Harwood’s pseudonymous selves have made literary history, most famously perhaps as Walter Lehmann whose Bulletin acrostic “f*#k” – once deciphered – rocked the Establishment. This collection is the product of diligent research by Harwood scholars Alison Hoddinott and Gregory Kratzmann, both longtime friends of the poet. Their editorial introduction places Gwen Harwood, who died in 1995, among the most formidable literary talents of our age.
Gwen Harwood (1920–1995), one of the most celebrated voices in modern Australian poetry, was born in 1920 in Brisbane, where she trained as a pianist and organist. After her marriage in 1945 she moved to Hobart, where she lived until her death in 1995. Although she published some poetry in the 1940s and early 1950s, she did not become well known until after the publication of her first book in 1963. Acclaim grew with the appearance of each new volume, and she was awarded a string of literary prizes. Gwen Harwood became an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1989, and was awarded several honorary doctorates.
She was an extraordinarily gifted letter writer; indeed some readers of her poetry have come to it because of their enjoyment of Blessed City, edited by Alison Hoddinott (1990). In 2001 UQP published A Steady Stream of Correspondence: Selected Letters of Gwen Harwood 1943–1995, edited by Gregory Kratzmann.
“Gwen Harwood is an engaging poet, tackling life with verve and individual flair. Her poems about domesticity and women are fighting words. Her poetry is virtuoso work, exact in its forms, but never loses her voice – and its great variety allows choice, from satirical romps to idyllic appreciations of scenery, from intense love poems to contemplation of the convict stain in place and history.”
An ASA Council Member on why this book is in the Reading Australia First 200 list.Author Gwen Harwood, Alison Hoddinott, Gregory Kratzmann
Publisher UQP
Date of Publication 2003
ISBN 9780702233524 (print)
Category Poetry
