DISCUSSION - "Poets on the brink of Asia" by Jaya Savige

A review of several poetry anthologies by Jaya Savige:

"Poets on the brink of Asia" (in The Australian, 3 Oct 2007)


EXCERPT from the article:

Paralleling economic developments, many Australian poets are connecting with Asia's diverse cultures and adding a new dimension to a national poetic tradition steeped in European and North American influences.

Anthologies can provide a good indication of such shifts in the poetic landscape. Last year's publication of Windchimes: Asia in Australian Poetry (Pandanus Books), edited by Noel Rowe (who died in July) and Vivian Smith, is in this sense a watershed. Ordered chronologically, Windchimes begins with The Bulletin verse of the early 20th century -- shrouded in fear and anxiety, particularly towards China -- and brings us up to speed with such recent works as Judith Beveridge's Between the Palace and the Bodhi Tree, Emma Lew's adaptations of the Malaysian pantoum form and works by Chinese-Australian poet Ouyang Yu. As Canberra's Geoff Page noted in a review, the anthology is nothing less than "an index to our changing attitudes towards Asia and its peoples".

>> DISCUSSION about this article and issues surrounding it appear in Adam Aitken's blog HERE (12 Oct) and HERE (4 Oct).