AustLit

'In 2014 I assembled a collected edition of the poems of the Australian poet Lesbia Harford (1891–1927), whose work had then been out of print for thirty years. The book’s reception was mixed at best, with a number of the reviews complaining that I had focused too much on Harford’s lyricism at the expense of her political writing and activism. There were accusations of ‘gendering’ and ‘marginalisation’: far from strengthening her reputation, I had apparently reduced it to something slight and ‘feminine’. I was stupefied by the reaction, but over time found myself questioning my approach. Perhaps, without realising it, I’d presented a distorted view?' (Introduction)

'Lesbia Harford (1891–1927) has occupied only a small place in Australian literary history – for decades, she was utterly forgotten – yet when she died, at thirty-six, she left behind three notebooks containing some of the finest lyric poems ever written in Australia.

Harford’s writing looks both forwards and backwards, blending Pre-Raphaelite influences and plain-speaking with unusual subtlety. At the same time, Harford was bound inextricably to the period in which she lived: war in Europe, changing attitudes to religion, the suffrage movement, and widespread social upheaval all helped make her one of the first truly modern, urban figures in Australian poetry.' (Publisher's blurb)