A new Paterson or Lawson?

[David Campbell]

I’m intrigued by the idea in the thread started by Manfred and prompted by the Barry Hing article that “the people” will have a role in recognising a new Paterson/Lawson or acclaiming a poet laureate if such a position is created (unlikely, in my opinion). But there’s an aspect of this that bothers me. How will “the people” have become aware of his or her poetry?

A century ago the groundswell of support for Paterson, Lawson and Dennis occurred through print media (particularly newspapers), and word of mouth for that considerable proportion of the population that didn’t read or write. It was part of their everyday life, perhaps as family entertainment in the evening or at public gatherings. It was also a time of strong nationalistic fervour because of the war. Part of C. J. Dennis’s success with The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke came from a pocket edition that was carried by Australian soldiers in the trenches.

But that basis is no longer there for poetry. There are many more distractions to occupy people’s time other than reading or listening to poetry. If you’re driving in the car, for example, you’re not going to hear poetry on the radio. What you will hear is lots of music…pop, rap, folk, country and western etc. (poetry in another guise?), because music, if anything, has taken over poetry’s role.

Lots of poets have written about (for example) Vietnam…Tom McIlveen recited one of his in the Golden Damper Awards at Tamworth…but if you’re asked to name well-known war ‘poems’ of recent decades you’d probably turn to something like Redgum’s ‘I Was Only Nineteen’ (1983) or Eric Bogle’s ‘And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’ (1971)…because they have received lots of exposure via radio and TV. They have the huge advantage that music offers. I’d put Graham Fredriksen’s ‘The Only War We Had’ right up there with those two in terms of lyrics, but how does it get that same level of public attention?

Manfred’s bringing out a book of Graham’s poetry this year…will his work get airtime to the same extent? What could be done to maximise exposure? Where are the avenues for it? This is the general population I’m talking about…Joe and Josie Public…not those who might go to bush poetry festivals or hear it as entertainment in caravan parks or at corporate gigs.

Do bush poetry books sell? Hardly. Advertising via relevant magazines? Negligible result. Via the internet? Ditto. (Has any poetry gone viral?) Following on from the publicity material Melbourne Books sent out about Award Winning Bush Verse & Stories 2013 I didn’t get a single request for an interview, nor did I hear of any of the contributors being contacted for readings etc. in any sort of media. (Please let me know if you did!) There have been no reviews. So here’s a book containing award-winning bush verse by poets from all across Australia (and a short story by Henry Lawson), but…where are “the people”? It was advertised in the magazine. How many ABPA members (apart from the contributors) have a copy?

I’ve tried to get bush verse into major newspapers and mainstream literary magazines, but with virtually no success…The Age did run a couple of mine more than a decade ago, but nothing since. They’re simply not interested. Nor are the big publishers. I’ve entered Riders on the Wind (which was self-published) in a major Australian book award, but, in the light of past experience, can’t be too optimistic about that…chances are all the opposition will be from free verse.

So we need some inspiration, because expecting “the people” to suddenly have an epiphany regarding poetry seems rather like expecting to win Tattslotto. Building a reputation these days requires hard yakka in terms of marketing, so here’s a specific practical challenge. What could be done to start ‘The Only War We Had’ along the road to being as well-known by “the people” as the Redgum and Bogle songs? I’m sure Manfred would be grateful for any fresh publicity ideas. So would Melbourne Books, and Stephen with regard to his forthcoming children’s book. And me.

David

[Terry]

Hi David
You have pretty well covered the difficulties faced with trying to get some recognition for rhyming poetry. I also think you could add that free verse in general has played it part in turning the ordinary person in the street off poetry (maybe unfairly). If you see any poetry at all in newspapers etc, it's always Free Verse and for some reason the average person doesn't seem to be able to appreciate it. This I suspect gets those people thinking (indeed I've heard plenty of them say - or words to that effect) if this is supposed to be poetry it sucks (to use a modern expression). But it's there and we have to just accept that fact.

Are Melbourne press considering doing another anthology David?

I suppose it's worth considering just what type of poetry might appeal to the general public in the future. My guess is that it may well be a lot more robust and hard hitting than what most of us write today - a bit like Rap perhaps

Cheers Terry

[Maureen K Clifford]

I think you hit the nail on the head in paragraph 4 - if we could get some of our top C and W singers to take our stuff on board and set it to music it would fly. Lee and Tania Kernaghan, Adam Brand, Pigram Brothers, Paul Kelly, John Williamson etc have huge followings for their music and rightly so and song lyrics are in truth just poetry set to music. Who writes for these singers? I know some do write their own stuff but they surely don't write all of it. How do you get into that loop?

