacy of Poetry Scott-Patrick Mitchell , 2010 selected work poetry ; Heartscapes Kaye Mill , 2010 selected work poetry ; Green Hair Susan McMichael , 2010 selected work poetry ; Starlight : 150 Poems John Tranter , 2010 selected work poetry ; The Gossip and the Wine Peter Steele , 2011 selected work poetry ; The Geometry of Flight Angela Smith , 2010 selected work poetry ; Keepers Philip Salom , 2010 selected work poetry ; Seasons of Doubt and Burning : New and​ Selected Poems Robyn Rowland , 2010 selected work poetry ; Time Will Tell Emma Rooksby , 2010 selected work poetry ; New Selected Poems : A Collection of Flowers : 1967-2009 Edwin Wilson , 2010 selected work poetry ; Collected Poems : Francis Webb Francis Webb , 2011 collected work poetry
Writing the Ordinary : Poets in Conversation Isabela Banzon , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , July vol. 56 no. 1 2011; (p. 35-42)
Elegy for Life's Fragility Geoff Page , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 15 January 2011; (p. 26)

— Review of Acts of Defiance : New and Selected Poems Dennis Haskell , 2010 selected work poetry
Worried Wrestlings Martin Duwell , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 330 2011; (p. 59)

— Review of Acts of Defiance : New and Selected Poems Dennis Haskell , 2010 selected work poetry
Sometimes Difficult, Always Diverse : Aspects of Contemporary Australian Poetry 2010-11 Paul Hetherington , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Westerly , July vol. 56 no. 1 2011; (p. 50-66)

