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'‘With Orpheus in the Undershirt, Kevin Densley has produced his best book yet: sharp but not cutting, tart but not cynical, the collection weaves lyric, barb and lament into a marvellous, prickly garment that soothes as it stimulates. Don’t like small, evocative poems as clear and complex as rockpools? Dive into an eight-page outlaw fistfight roaring with dust and despair. Not interested in ‘When Johnstone’s Circus Came to Town’? (Though why wouldn’t you be, with its ‘toupeed ringmaster/in a red lamé suit’ and aromatic ‘strong whiff of manure’?) Explore instead the death of a bantam ‘inside the chookhouse/among the warm chooky smells’. Unlike most collections which attempt to blend ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture, to find the charge of destiny in the nuts and bolts of the everyday, Orpheus does it effortlessly, without need of gimmicks or creaky, overbearing conceits Here Kevin Densley fuses the marvels and mundanities of life into a witty, searching collection that sings the subtleties of both.’ - James Roderick Burns, Other Poetry' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Reviewed in the Sydney Arts Guide, 21 March 2018: http://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/orpheus-in-the-undershirt/
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Reviewed on London Grip, 23 July 2018: https://londongrip.co.uk/2018/07/london-grip-poetry-review-kevin-densley/
Contents
- Mickey Mouse's Cranial Vaulti"Once, I saw in a book", single work poetry (p. 7)
- For Shantellei"We stood there,", single work poetry (p. 8)
- Sequence of Uneasei"black-and-white images return", single work poetry (p. 9)
- Lal Lal, Victoriai"Smoke from chimneys", single work poetry (p. 10)
- Virginia Woolf's Manx Cati"From my window", single work poetry (p. 11)
- To Clarissai"You didn't know", single work poetry (p. 12)
- Irisi"Memories of my grandmother, Dad's mother - connected to", single work poetry (p. 13)
- Martha Graham, 1931i"I can't be bothered", single work poetry (p. 14)
- Michelangelo Antonioni's Il Deserto Rossoi"the green of the grass is much greener", single work poetry (p. 15)
- Handel's Father Was a Barber-Surgeoni"Is the guitar obbligato", single work poetry (p. 16)
- Jack Bradshaw and 'Lovely' Rileyi"First, Jack Bradshaw", single work poetry (p. 17-19)
- A Little Night Musici"Prowling cats howl,", single work poetry (p. 20)
- A Poem (Almost) Writes Itselfi"The muse does not descend from high", single work poetry (p. 21)
- Souvenir Postcard, Photographed by Mr Henry Poil, Wangaratta, Victoria, 9 April 1865i"Mad Dan Morgan - dead -", single work poetry (p. 22)
- Late-in-Life Photograph of Captain Albert Jacka (1893-1932) VC, MC and Bari"Monochrome day,", single work poetry (p. 23)
- The Valley of the Shadow ofi"Racecourse Road,", single work poetry (p. 24-25)
- Poses of Languori"Show me women", single work poetry (p. 26)
- What Happened at University This Weeki"Temelza, a fellow tutor,", single work poetry (p. 27)
- Lunch with Terrie and Bernadettei"Carlton", single work poetry (p. 28)
- In Celebration of Great Australian Racehorses.i"In early colonial racing days", single work poetry (p. 29-33)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Cultures High and Low
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 33 no. 1 2019; (p. 181-183)
— Review of Orpheus in the Undershirt 2018 selected work poetry'From the outset—indeed, from the cover of the book, in the form of a louche, evocative Tasmanian wolf howling along to a bowed lyre—Kevin Densley's latest collection strikes a careful balance: meditations on the complexities (and failings) of popular culture; prickings of high art's bubble of self-satisfaction, with occasional swipes at academic indulgence of the same; and explorations of the folkways of Australian life, with particular emphasis on its seedier historical aspects, from horse racing to bare-knuckle brawling and protracted bushranger shenanigans. As with every polished collection, the poems are arranged with careful attention to transition and the patterning of mood, and they do not fall into readily identifiable blocks but work to maintain this thematic balance. We are welcomed to the worlds of "low" and "high" culture, as well as the vibrant folk history of the continent, and invited to appreciate how this shifting mixture works to create what we know as Australia.' (Introduction)
-
[Review] Kevin Densley’s Orpheus in the Undershirt
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Sūdō Journal , January vol. 1 no. 2019; (p. 114-116)
— Review of Orpheus in the Undershirt 2018 selected work poetry -
[Review] Orpheus in the Undershirt
2018
single work
review
— Appears in: Polestar , no. 35 2018; (p. 45-46)
— Review of Orpheus in the Undershirt 2018 selected work poetry
-
[Review] Orpheus in the Undershirt
2018
single work
review
— Appears in: Polestar , no. 35 2018; (p. 45-46)
— Review of Orpheus in the Undershirt 2018 selected work poetry -
[Review] Kevin Densley’s Orpheus in the Undershirt
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Sūdō Journal , January vol. 1 no. 2019; (p. 114-116)
— Review of Orpheus in the Undershirt 2018 selected work poetry -
Cultures High and Low
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 33 no. 1 2019; (p. 181-183)
— Review of Orpheus in the Undershirt 2018 selected work poetry'From the outset—indeed, from the cover of the book, in the form of a louche, evocative Tasmanian wolf howling along to a bowed lyre—Kevin Densley's latest collection strikes a careful balance: meditations on the complexities (and failings) of popular culture; prickings of high art's bubble of self-satisfaction, with occasional swipes at academic indulgence of the same; and explorations of the folkways of Australian life, with particular emphasis on its seedier historical aspects, from horse racing to bare-knuckle brawling and protracted bushranger shenanigans. As with every polished collection, the poems are arranged with careful attention to transition and the patterning of mood, and they do not fall into readily identifiable blocks but work to maintain this thematic balance. We are welcomed to the worlds of "low" and "high" culture, as well as the vibrant folk history of the continent, and invited to appreciate how this shifting mixture works to create what we know as Australia.' (Introduction)
