1953

by Geoff Page

Genres: Poetry, Fiction

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2013

About the author

Geoff Page has published twenty-four collections of poetry as well as two novels, five verse novels and several other works. His awards include the Grace Leven Prize, the Christopher Brennan Award, the Queensland Premier’s Prize for Poetry, the 2001 Patrick White Award and the 2017 ACU Prize for Poetry. His most recent books are Elegy for Emily: A Verse Biography of Emily Remler (Puncher & Wattmann, 2019) and In medias res (Pitt Street Poetry, 2019).

Reviews

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

An impressive verse novel that focuses on a NSW country town in 1953. It gives a kind of snapshot in time, with each section focusing on a different character at the same time (2:30pm) on the same day, with, of course, many of the characters intersecting and shedding light on each other. The conceit doesn't give much opportunity for character development, of course, but the work builds nicely to a somewhat unexpected finale.

[Seth Arnopole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another unexpected find on a library shelf - a group of poems taking place on one afternoon in a small Australia town. If you like Dubliners or Winesburg, Ohio or Spoon River Anthology, you will enjoy 1953.