AustLit logo

AustLit

image of person or book cover 8823988743781271032.jpg
Cover image courtesy of publisher.
y separately published work icon New Impulses in Australian Poetry anthology   poetry  
Issue Details: First known date: 1968... 1968 New Impulses in Australian Poetry
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

This 'anthology of Australian poetry of the 1960s, was edited, with an introduction, by Rodney Hall and Thomas W. Shapcott. The keynote of these ‘new impulses’ was ‘a suspicion of idealism, and an inbred awareness of the consequences of totalitarian beliefs’. Authoritarianism in religion and politics was eschewed, as was the concept of national and international aggression. Major established poets such as Kenneth Slessor, Judith Wright and A. D. Hope are not represented because the editors felt that their poetry of the decade added little to their already defined stances. Their contemporaries, however, Gwen Harwood and Francis Webb, are given considerable space because they are important influences on younger poets.' (Source : The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature, online edition)

Notes

  • Epigraph: Secure among their towering junk the wise and powerful congregate fitting old shapes to old ideas, rocked by their classical harmonies in living sleep. - Gwen Harwood, 'New Music'
  • Introduction by R. H. and T. W. S. 'The aim of this book is to clarify the accomplishments of Australian poetry in breaking fresh ground during the past decade, particularly since 1960....This is the first time such a wide selection of this new poetry has been brought together in one volume which includes no poems by the accepted hierarchy.' (pp.1-13)

  •  New Impulses was the first poetry anthology published by University of Queensland Press.

Contents

* Contents derived from the St Lucia, Indooroopilly - St Lucia area, Brisbane - North West, Brisbane, Queensland,:University of Queensland Press , 1968 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
The Big Webi"I've a good nose for perfumes but no head", Bruce Beaver , single work poetry (p. 15)
Aquarellesi"Beyond the intervening tar-sealed strip", Bruce Beaver , single work poetry (p. 15)
A Falling Sicknessi"Out of infected ground of war and commerce,", Bruce Beaver , single work poetry (p. 17-18)
Strolling Songi"If we walked well together it was due", Bruce Beaver , single work poetry (p. 18)
Letters from Sydney, 1i"Once upon a time among many this city", Bruce Beaver , single work poetry (p. 19)
Seawall and Shorelinei"The seawall cracked and fissured in a season", Bruce Beaver , single work poetry (p. 20-23)
Election Speechi"Mottoes: words blown through a skull,", Vincent Buckley , single work poetry (p. 25)
Fellow Travelleri"Give him this day his bread of indignation,", Vincent Buckley , single work poetry (p. 25)
Youth Leaderi"In the wedge head the eyes are", Vincent Buckley , single work poetry (p. 26)
Revolutionary Situationi"Throughout this city, the stones beat like hearts;", Vincent Buckley , single work poetry (p. 26)
Revolutionary Situationi"Throughout this city, the stones beat like hearts;", Vincent Buckley , single work poetry (p. 26)
Return of a Popular Statesmani"Brought back from the tedium of dying,", Vincent Buckley , single work poetry (p. 27)
Neutralisti"The ache of violence is not for him.", Vincent Buckley , single work poetry (p. 28)
Secret Policemani"Pledge me: I had the hangman for a father", Vincent Buckley , single work poetry (p. 28)
Poetry and the Party Linei"The statesmen booted upstairs to their plinths,", Vincent Buckley , single work poetry (p. 29)
No New Thingi"No new thing under the sun:", Vincent Buckley , single work poetry (p. 30)
Day with Its Dry Persistencei"In day with its dry persistence", Vincent Buckley , single work poetry (p. 30-31)
The Mature Reflectioni"Because I know myself, know the limits", John Croyston , single work poetry (p. 33)
Hectori"From the high walls of the familial city", John Croyston , single work poetry (p. 34-35)
Autumn Cityi"Early morning - the light as yet soft -", John Croyston , single work poetry (p. 35)
VIEW ENTIRE CONTENTS ( works)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Works about this Work

