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The skull beneath the skin

Two welcome editions, but still cause to lament the culture of forgetting
by
July-August 2009, no. 313

Vincent Buckley: Collected poems edited by Chris Wallace-Crabbe

John Leonard Press, $29.95 pb, 550 pp

Book 2 Cover Small (400 x 600)

Journey Without Arrival: The life and writing of Vincent Buckley by John McLaren

Australian Scholarly Publishing, $39.95 pb, 387 pp

The skull beneath the skin

Two welcome editions, but still cause to lament the culture of forgetting
by
July-August 2009, no. 313

Amnesia about writers of the past, even the not too distant past, is one of the besetting ills of our culture. How many readers of poetry under forty have more than a nodding acquaintance with the work of A.D. Hope, Francis Webb, Douglas Stewart or Vincent Buckley? All are fine poets, remembered now (if at all) through a handful of anthology pieces, partly because their published volumes usually disappear from print within a few years. Poets are particularly susceptible to the culture of forgetting, but the malaise extends to novelists and others who have made major contributions to our cultural, political and social life.

Gregory Kratzmann reviews 'Vincent Buckley: Collected Poems' edited by Chris Wallace-Crabbe and 'Journey Without Arrival: The life and writing of Vincent Buckley' by John McLaren

Vincent Buckley: Collected poems

edited by Chris Wallace-Crabbe

John Leonard Press, $29.95 pb, 550 pp

Book 2 Cover Small (400 x 600)

Journey Without Arrival: The life and writing of Vincent Buckley

by John McLaren

Australian Scholarly Publishing, $39.95 pb, 387 pp

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