AustLit

Tasmanian writer Gwen Harwood speaks with a friend about her childhood in Brisbane; her family background; her schooldays; houses she has lived in and their relationship to her writing; early married life in Tasmania; her father's service at Gallipoli; women in her family; interest in music; the recent presentation of her Doctorate of Letters; her children; friends; contact with Rodney Hall; starting to write when her children were young; the relationship of science and art; her philosophy of poetry; relationship of music and poetry; her friendship with Elizabeth Jolley; other writers she enjoys; recites her poem about Schroedinger's cat; animals she has lived with; poems to friends and occasional poems; Tom (Tony) Riddell to whom her poetry books are dedicated; music exams and teaching music; life in Brisbane during World War II; impact of the War on women's experience as housewives; her use of pseudonyms; her friendship with Hal Porter; the problem of using friends and family as "material"; recites an excerpt from "A Public Place"; her poetic technique; going to writers' festivals; poetry and truth.