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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Ahead of Us is Haskell’s eighth book of poetry. Dedicated to his wife Rhonda, who lost her battle with cancer after a long illness, Ahead of Us contains poems of love, of two people forging a partnership together and of the inevitable end of that partnership when one person dies.
'It is a celebration of life and and of the fragile thread that holds us here.' (Publication summary)
Notes
-
'Written in memory of his late wife, Rhonda, the book will raise much needed funds for the Cancer Council WA.' (Source: Fremantle Press website)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
The Sliding Scale of Self-Repair in Dennis Haskell’s Acts of Defiance
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) -
The Poetry of Dennis Haskell : Stylisation and Elegy
2019
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Asiatic , December vol. 13 no. 2 2019; (p. 19-35) 'In this essay I concentrate on the elegiac poetry of the Australian poet Dennis Haskell. I argue that the emphasis in Haskell’s work on the quotidian, clarity of expression and the communication of emotion, has a material effect on the ways in which Haskell approaches the elegiac project: the poetic expression of grief in the face of loss. In the essay I identify three main classes of elegy in Haskell’s oeuvre: elegies for fellow poets (which, after Lawrence Lipking, I call “tombeaux”); the familial elegy; and the spousal elegy. Haskell’s engagement with the genre of the elegy therefore occupies a spectrum between what might be termed “public” elegies, and “intimate” elegies. As I discuss, the intimate elegies indicate a more profound, and sometimes troubled, engagement with the genre of elegy, tipping on occasion in anti -elegy and self-elegy. By undertaking textual analyses of various poems from within the three classes of elegy practised by Haskell, I illustrate the different ways in which he deals with one of the most profound problems that faces an elegist: how to express the profound emotion of grief through the affordances of poetic stylisation.' (Publication abstract) -
“A Need for Voices” : The Poetry of Dennis Haskell
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) -
Every Room You Enter
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June-July no. 382 2016; (p. 55)
— Review of Ahead of Us 2016 selected work poetry ; Small Town Soundtrack 2015 selected work poetry ; 101 Poems 2015 selected work poetry -
Review Short : Dennis Haskell’s Ahead of Us
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , 4 May no. 54.0 2016;
— Review of Ahead of Us 2016 selected work poetry
-
Review Short : Dennis Haskell’s Ahead of Us
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , 4 May no. 54.0 2016;
— Review of Ahead of Us 2016 selected work poetry -
Every Room You Enter
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June-July no. 382 2016; (p. 55)
— Review of Ahead of Us 2016 selected work poetry ; Small Town Soundtrack 2015 selected work poetry ; 101 Poems 2015 selected work poetry -
Australian Poetry
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 17-18 September 2016; (p. 25)
— Review of This Is What Gives Us Time 2016 selected work poetry ; Testicle & Tomb 2016 selected work poetry ; Ahead of Us 2016 selected work poetry ; They Call Us Loud 2015 selected work poetry -
Professor’s Poetry in Emotion
2016
single work
column
— Appears in: The West Australian , 23 January 2016; (p. 96) 'Dennis Haskell says poetry should speak to everyone' -
“Ahead of Us” : Siobhan Hodge Interviews Dennis Haskell
Siobhan Hodge
(interviewer),
2016
single work
interview
— Appears in: Rochford Street Review , January - March no. 17 2016; -
Dennis Haskell, Ahead of Us
2016
single work
essay
review
— Appears in: Asiatic , December vol. 10 no. 2 2016; -
“A Need for Voices” : The Poetry of Dennis Haskell
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 Poetry of Dennis Haskell : Stylisation and Elegy
2019
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Asiatic , December vol. 13 no. 2 2019; (p. 19-35) 'In this essay I concentrate on the elegiac poetry of the Australian poet Dennis Haskell. I argue that the emphasis in Haskell’s work on the quotidian, clarity of expression and the communication of emotion, has a material effect on the ways in which Haskell approaches the elegiac project: the poetic expression of grief in the face of loss. In the essay I identify three main classes of elegy in Haskell’s oeuvre: elegies for fellow poets (which, after Lawrence Lipking, I call “tombeaux”); the familial elegy; and the spousal elegy. Haskell’s engagement with the genre of the elegy therefore occupies a spectrum between what might be termed “public” elegies, and “intimate” elegies. As I discuss, the intimate elegies indicate a more profound, and sometimes troubled, engagement with the genre of elegy, tipping on occasion in anti -elegy and self-elegy. By undertaking textual analyses of various poems from within the three classes of elegy practised by Haskell, I illustrate the different ways in which he deals with one of the most profound problems that faces an elegist: how to express the profound emotion of grief through the affordances of poetic stylisation.' (Publication abstract)
Awards
- 2017 longlisted ASAL Awards — ALS Gold Medal
Last amended 21 Feb 2017 11:24:21
