Breaking fresh ground
'New Impulses in Australian Poetry', an anthology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/qre.2016.32Keywords:
'New Impulses in Australian Poetry', Rodney Hall, Thomas Shapcott, New Australian Poetry, publishing milestoneAbstract
New Impulses in Australian Poetry was an anthology of contemporary Australian poetry published in Brisbane in 1968. The book was the idea of two Queensland poets, Rodney Hall and Thomas Shapcott. New Impulses was modelled on international modern poetry anthologies. At the time, this type of anthology was unfamiliar in Australia. Hall and Shapcott declared their intentions in modernist terms: to challenge the literary establishment and to promote the new poetry of the 1960s. It was a new type of anthology for a new type of poetry. This article explores the anthology’s Queensland origins and examines its modern themes and influences. It concludes with a discussion of the anthology’s impact and legacy from the perspective of Australian literary history, especially the ‘New Australian Poetry’, which it prefigured. In addition to its literary significance, New Impulses was an Australian publishing milestone. The book was the first poetry anthology published by University of Queensland Press. Its success demonstrated the market potential for literary publishing in Australia.
References
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