Description
MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS Les Murray by Steven Matthews
Les Murray is amongst the most gifted poets writing today, his multi-faceted talents have received high praise both in his native Australia and beyond. But he has also proved a controversial figure, whose poetry strays across the boundaries of political and cultural debate. The only full critical study of Murray's work available, Steven Matthews provides a complete picture of his career to date, from its early parables of national emergence to the working man's epic encounter with the major events of the twentieth century, Fredy Neptune. Provides detailed readings of key poems, as well as literary and cultural contexts for the rapid shifts in style and subject matter Murray has made from collection to collection. Gives an overview of Murray's place within Australian literature and national thought. -- . 1. Contexts and intertexts2. This Country is My Mind; The Ilex Tree, The Weatherboard Cathedral3. Ethnic Radios; Poems Against Economics, Lunch and Counter Lunch, Ethnic Radio4. God Bless the General Poetries?; The Boys Whoe Stole the Funeral, The People's Otherworld, The Daylight Moon, Dog Fox Field5. Presences; Translations from the Natural World, Subhuman Redneck Poems, Fredy Neptune6. Critical Overview and Conclusion7. Bibliography -- .