i am no expert on epic poetry but it would seem to me that ginsberg's
howl is a modern epic, with no hero as such.
if there is a hero, it is all those who live in cities, post-hiroshima.
as for recent oz verse-novels, well i don't see them as epic poetry
as much as verse narratives of alternate 'heros'.
fiction novels seem to have taken that role/function from poetry, and
probably do it better.
dorothy porter's insistence that her verse novel be categorised as
fiction, ensured it got put on the shelves next to fiction novels,
and sold well.
i think the verse novel is an attempt by poets to gain a bigger share
of the reading market.
there is, i believe, a dominant attitude in australian literature
that values the fiction novel over published poetry, which in turn
values mainstream published poetry over self-publication and
performance poetry, and new forms of poetry on the net.
there is a very conservative academic tradition which goes back to
the setting up of australian literature courses, the first three
professors were ad hope, james mccauley and leonie kramer, in the
early sixties, and these people have nominated there successors and
they are still influential in 'australian literature'.
leigh dales book, the english men, is a great book on these matters.
i remember your youthful exuberance and your challenging poetry
performances, you reminded me so much of myself when i was starting
out.
and you say you used to drink, well i laugh now at the thought of me
mounting the stage with a bottle of whiskey and saying fuck as often
as i could in my work.
it's good to see that people like you and me and others are entering
academe, perhaps those old hierarchies will dissolve.
best of luck in your project.
regards
komninos
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