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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Written over a period of two decades, The Law of Poetry contains poems that pay personal tributes to ‘things’—broccoli, ducks and concrete—as well as poems that seek to physically enter the realm of abstract concepts —chance, kindness and explanations. Set out in alphabetical order—as if a dictionary of essences—each poem is titled ‘The Law of Something’, be that ‘The Law of Absolutes’, ‘The Law of the Child, Lost’ or ‘The Law of Rubber Gloves’. The reader is asked not to judge—as law stereotypically demands—but to engage with this very idiosyncratic world of the individual poet and to be injected, like the shrunken travellers in the 1966 classic, Fantastic Voyage, into the nervous system of another.' (Publication summary)
Notes
-
Dedication:
for
Regina Graycar
&
Dirk Meure
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Lawmaking—and Breaking—In Verse
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 31 no. 1 2017; (p. 230-231)'Each title and topic references law in some way, so the first-time reader may be intimidated by the regulatory tone before finding that there are delightful laws for broccoli and rubber gloves between weightier treatments of love and the passage of time. Law evokes perceptions of truth and consequence in the sciences as well, and while a glum magistrate may have cast his veto in the Senate, Pliny the Elder was across town compiling his Naturalis Historia, an encyclopedia not so different from The Law of Poetry. While Rome stamped its brand of law on justice and the stars, something corrosive was stirring in its roots.' (Publication abstract)
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Poetry as Cattle Prod : Five New Poetry Collections
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 377 2015; (p. 43-44)
— Review of The Law of Poetry 2015 selected work poetry ; The Hour of Silvered Mullet 2015 selected work poetry ; The Ladder 2015 selected work poetry ; Jam Sticky Vision 2015 selected work poetry ; Immune Systems 2015 selected work poetry -
Review Short : MTC Cronin’s The Law of Poetry
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , October no. 51.1 2015;
— Review of The Law of Poetry 2015 selected work poetry -
Thoughts to Ponder about the Laws of Our Lives
Thoughts Worth Pondering
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 25-26 April 2015; (p. 30-31) The Canberra Times , 25 April 2015; (p. 18) The Age , 25 April 2015; (p. 24)
— Review of The Law of Poetry 2015 selected work poetry -
Profile of a Press : Puncher and Wattmann
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Latest Writing 2014-2016; Australian Poetry Journal , vol. 5 no. 2 2015; (p. 38-47) 'The multi-award winning poet and novelist David Musgrave founded the independent publishing company Puncher and Wattmann in 2005. Its name derives from Lucky's soliloquy in Beckett's Waiting for Godot. In ten years, the press has produced some on hundred and ten books and established itself as a significant and reputable presence in the Australian cultural landscape. Though poetry titles constitute about three-quarters of the Puncher and Wattmann list, the press has also published literary fiction, literary and cultural criticism and biography.' (Introduction 39)
-
Thoughts to Ponder about the Laws of Our Lives
Thoughts Worth Pondering
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 25-26 April 2015; (p. 30-31) The Canberra Times , 25 April 2015; (p. 18) The Age , 25 April 2015; (p. 24)
— Review of The Law of Poetry 2015 selected work poetry -
Review Short : MTC Cronin’s The Law of Poetry
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , October no. 51.1 2015;
— Review of The Law of Poetry 2015 selected work poetry -
Poetry as Cattle Prod : Five New Poetry Collections
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 377 2015; (p. 43-44)
— Review of The Law of Poetry 2015 selected work poetry ; The Hour of Silvered Mullet 2015 selected work poetry ; The Ladder 2015 selected work poetry ; Jam Sticky Vision 2015 selected work poetry ; Immune Systems 2015 selected work poetry -
Profile of a Press : Puncher and Wattmann
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Latest Writing 2014-2016; Australian Poetry Journal , vol. 5 no. 2 2015; (p. 38-47) 'The multi-award winning poet and novelist David Musgrave founded the independent publishing company Puncher and Wattmann in 2005. Its name derives from Lucky's soliloquy in Beckett's Waiting for Godot. In ten years, the press has produced some on hundred and ten books and established itself as a significant and reputable presence in the Australian cultural landscape. Though poetry titles constitute about three-quarters of the Puncher and Wattmann list, the press has also published literary fiction, literary and cultural criticism and biography.' (Introduction 39) -
Lawmaking—and Breaking—In Verse
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 31 no. 1 2017; (p. 230-231)'Each title and topic references law in some way, so the first-time reader may be intimidated by the regulatory tone before finding that there are delightful laws for broccoli and rubber gloves between weightier treatments of love and the passage of time. Law evokes perceptions of truth and consequence in the sciences as well, and while a glum magistrate may have cast his veto in the Senate, Pliny the Elder was across town compiling his Naturalis Historia, an encyclopedia not so different from The Law of Poetry. While Rome stamped its brand of law on justice and the stars, something corrosive was stirring in its roots.' (Publication abstract)