Breaking Fresh Ground: New Impulses in Australian Poetry, an Anthology Jim Berryman , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: Queensland Review , vol. 23 no. 2 2016; (p. 224-245) 'New Impulses in Australian Poetry was an anthology of contemporary Australian poetry published in Brisbane in 1968. The book was the idea of two Queensland poets, Rodney Hall and Thomas Shapcott. New Impulses was modelled on international modern poetry anthologies. At the time, this type of anthology was unfamiliar in Australia. Hall and Shapcott declared their intentions in modernist terms: to challenge the literary establishment and to promote the new poetry of the 1960s. It was a new type of anthology for a new type of poetry. This article explores the anthology's Queensland origins and examines its modern themes and influences. It concludes with a discussion of the anthology's impact and legacy from the perspective of Australian literary history, especially the ‘New Australian Poetry’, which it prefigured. In addition to its literary significance, New Impulses was an Australian publishing milestone. The book was the first poetry anthology published by University of Queensland Press. Its success demonstrated the market potential for literary publishing in Australia.' (Publication abstract)
Francis Webb and the 1960s Toby Davidson , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 27 no. 1 2013; (p. 19-24) After seven years in England, Francis Webb (1925-1973) flew back to Australia in November 1960. While his English experience was a chequered one characterized by various experiences of institutionalization, his final four years in the Norfolk region permitted him some freedom of movement and creative inspiration through the area's medieval roots, which for the poet were also ancestral, his great-grandfather hailing from Yarmouth. Here, Davidson traces Webb's physical and poetic return to Australia through biographical sources, including newly published accounts by his friend Sr. Pauline Fitz-Walter and his direct influence on two Generation of 68 luminaries, Bruce Beaver (1928-2004) and Robert Adamson (1943-).' (Editor's abstract)
Pam Brown’s Sydney Poetry in the 70s : In Conversation with Corey Wakeling Corey Wakeling (interviewer), 2012 single work interview
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , 1 May vol. 38 no. 0 2012; 'Pam Brown is not only one of Australia's most prolific and important poets writing today, but also one of our richest archives on the history of late twentieth century Australian poetry. Since this is Cordite's Sydney issue, I thought an interview with her might evince a valuably multifarious image of, perhaps, Australia's most speedily shifting poetic landscape. In particular, as a contemporary Australian poetic history of the late twentieth century stems in part from poets closely associated with the city, it only made sense to ask Pam Brown, Sydney avant-garde collaborator, instigator, publisher and poet. Author of 16 books and 10 chapbooks, Brown has lived most of her life in Sydney, and now lives with her partner in the suburb of Alexandria. As well as offer new understandings of a period thoroughly historicised, I hoped Brown's personal recollections of the formative 1970s would illuminate the significance of those small press and handmade initiatives of the past that Astrid Lorange sees as 'non-causal' and 'monadic' in her Jacket2 archival commentary. Naturally, I was not disappointed.' (Author's introduction)
The University of Queensland Press : Poetry and Material Culture Deborah Jordan , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Fryer Folios , June vol. 6 no. 1 2011; (p. 14-17) Deborah Jordan discusses the role of University of Queensland Press as a significant publisher of Australian poetry in the 1960s
Poets in Winter: New Impulses Livio Dobrez , 1990 single work criticism
— Appears in: Parnassus Mad Ward: Michael Dransfield and the New Australian Poetry 1990; (p. 31-61)
Untitled 1969 single work review
— Appears in: The Times Literary Supplement , 8 May 1969; (p. 480)
— Review of New Impulses in Australian Poetry 1968 anthology poetry
Passion and the Prosaic : Australian Poetry, 1968 Max Richards , 1969 single work review
— Appears in: Meanjin Quarterly , Winter vol. 28 no. 2 1969; (p. 268-281)
— Review of Elijah's Ravens : Poems Hal Porter , 1968 selected work poetry ; Behind My Eyes : Poems B. A. Breen , 1968 selected work poetry ; A Voyage of Lions and Other Poems Geoffrey Lehmann , 1968 selected work poetry ; The Law of Karma : A Progression of Poems Rodney Hall , 1968 selected work poetry ; Windmill Country Dorothy Hewett , 1968 selected work poetry ; My Beachcombing Days : Ninety Sea Sonnets John Blight , 1968 selected work poetry ; Selected Poems 1942-1968 David Campbell , 1968 selected work poetry ; Poems for a Female Universe Norman Talbot , 1968 selected work poetry ; Segments of the Bowl Robert Clark , 1967 selected work poetry ; I Learn by Going : Poems Craig Powell , 1968 selected work poetry ; A Suit for Everyman Eric Irvin , 1968 selected work poetry ; New Impulses in Australian Poetry 1968 anthology poetry ; Citizens of Mist Roger McDonald , 1968 selected work poetry ; Grendel Roland Robinson , 1967 selected work poetry ; Open at Random : Poems Bruce Beaver , 1967 selected work poetry ; Sheaf Tosser and Other Poems Eric Rolls , 1967 selected work poetry ; Showground Sketchbook and Other Poems Nancy Keesing , 1968 selected work poetry ; After the Assassination and Other Poems R. A. Simpson , 1968 selected work poetry ; The Rock and the Pool Margaret Irvin , 1967 selected work poetry ; The Autobiography of a Gorgon and Other Poems Rodney Hall , 1968 selected work poetry
