''Time on Fire'' (1961) is the debut collection of poems by Australian poet
Thomas Shapcott
Thomas William Shapcott (born 21 March 1935) is an Australian poet, novelist, playwright, editor, librettist, short story writer and teacher.
Biography
Thomas William Shapcott was born in Ipswich, Queensland, and attended the Ipswich Grammar ...
. 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 1961.
[Austlit ''Time on Fire'' by Thomas Shapcott]
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The collection includes 61 poems by the author that are reprinted from various sources, although some are published here for the first time.
Contents
Critical reception
While reviewing a subsequent volume of poems in ''The Canberra Times'', the critic T. Inglis Moore noted: "In his initial ''Time on Fire'' he emerged as a fresh and lively lyricist, with a flexibility of rhythms that reminded one of Dylan Thomas. He tackled urban and rural themes alike with sensitivity and a sharp, reflective intelligence. In his first book and its successors there were, however, certain weaknesses – sometimes the fluidity fell into facility or looseness, the originality into word play for its own sake, the search for meanings into obscurity."
''The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'' referred to the collection as being "largely autobiographical, reflecting the country boy's distaste for the garish city environment; the wakening of young love; courtship, marriage, parenthood; and a preoccupation with transience."[''The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'', 2nd edition, p689]
See also
* 1961 in Australian literature
* 1961 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).
Events
* January 20 – Robert Frost recites his poem "The Gift Outright" at the Inauguration of John F. Kennedy as Pres ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Time on Fire
Australian poetry collections
1961 poetry books