Pixie Jenkins would probably know and Mannie and Pixie are mates - but I suspect it isn't easy. Offer it to singers for free - might work - I don't know. I suppose if it became a best seller their might be some royalties come in. I don't know anything about this side of things, but I listen and love country music and know many others do as well - but were you to speak to those muso's would they say the same thing is happening to their music and songs? Are they getting hammered by rap and heavy metal and other genres that are popular with the young ones? So many questions - always questions

[Duncan Williams]

yes i know the idea sounds good, but both Paterson and Lawson lived and died in Sydney NSW. the reason they were so popular was because the publishers Angus and Roberson, were also Sydney based.
but today bush poetry is so wide over many different states of Australia. your got at least five top bush poets in most states. but not all of the top bush poets today started writing bush poetry at an early age as Paterson and Lawson. Henry and Banjo didn't come out writing there verses as fifty and sixty year olds. (so wake up) they wrote their poems over a great span of years. poetry was a popular read back then as there was no telvision, so most of the old timers read.(newspapers and books) these poets were popular bush poets and authors at 21 years of age.

Duncan.

[keats]

Rubbish. More negative input and pessimism Duncan?

[Terry]

Hi Duncan,
Guess there's not much hope for me mate - although I do have a lifetime of experience to write about.
Not that I've ever thought there was anything special about my poems; to me it's just an enjoyable hobby.

Cheers Terry

[manfredvijars]

Henry and Banjo didn't come out writing there verses as fifty and sixty year olds. (so wake up) they wrote their poems over a great span of years.

Sorry Duncan, Graham Fredriksen started writing poetry in early 1996, and continued till his death in 2010. He left, as a legacy to the Australian People, over 700 (yes over seven hundred) pages of his works. Not a bad effort for only fourteen years work, eh?

[Stephen Whiteside]

I think Duncan has a point, though. If you were a 21 yo would-be writer today setting out to make your mark on the world, you wouldn't choose rhyming/bush verse as your medium. Nor would you choose the short story, as did Lawson.

You would look at novels, screen writing (TV and cinema), stage-writing (possibly), perhaps the odd radio play. Or you might look at song writing, and learn to play the guitar or keyboard. You very possibly would choose a combination of all of these, perhaps even with the occasional poem thrown in, but you would never try to build a career around poetry.

As a general rule, if you want to build a career in the arts, no matter what the field, you need to start young. Paterson, Lawson and Dennis all had their best work well and truly behind them by the time they had turned 40. Look at writers like Robert Burns, R. L. Stevenson, Herman Melville, etc. They all wrote their most memorable works while still in their 20s or 30s. Same goes for the great musicians, such as Mozart.

Bush poetry tends to be taken up by people approaching retirement, and it is really too late to build a serious career as an artist by that time in your life. Of course, there are always exceptions, David Campbell being an obvious one.

For myself, I began writing in 1976, at the age of 21. I still think my best work was done in my late 20s and early 30s, though I have learned a few tricks in later years that help to compensate to some extent. I have also dabbled in other genres - songwriting, screenwriting, novel writing - but have returned to poetry because it is my first love, and I don't rely on it for a living.

I know we have wonderful performance artists in the bush poetry community who make a good living, but I would see them as essentially professional comedians. It is very different to what Paterson and Lawson were doing. I don't personally believe we will ever again see a time in Australia when rhyming poets can make a living through their writing, or build a reputation as serious artists - with one caveat. I do believe it may be possible to do this through writing for children, because of the potential support available through the education/school system.

[Terry]

Hi Stephen
I’m sure you’re right about today’s young writers, why would you write poetry when music and songs have so much more to offer.
I wonder about the age thing though; perhaps we all do our best when we first start regardless of our age. As you mentioned we learn a few more tricks after a few years but perhaps we lose that real desire we had when we first started out. And we didn’t or weren’t aware of what was considered the right way to go about writing. Perhaps there was a more naturalness in our early writing, even though it may not have conformed to what was considered best practice. I also wonder if we get a bit stale after awhile.
I seem to be doing a lot of wondering don’t I.

Cheers Terry

[Stephen Whiteside]

I just feel there is a brilliance in the young mind that is never really re-captured. I think of Bob Dylan and the Beatles. They were so young. Einstein was in his twenties when he discovered the general theory of relativity. There are all sorts of ways to remain productive and creative throughout the later years of life, but I don't think we ever re-capture the white hot intensity of those early years.