New Impulses in Poetry Laurie Clancy , 1968 single work review
— Appears in: Overland , Spring no. 39 1968; (p. 49-51)
— Review of Understandings : Poems Evan Jones , 1967 selected work poetry ; Eyewitness : Poems Rodney Hall , 1967 selected work poetry ; New Impulses in Australian Poetry 1968 anthology poetry ; An Eye for a Tooth : Poems Bruce Dawe , 1968 selected work poetry ; Poems : Volume 2 Gwen Harwood , 1968 selected work poetry ; Poems Soft and Loud Geoffrey Dutton , 1967 selected work poetry ; Sheaf Tosser and Other Poems Eric Rolls , 1967 selected work poetry ; Frozen Section Grace Perry , 1967 selected work poetry
Australian Poetry: Time of Hope John Barnes , 1969 single work review
— Appears in: Westerly , April no. 1 1969; (p. 57-61)
— Review of Citizens of Mist Roger McDonald , 1968 selected work poetry ; New Impulses in Australian Poetry 1968 anthology poetry ; Behind My Eyes : Poems B. A. Breen , 1968 selected work poetry ; Australian Poetry 1968 1968 anthology poetry
'Establishment' Poets : Make Way for New Voices Katharine England , 1968 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 20 July 1968; (p. 20)
— Review of Poems : Volume 2 Gwen Harwood , 1968 selected work poetry ; New Impulses in Australian Poetry 1968 anthology poetry ; My Beachcombing Days : Ninety Sea Sonnets John Blight , 1968 selected work poetry
The University of Queensland Press : Poetry and Material Culture Deborah Jordan , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Fryer Folios , June vol. 6 no. 1 2011; (p. 14-17) Deborah Jordan discusses the role of University of Queensland Press as a significant publisher of Australian poetry in the 1960s
Pam Brown’s Sydney Poetry in the 70s : In Conversation with Corey Wakeling Corey Wakeling (interviewer), 2012 single work interview
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , 1 May vol. 38 no. 0 2012; 'Pam Brown is not only one of Australia's most prolific and important poets writing today, but also one of our richest archives on the history of late twentieth century Australian poetry. Since this is Cordite's Sydney issue, I thought an interview with her might evince a valuably multifarious image of, perhaps, Australia's most speedily shifting poetic landscape. In particular, as a contemporary Australian poetic history of the late twentieth century stems in part from poets closely associated with the city, it only made sense to ask Pam Brown, Sydney avant-garde collaborator, instigator, publisher and poet. Author of 16 books and 10 chapbooks, Brown has lived most of her life in Sydney, and now lives with her partner in the suburb of Alexandria. As well as offer new understandings of a period thoroughly historicised, I hoped Brown's personal recollections of the formative 1970s would illuminate the significance of those small press and handmade initiatives of the past that Astrid Lorange sees as 'non-causal' and 'monadic' in her Jacket2 archival commentary. Naturally, I was not disappointed.' (Author's introduction)
Poets in Winter: New Impulses Livio Dobrez , 1990 single work criticism
— Appears in: Parnassus Mad Ward: Michael Dransfield and the New Australian Poetry 1990; (p. 31-61)
Not Churlish Evan Jones , 1968 single work correspondence
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 21 September vol. 90 no. 4620 1968; (p. 77-78) Evan Jones responds to an assertion made by Craig Alexander in his review of New Impulses in Australian Poetry
Francis Webb and the 1960s Toby Davidson , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 27 no. 1 2013; (p. 19-24) After seven years in England, Francis Webb (1925-1973) flew back to Australia in November 1960. While his English experience was a chequered one characterized by various experiences of institutionalization, his final four years in the Norfolk region permitted him some freedom of movement and creative inspiration through the area's medieval roots, which for the poet were also ancestral, his great-grandfather hailing from Yarmouth. Here, Davidson traces Webb's physical and poetic return to Australia through biographical sources, including newly published accounts by his friend Sr. Pauline Fitz-Walter and his direct influence on two Generation of 68 luminaries, Bruce Beaver (1928-2004) and Robert Adamson (1943-).' (Editor's abstract)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (21)
Last amended 10 Oct 2017 13:07:18
Common subjects:
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X