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Reminiscence single work   poetry   "I was born into a coloured country:"
Issue Details: First known date: 1973... 1973 Reminiscence
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Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Alive : Poems 1971-72 Judith Wright , Cremorne : Angus and Robertson , 1973 Z565913 1973 selected work poetry Cremorne : Angus and Robertson , 1973 pg. 38
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon A Human Pattern : Selected Poems Judith Wright , North Ryde : Angus and Robertson , 1990 Z9022 1990 selected work poetry (taught in 3 units)

    'Judith Wright's own definitive selection of her poetry, covering the best and most memorable of her remarkable oeuvre.

    'From the elegant and moving precision of the first collection, The Moving Image (1946), to the political passion of Phantom Dwelling (1985), Wright's poetry speaks with intelligence and courage - and gracefully sensuous imagery.

    'Forty years of poetic production from Australia's best-loved poet.' (Publication summary)

    North Ryde : Angus and Robertson , 1990
    pg. 176-177
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Collected Poems 1942-1985 Judith Wright , Pymble : Angus and Robertson , 1994 Z501989 1994 selected work poetry war literature satire (taught in 8 units) Pymble : Angus and Robertson , 1994 pg. 329-330
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Half a Lifetime Judith Wright , Patricia Clarke (editor), Melbourne : Text Publishing , 1999 Z436604 1999 single work autobiography

    'In this luminous memoir, Judith Wright takes the reader on an intimate journey into the first half of her life. She tells how her stern forebears became prominent pastoralists in northern New South Wales, and describes with stunning clarity the landscapes she grew up in.'

    'She remembers her first encounters with words and the emergence of her consciousness of self. She movingly describes her mother’s death. And she recounts her resolution to escape from this world she loved in order to be free.'

    'In Brisbane during the war Wright met Jack McKinney, a philosopher who became her lover, and her intellectual companion in her commitment to the environment, the rights of Aboriginal people, and the possibility of leading a just life.'

    'Half a Lifetime includes a number of Wright’s best-loved poems, and many never before published photographs. Sensuous, honest and intelligent, this is an unforgettable autobiography by a great Australian writer.'

    Melbourne : Text Publishing , 1999
    pg. 27-28
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Birds : Poems Judith Wright , Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1962 Z565163 1962 selected work poetry (taught in 3 units)

    'The poems in Judith Wright's Birds volume have long been recognised as among the best-loved poems written in Australia. Many people have grown up with the beguiling rhythms of 'Black Cockatoos', or the jauntiness of 'The Wagtail'. Now, in this new edition, commemorating 25 years since the poems were last published as a single collection, these works appear with six additional poems and a personal introduction by the poet's daughter Meredith McKinney, for whom many of the poems were written. The poems are complemented by full-colour illustrations drawn from the National Library's Pictures Collection, featuring the work of artists such as John Lewin, Lionel Lindsay, Lilian Medland, William T. Cooper and Betty Temple Watts. 'Birds' is both a celebration of Judith Wright (1915-2000) as writer and passionate environmentalist, and of the centrality of birds in the poet's imagination. ' (Publication summary)

    Canberra : National Library of Australia , 2003
    pg. 76-77
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon This is Home : Essential Australian Poems for Children Jackie French (editor), Canberra : National Library of Australia , 2019 15797080 2019 selected work poetry

    'In This Is Home, much-loved author Jackie French has gathered a poem for every child and every mood. What do you feel like doing today? Sit beside a bush campfire with Oodgeroo Noonuccal, watch people going by with Henry Lawson, float away with Alison Lester, learn to read with Andy Griffiths or be brave with Shaun Tan. 

    Ideal for sharing with the whole family, this extensively illustrated edition brings together old favourites and sure-to-be new favourites in an indispensable addition to children's bookshelves. From poems that whisper to poems that roar, from words of tranquillity and heartbreak to those of the witty and absurd, there is something within these pages to make everyone feel at home.'

    Source: Publisher's blurb.

    Canberra : National Library of Australia , 2019
    pg. 88

Works about this Work

Judith Wright's New England Poems : Early and Late Shirley Walker , 1982 single work criticism
— Appears in: Rajasthan University Studies in English , vol. 15 no. 1982-1983; (p. 26-32)
Judith Wright's New England Poems : Early and Late Shirley Walker , 1982 single work criticism
— Appears in: Rajasthan University Studies in English , vol. 15 no. 1982-1983; (p. 26-32)
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