David Malouf – July 22 2018

David is an award-winning author, poet and playwright. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Queensland and was a teacher and university lecturer before embarking on writing full-time. David was published in a neighbourhood newspaper when he was about seven years old, and as a teenager was inspired to attempt to become a poet after reading Kenneth Slessor. He soon after turned his attention to fiction, publishing novels, novellas and short stories and writing libretti for operas. David’s work is known for its preoccupation with such themes as history, memory and language and, in the words of Michael Brennan, his ‘formidable oeuvre exhibits a virtuosity unparalleled in contemporary Australian letters, and his poetry and prose alike firmly place him at the forefront of contemporary literature internationally.’ David is an Officer in the Order of Australia, an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and was awarded the Centenary of Federation Medal in 2003 for service to Australian society and literature. In 1997 David was declared an Australian National Living Treasure.

Neighbours in a Thicket: Poems
University of Queensland Press, 1974; ISBN 9780702209284
Neighbours in a Thicket: Poems, the second poetry collection by Australian poet and author David Malouf, consists of 34 poems, all of which are published for the first time in this volume. Like his debut collection, Bicycle and Other Poems, these poems are derived from his first years in Queensland and his later experiences and reflections on life. The title of the collection suggests that David Malouf does not see the world as a savage jungle, but as a rich growth of life which nevertheless can also conceal danger. In this thicket we are all neighbours.
‘The measure of Malouf’s best verse is its commitment to the values beneath the surface of life. The undercurrent of darkness in his work is genuine, and it is placed in the world of the ordinary man.’ – John Tranter

Earth Hour
University of Queensland Press, 2014; ISBN 9780702250132
A breathtaking new volume of poetry from an Australian literary icon. In his first full volume of poetry since Typewriter Music in 2007, David Malouf once again shows us why he is one of Australia’s most enduring and respected writers. David Malouf’s new collection comes to rest at the perfect, still moment of ‘silence, following talk’ after its exploration of memory, imagination and mortality. With elegance and wit, these poems move from profound depths to whimsy and playfulness. As Malouf interweaves light and dark, levity and gravity, he offers a vision of life on ‘this patch / of earth and its green things’, charting the resilience of beauty amidst stubborn human grace.