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'The publication of Clive James's Sentenced to Life was a major literary event. Facing the end, James looked back over his life with a clear-eyed and unflinching honesty to produce his finest work: poems of extraordinary power that spoke to our most elemental human emotions.
'Injury Time finds James in a similar mood. Keen to capture and cherish moments of beauty and love; thinking about how best to live in his remaining days; and casting his mind forward to when he will be gone and how he might be remembered. A series of intimate poems reveals family as one of life's true treasures. The poet captures tender childhood memories of his mother, has his spirits lifted by the wonderful vision of his granddaughter in graceful acrobatic movement, and addresses the haunting loss of his father in World War Two. He writes beautifully of his early years in Australia, where he began and where he hopes to 'reach the end'. James also reflects on the wisdom and consolation to be found in art, music and literature, which have become even more precious to him in his later years.
'The poems in this deeply moving, inspirational and wholly unsentimental book are even more accomplished than those that came before. Injury Time shows Clive James the poet in the form of his life. ' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Deadly Conscious : The Boys in Cambridge : Clive James' Injury Time
2018
single work
essay
— Appears in: Journal of Poetics Research , March no. 8 2018; -
Elegiac Reminiscences from a Poet Allowed an Extended Run
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 24 June 2017; (p. 16) 'It must be five years or more since a media group asked me to film an obituary for Clive James. I refused not because I didn’t believe his death was looming but because I thought I could talk about him when the time came, if need be. James, memoirist and interviewer extraordinaire, couldn’t be more conscious of the fact the announcement of his imminent death from leukaemia was premature. At the time it was based on the best information available.' (Introduction)
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Elegiac Reminiscences from a Poet Allowed an Extended Run
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 24 June 2017; (p. 16) 'It must be five years or more since a media group asked me to film an obituary for Clive James. I refused not because I didn’t believe his death was looming but because I thought I could talk about him when the time came, if need be. James, memoirist and interviewer extraordinaire, couldn’t be more conscious of the fact the announcement of his imminent death from leukaemia was premature. At the time it was based on the best information available.' (Introduction) -
Deadly Conscious : The Boys in Cambridge : Clive James' Injury Time
2018
single work
essay
— Appears in: Journal of Poetics Research , March no. 8 2018;