'Having read several of Geoff’s verse novels as part of my doctoral research, I introduced myself at the 2012 launch of his Coda for Shirley. I shared with Geoff my plans to improve reader reception of verse novels, and thanks to his generosity, this interview is an outcome to that end.' (Introduction)
'T he act of reading for appraisal rather than pleasure is a privilege that brings me to a deepened understanding of the contemporary in Australian poetry, the way the past is being framed, its traditions, celebrities and enigmas washed up in new and hybrid appearances or redressed in more conventional, sometimes nimbus forms. Judith Wright wrote that the ‘place to find clues is not in the present, it lies in the past: a shallow past, as all immigrants to Australia know, and all of us are immigrants.’ The discipline of reading to filter such a range of voices underlines my foreignness, making reading akin to translation, whilst reciprocally inviting the reader of this essay to become a foreigner to my assumptions and conclusions.' (Introduction)
'Having read several of Geoff’s verse novels as part of my doctoral research, I introduced myself at the 2012 launch of his Coda for Shirley. I shared with Geoff my plans to improve reader reception of verse novels, and thanks to his generosity, this interview is an outcome to that end.' (Introduction)
