The CJ Dennis Prize for Poetry: Shortlist 2004

Judges

David McCooey (Convenor), Kevin Brophy, Aileen Kelly

In a very strong field, some very impressive books missed this year’s short list, especially Katherine Lomer’s An Extraction of Arrows which presents an exciting match of emotion and craft; Peter Steele’s Plenty: Art into Poetry which is dazzling and intelligent, and a major work of finely made lyrics that brings together the personal and the public; and Alan Wearne’s The Lovemakers: Book 2: Money and Nothing which is a tour de force of large scale, marrying the Australian vernacular with skillful formalism.

Shortlist

Wolf Notes
Judith Beveridge
Giramondo
Wolf Notes combines a close reporting of the sensual with a large, acutely imaged spiritual dimension. Beveridge’s ability to evoke such a dimension without constraining it by ‘naming’ is an extraordinary effect, illustrative of both confidence and patience. The richness of the book’s language is balanced by a clarity of vision. Beveridge’s use of technique, both in free verse and in the elegant use of form, is impeccable. The powerful, carefully designed central sequence is a major work in itself.

The Imageless World
Michael Brennan
Salt Publishing
The Imageless World is immensely assured, notable for its ambition, scope and willingness to take risks. It is both finely abstract and acutely engaged with the world, with a remarkable access to surprising and illuminating imagery. The work inclines to the limits of the expressible and is marked by an astonishing musicality. This is a book that shows both a deep engagement with past poets (such as Mallarmé and Rilke) and a profound originality.

The Sleep of a Learning Man
Anthony Lawrence
Giramondo
The Sleep of a Learning Man takes his work to a new level. Lawrence’s characteristic attraction to intensity pays off in the context of a newly austere lyricism. In an outstanding collection of poems comprised of strong emotion and intensely controlled imagery, father/son experiences achieve particular impact. The numerous elegiac poems are deeply moving and finely observed studies of mortality, while the poems concerning the sea show a sensibility keenly attuned to both the violence of nature and the torsions of selfhood.