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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'The Poet is a tale of obsession, art, and the thresholds between day and night. Manfred is a nondescript insurance clerk, inflexibly honest and imbued with a profound sense of order. He is also a prolific poet, but has never tried to publish – until now.
'The novella traces the events and experiences that befall Manfred in the wake of a single moment’s carelessness, a mistake that will change his life. He enters a maze he must negotiate, between action and paralysis, inspiration and despair, guilt – and the phantom, love.
'We encounter an eccentric stranger bent on a terrible mission, the publisher of a deceitful new author, and the city that forms a living, shifting backdrop to the interior drama, as Manfred struggles with his predicament, his muse, and the labyrinth of his implacable honesty. It is a journey from common daylight into a darkness flickering with both hope and oblivion; a journey across the fragile web of what we understand as sanity.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Epigraph: Elected silence, sing to me and beat upon my whorled ear, Pipe me to pastures still and be the music that I care to hear. Gerard Manly Hopkins. 'The Habit of Perfection.'
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Fiction
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: Island , Summer no. 115 2008; (p. 51-52)
— Review of The Poet : A Novella 2005 single work novella -
Books Fiction : The Poet
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 1-2 April 2006; (p. 22)
— Review of The Poet : A Novella 2005 single work novella -
Australian Fiction 2005-2006
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , November vol. 51 no. 2006; (p. 108-119) -
Poet's Restraint Takes Hold of Author
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 27 May 2006; (p. 18)
— Review of The Poet : A Novella 2005 single work novella -
Poetry and Obsession
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February no. 278 2006; (p. 29)
— Review of The Poet : A Novella 2005 single work novella
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Unpoetic Tragedy of an Honest Writer
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 12-13 November 2005; (p. 14)
— Review of The Poet : A Novella 2005 single work novella -
Poetry Meets Prose in Resonant Debut Novel
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Jewish News , 4 November vol. 72 no. 6 2005; (p. 20)
— Review of The Poet : A Novella 2005 single work novella -
A Novel Approach, Short and Sweet
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 26 November 2005; (p. 30)
— Review of The Factory 2005 single work novel ; The Poet : A Novella 2005 single work novella -
Poetry and Obsession
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February no. 278 2006; (p. 29)
— Review of The Poet : A Novella 2005 single work novella -
Poet's Restraint Takes Hold of Author
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 27 May 2006; (p. 18)
— Review of The Poet : A Novella 2005 single work novella -
Australian Fiction 2005-2006
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , November vol. 51 no. 2006; (p. 108-119)