AustLit

'Whether they were read and recognized locally or internationally, poets such as John Tranter, Pam Brown, John Forbes, and Vicki Viidikas vaulted beyond the nationalist concerns that had preoccupied Australian poetry earlier in the twentieth century ... On the whole, the imagery, references, and voices created by these poets are decidedly urban and often metropolitan, and they are keenly interested in the rules and play of the language game. In other words, their poetries, while unique, are nonetheless densely and reflexively human. For other poets—including Robert Adamson, Robert Gray, Charles Buckmaster, and Jennifer Rankin—however, "the new Australian poetry" meant finding fresh ways to visit representations of place without revisiting established conventions of landscape poetry, colonial, or otherwise ... This essay examines the predominance of littoral topography, specifically the motif of the island, in Rankin's final collection and posthumously published poems, and suggests its significance as a departure point for contemporary poeticsThis essay examines the predominance of littoral topography, specifically the motif of the island, in Rankin's final collection and posthumously published poems, and suggests its significance as a departure point for contemporary poetics'(p. 511)