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Notes
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A novel in verse form.
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Broadcast on ABC Radio on 23 April 1984.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also braille, sound recording.
Works about this Work
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Australian Poetry Now
2016
single work
essay
— Appears in: Poetry , May 2016; (p. 185-191) 'Once asked what poets can do for Australia, A.D. Hope replied: “They can justify its existence.” Such has been the charge of Australian poets, from Hope himself to Kenneth Slessor, Judith Wright to Les Murray, Anthony Lawrence to Judith Beveridge: to articulate the Australian experience so that it might live in the imagination of its people. While the presence and potency of the Australian landscape remains an abiding interest, a great deal of Australian poetry has been innovative and experimental, with poets such as Robert Adamson, Michael Dransfield, Vicki Viidikas, John Forbes, Gig Ryan, J.S. Harry, and Jennifer Maiden leading the way. The richness, strength, and vitality of Australian poetry is marked by a prodigious diversity that makes it as exhilarating to survey as it is challenging to encapsulate.' (Introduction) -
The Silver Age of Fiction
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)
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Alienating Powers : Les Murray's Poetry and Politics
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Literary Activists : Australian Writer-Intellectuals and Public Life 2009; (p. 97-118) -
An Aspect of Valtellinese Diaspora : Lombardy to Western Australia (1895-1960) - 'The Entombed Miner, Easter 1907'
2005
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Diaspora : The Australasian Experience 2005; (p. 410-423)
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 71 no. 1 2011; (p. 180-196) This work is a 'ficto-critical look at an unusual example of diaspora where over a period of more than 100 years a small but continuous stream of Valtellinesi working men (from Lombardy valley in north Italy) and their wives and families - the latter following the breadwinner years later in most cases - migrated from what was in those days one of the poorest areas in the Italian Alps to find a new life. They began working at first in the gold-mining industry in Western Australia.' (Source: Author's introduction, Southerly, 2011)
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Correspondence : Judith Wright and Les Murray
2003
selected work
correspondence
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 63 no. 1 2003; (p. 162-180) This correspondence takes the form of ten letters dated May 1980 to May 1983. Judith Wright questions the legitimacy of certain Aboriginal tribal customs which took place in Les Murray's The Boy Who Stole the Funeral. Les Murray replies to this letter and over the next three years the dialogue between the two writers expands into issues of Aboriginal land rights, Native Title, reconciliation, and the different state legislations covering the rights of Aboriginal people.
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Stroking it Open : A Poetry Chronicle
1980
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin , Spring vol. 39 no. 3 1980; (p. 351-363)
— Review of The Boys Who Stole the Funeral : A Novel Sequence 1980 single work novel ; The Pattern 1979 selected work poetry ; Late-Winter Child 1979 sequence poetry ; The Emotions Are Not Skilled Workers : Poems 1980 selected work poetry ; Cassandra Paddocks : Poems 1980 selected work poetry ; The Forbidden City : Poems 1979 selected work poetry ; Poems 1972-79 1979 selected work poetry ; Dazed in the Ladies Lounge : Poems 1979 selected work poetry ; Poems 1979 selected work poetry ; A Mile from Poetry 1979 selected work poetry -
Poetry to Help Us Enjoy or Endure Our Lives
1980
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 1 November 1980; (p. 14)
— Review of The Golden Apples of the Sun : Twentieth Century Australian Poetry 1980 anthology poetry ; Poems 1972-79 1979 selected work poetry ; The Boys Who Stole the Funeral : A Novel Sequence 1980 single work novel -
Davie's Rap
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: London Review of Books , 25 January vol. 12 no. 2 1990; (p. 15-16)
— Review of Possible Worlds 1989 selected work poetry ; The Boys Who Stole the Funeral : A Novel Sequence 1980 single work novel -
[Review] The Boys Who Stole the Funeral : A Novel Sequence
1980
single work
review
— Appears in: New Poetry , vol. 28 no. 1 1980; (p. 60-63)
— Review of The Boys Who Stole the Funeral : A Novel Sequence 1980 single work novel -
Great Expectations
1980
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 24 1980; (p. 4-5)
— Review of The Boys Who Stole the Funeral : A Novel Sequence 1980 single work novel -
Correspondence : Judith Wright and Les Murray
2003
selected work
correspondence
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 63 no. 1 2003; (p. 162-180) This correspondence takes the form of ten letters dated May 1980 to May 1983. Judith Wright questions the legitimacy of certain Aboriginal tribal customs which took place in Les Murray's The Boy Who Stole the Funeral. Les Murray replies to this letter and over the next three years the dialogue between the two writers expands into issues of Aboriginal land rights, Native Title, reconciliation, and the different state legislations covering the rights of Aboriginal people. -
Alienating Powers : Les Murray's Poetry and Politics
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Literary Activists : Australian Writer-Intellectuals and Public Life 2009; (p. 97-118) -
An Aspect of Valtellinese Diaspora : Lombardy to Western Australia (1895-1960) - 'The Entombed Miner, Easter 1907'
2005
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Diaspora : The Australasian Experience 2005; (p. 410-423)
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 71 no. 1 2011; (p. 180-196) This work is a 'ficto-critical look at an unusual example of diaspora where over a period of more than 100 years a small but continuous stream of Valtellinesi working men (from Lombardy valley in north Italy) and their wives and families - the latter following the breadwinner years later in most cases - migrated from what was in those days one of the poorest areas in the Italian Alps to find a new life. They began working at first in the gold-mining industry in Western Australia.' (Source: Author's introduction, Southerly, 2011)
-
The Silver Age of Fiction
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)
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'Interest' in Les A. Murray
1989
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October vol. 14 no. 2 1989; (p. 147-159)
Awards
- 1980 highly commended National Book Council Award for Australian Literature
- 1980 winner Grace Leven Poetry Prize
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