Anglocentric - And Eccentric

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday July 3, 1999

Reviewed by HEATHER CAM Heather Cam is a book editor and poet.

LANDBRIDGE

Contemporary Australian Poetry

Edited by John Kinsella

Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 344pp, $19.95

ISBN 1 86368 269 4

ARE anthologies canon makers or voodoo dolls? Well, both, of course. Responsible anthologists are supremely aware of their power to raise to attention or condemn to obscurity as they include or exclude the work of fellow writers in the charmed circle of their selection. Readers will more often than not first encounter Poet X, Short Story Writer Y or Essayist Z in the context of an anthology. Those not included are likely to remain unknown forever. Only aficionados or colleagues will note the gaps and appreciate (or denigrate) the anthologist's agenda - unless of course it is announced in the introduction.

And it is guaranteed that the critics' and fellow writers' pins will be out poking here and there in the Table of Contents, revealing the Table of Discontents: the names of the missing contributors and the surprise contributors who were included the reader can only guess why - the force of customary practice, perhaps? Because they are a "known name" bound to reassure or encourage the buyer? Because they are the editor's mate, spouse, potential publisher, festival organiser or judge? The anthologist's motive is fascinating to contemplate when the reader considers the work included doesn't stand up.

John Kinsella, the editor of Landbridge, is a dynamo on the poetry scene in this country and in England, where he now lives. Significantly his anthology is also being released in the UK and was launched here by Peter Porter, another recruit to England. It is hard not to notice the Anglo tendencies apparent in the choice of poets and, for example, the conspicuous absence of many poets who hearken towards or hail from the American tradition. Where are Nigel Roberts's New Age, Californian collages, or the quirky pieces of Philip Hammial; the whisky-drenched jazz lyrics of Lynn Hard; the wise counsel of "on the road" blues bard Peter Bakowski; the domestic and personal psychodramas of Jerri Kroll and Lily Brett?

Also missing are poets who handle humour intelligently and revealingly: Jamie Grant, Bruce Dawe, Michael Leunig, Geoff Lehmann, Jan Owen and Pi O. Though three cheers for Ken Bolton's casual, intimate wit, Joanne Burns's breezy prose pieces, and J. S. Harry's aggressive sexually charged bizarreries - all nicely showcased here.

Reinforcing the Anglo cast of Landbridge is the exclusion of certain well-known European-informed voices (some of whom are studied by Australian schoolchildren year after year and so hardly qualify as peripheral poets). I have in mind Antigone Kefala, Peter Skrzynecki and Alex Skovron, among others. Granted Peter Boyle, a strong poet much influenced by European sources, is included, but I am referring to Australian poets of stature who represent the huge European migration after World War II.

So what are the editor's requirements for inclusion? To qualify the poet must be "from Australia, live in Australia, or perceive him- or herself to be part of Australia". Kinsella has "looked to those poets who are likely to develop and expand their oeuvres into the next century, who are likely to contribute to the language in some energetic way". The oldest poet to meet these criteria is Dorothy Hewett, born in 1923. But most extraordinary is the inclusion of John Forbes, who died in January 1998.

Forbes's selection of poems is not preceded by a statement of intent for obvious reasons. However, Laurie Duggan, Lionel Fogarty, Gig Ryan and Fay Zwicky declined to offer one. This is a shame, since these statements are perhaps the most revealing, certainly the most novel, part of Landbridge. A poem should stand on its own feet, as Hewett reports Gig Ryan as declaring. Yet these idiosyncratic statements grant a glimpse into the heart of creation.

For Judith Beveridge poetry is "sacred . . . rare". Animal liberationist Coral Hull wants "to tell it like it is, then have something done about it". Anthony Lawrence uses poetry to tell stories and "to refine and burnish". Jennifer Maiden writes "to solve the problem of evil". Dorothy Porter speaks of taking "the risk of the ineffable as well as the dare of the abyss". Andrew Taylor's aim is "to chart the outline, the coastline, of what can and cannot be said". John Tranter strives to "write something adventurous". Chris Wallace Crabbe speaks of the poet's "high calling of creating kinds of beauty"; and Alan Wearne speaks of "the concentrated use of language for the enjoyment of others and yourself".

Landbridge is balanced in terms of male and female representation. There are 25 men and 19 women, each granted some six pages. There is one male and one female Aboriginal poet (Lionel Fogarty and Lisa Bellear).

A major impediment is that, despite the biographical notes listing each poet's book publications, nowhere are individual poems attributed to their source. This frustrates the reader wanting to chase up a poem in its original context, especially since "many of the poets took up the offer to submit new, uncollected poetry" and "are represented by one or more `fresh' poems, stressing the forward looking nature of the project as a whole". Pity there is no way of identifying the new work, since Landbridge is an acknowledgment-free zone.

© 1999 Sydney Morning Herald

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