Appreciating David Malouf as Poet

Abstract

This personal reading of David Malouf's poetry during fifty years ranges from his earliest dramatic lyrics through his European-Australian comparisons to the time in the 1970s when novel writing became his dominant concern. It then touches on Malouf's response to the cultural and intellectual changes of the 1970s, and finally returns to his recent rewarding philosophic style of lyrical reflection. The paper argues for sustained poetic interest and concerns within Malouf's writing.