''Letters to Live Poets'' (1969) is the fourth poetry collection by the Australian poet
Bruce Beaver
Bruce Victor Beaver (14 February 1928 – 17 February 2004) was an Australian poet and novelist.
Biography
Beaver was born in Manly, New South Wales. He was educated at the Manly Public School and at the Sydney Boys' High School. He worked at ...
. It won the
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry
The Grace Leven Prize for Poetry was an annual poetry award in Australia, given in the name of Grace Leven who died in 1922. It was established by William Baylebridge who "made a provision for an annual poetry prize in memory of 'my benefactress ...
in 1970.
[''Letters to Live Poets'' by Bruce Beaver]
''Austlit''
The collection consists of 34 poems, all of which are published in this collection for the first time.
Contents
All of the poems in the collection are titled and numbered in sequence using
Roman numerals
Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...
, except for the first which is titled "Letters to Live Poets : Frank O'Hara".
Frank O'Hara
Francis Russell "Frank" O'Hara (March 27, 1926 – July 25, 1966) was an American writer, poet, and art critic. A curator at the Museum of Modern Art, O'Hara became prominent in New York City's art world. O'Hara is regarded as a leading figure i ...
was an American poet who was killed in a car accident in 1966.
Critical reception
''The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'' called it Beaver's "major work" and noted that the book formed a "''livre composé''", a volume designed not as a collection of poems, but as a single poem, sustained through changing moods and verse-forms. They also note that the book was written "with obsessional purpose and speed, because Beaver believed he was losing his rationality".
In a long essay examining the book's legacy and influence, Robert Savage notes, "The American influences on ''Letters to Live Poets'', particular the influence of American confessional poetry, are well documented, and prompt James Tulip to call ''Letters'' «the most American work to have come out of Australia.»"
"The Politics of Influence: Bruce Beaver's ''Letters to Live Poets''" by Robert Savage
''Colloquy'', issue six, 2001
Awards
* 1970 - winner Grace Leven Prize for Poetry
The Grace Leven Prize for Poetry was an annual poetry award in Australia, given in the name of Grace Leven who died in 1922. It was established by William Baylebridge who "made a provision for an annual poetry prize in memory of 'my benefactress ...
See also
* 1969 in Australian literature
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1969.
Major publications
Books
* Mena Calthorpe – ''The Defectors''
* Jon Cleary – ''Remember Jack Hoxie''
* Dymphna Cusack – '' T ...
* 1969 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).
Events
* March 23 – German-born writer Assia Wevill, a mistress of English poet Ted Hughes (and ex-wife of Canadian poet D ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Letter to Live Poets
Australian poetry collections
1969 poetry books