— Review of Ashes in the Air Ali Alizadeh , 2011 selected work poetry ; Pebbles on the Roof Merle Goldsmith , 2009 selected work poetry ; Carnival Edge : New and Selected Poems Katherine Gallagher , 2010 selected work poetry ; Glass Clouds Grant Caldwell , 2010 selected work poetry ; I Painted Unafraid Robyn Cadwallader , 2010 selected work poetry ; Burning Bright Caroline Caddy , 2010 selected work poetry ; An Absence of Saints Rosanna Licari , 2010 selected work poetry ; Chemistry Jamie King-Holden , 2011 selected work poetry ; Lines for Birds : Poems and Paintings Barry Hill , 2011 selected work poetry ; Selected Poems of Dorothy Hewett Dorothy Hewett , 2010 selected work poetry ; Acts of Defiance : New and Selected Poems Dennis Haskell , 2010 selected work poetry ; News of the Insect World : And Other Poems Susan Hampton , 2009 selected work poetry ; Graphic : Two Sequences David McCooey , 2010 selected work poetry ; The Drunken Elk Shane McCauley , 2010 selected work poetry ; Possession : Poems about the Voyage of Lt James Cook in The Endeavour 1768-1771 Anna Nicholson , 2010 selected work poetry ; The West : Australian Poems 1989-2009 John Mateer , 2010 selected work poetry ; La, La, La Tatjana Lukic , 2009 selected work poetry ; Porch Music Cameron Lowe , 2010 selected work poetry ; Postcards from the Centre Ron Pretty , 2010 selected work poetry ; Swallow Claire Potter , 2010 selected work poetry ; Little River James Quinton , 2010 selected work poetry ; Where N Equals a Determinacy of Poetry Scott-Patrick Mitchell , 2010 selected work poetry ; Heartscapes Kaye Mill , 2010 selected work poetry ; Green Hair Susan McMichael , 2010 selected work poetry ; Starlight : 150 Poems John Tranter , 2010 selected work poetry ; The Gossip and the Wine Peter Steele , 2011 selected work poetry ; The Geometry of Flight Angela Smith , 2010 selected work poetry ; Keepers Philip Salom , 2010 selected work poetry ; Seasons of Doubt and Burning : New and​ Selected Poems Robyn Rowland , 2010 selected work poetry ; Time Will Tell Emma Rooksby , 2010 selected work poetry ; New Selected Poems : A Collection of Flowers : 1967-2009 Edwin Wilson , 2010 selected work poetry ; Collected Poems : Francis Webb Francis Webb , 2011 collected work poetry
Writing the Ordinary : Poets in Conversation Isabela Banzon , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , July vol. 56 no. 1 2011; (p. 35-42)
“A Need for Voices” : The Poetry of Dennis Haskell Kieran Dolin , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: Asiatic , December vol. 13 no. 2 2019; (p. 6-18)
'This article presents a critical reading of the poetry of Dennis Haskell. Inspired by the experience of hearing the poet read, it uses the concept of poetic voice as an entry point for critical analysis. Haskell has described his poetic aim as being to “write a poetry that incorporates ideas but never ostentatiously … with as quiet as possible verbal skill, and in a way that evokes the deepest emotions” (Landbridge) . The paper identifies key aspects of voice in the poetry, drawing on arguments by Robert Pinsky and Al Alvarez that voice implies a reaching out to an auditor or reader, and thus has social and cultural dimensions. Attending to both technique and meaning, it first analyses two short lyric poems by Haskell, “One Clear Call” and “The Call,” which explore the power of voice in poetic and pre-linguistic settings respectively. Poetic voice becomes a vehicle of social critique in “Australian Language’s Tribute to the Times,” a bemused satire on the clichéd language of modern politics and economics. In the next section of the paper the focus shifts to his recurrent creative interest in poems of international travel and in particular international flight. The experience of flying is the subject of lucid, practical philosophical reflections in “GA873: The Meaning of Meaning” and “Reality’s Conquests,” while in “As You Are, As We Are” and “Our Century,” Haskell presents vivid intercultural encounters in a voice that is candid, observant and responsive to others.' (Publication abstract)
The Sliding Scale of Self-Repair in Dennis Haskell’s Acts of Defiance Page Richards , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: Asiatic , December vol. 13 no. 2 2019; (p. 36-57)
'The contemporary lyric’s rich possibilities for resituating history and life stories still remain largely unexplored. Lyric poetry and history have always had, understandably, an uneasy relationship; the lyric is traditionally linked to the symbolic, not to fact or even necessarily, as we know from medieval or earlier poems, to a speaker that we can name or authorise. Yet, the instrument and agency of lyric evolve too, like science and technology, making room for strengths previously unexploited, rooted and waiting. Dennis Haskell’s powerful body of work, balancing on a delicate and self-referential focus on human language itself, offers us a glimpse into the future. This article offers a critical study of 21st ecosystems of human language, as acts of self-repair, a perspective permeating Dennis Haskell’s pioneering and poetic cycle of work, resonant with medical discoveries in our era. As we look ahead through the lens of Haskell’s “geographies of time,” we also explore lyric legacies of the elegiac, pointing us to update continuously our apprehension of the human body of language among the larger balances, of earth and space, and, then again, with one another, up close.' (Publication abstract)
Provisional Meanings : Belonging and Not-Belonging in the Poetry of Dennis Haskell Paul Hetherington , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: Asiatic , December vol. 13 no. 2 2019; (p. 58-69)

'Dennis Haskell’s poetry persistently explores images of home and departure. As it does, it questions what we may know and depend on, suggesting that many of our understandings are provisional. Haskell’s poetry also contrasts what is imagined and desired with what is knowable – giving prominence to quotidian knowledge and observable reality – and restlessly explores the relationship of religious belief to lived experience. In this light, the elegiac strand in his work becomes a way of probing the gap between death and the limitations of language, highlighting the sometimes problematic relationship between thought and expression. Yet, poetry provides a means of access to otherwise unapproachable thoughts and feelings and connects the poet (and reader) to an articulate human community. It enables the delineation of a simultaneously observant, detached and engaged subjectivity that consistently seeks to find connections – whether at home, while travelling or in international settings. This poetry joins the familiar and unfamiliar in works that question how people understand one another and their unique circumstances, and how the ineffable, while it may be evoked in words, nevertheless retains its deep mysteries. Haskell is interested in the ways in which we make and disturb meaning, and in questioning how belief in God or an afterlife may be understood despite scepticism and doubt.' (Publication abstract)

Last amended 2 Mar 2011 11:32:51
X