''Time on Fire'' (1961) is the debut collection of poems by Australian poet

Thomas Shapcott Thomas William Shapcott (born 21 March 1935) is an Australian poet, novelist, playwright, editor, librettist, short story writer and teacher. Biography Thomas William Shapcott was born in Ipswich, Queensland, and attended the Ipswich Grammar ...

. It won the

Grace Leven Prize for Poetry The Grace Leven Prize for Poetry was an annual poetry award in Australia, given in the name of Grace Leven who died in 1922. It was established by William Baylebridge who "made a provision for an annual poetry prize in memory of 'my benefactress ...

in 1961.Austlit ''Time on Fire'' by Thomas Shapcott
/ref> The collection includes 61 poems by the author that are reprinted from various sources, although some are published here for the first time.

Critical reception

While reviewing a subsequent volume of poems in ''The Canberra Times'', the critic T. Inglis Moore noted: "In his initial ''Time on Fire'' he emerged as a fresh and lively lyricist, with a flexibility of rhythms that reminded one of Dylan Thomas. He tackled urban and rural themes alike with sensitivity and a sharp, reflective intelligence. In his first book and its successors there were, however, certain weaknesses – sometimes the fluidity fell into facility or looseness, the originality into word play for its own sake, the search for meanings into obscurity." ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'' referred to the collection as being "largely autobiographical, reflecting the country boy's distaste for the garish city environment; the wakening of young love; courtship, marriage, parenthood; and a preoccupation with transience."''The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'', 2nd edition, p689

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Time on Fire Australian poetry collections 1961 poetry books

Contents

Critical reception

See also

References