Eight By Eight

Eight poets, eight poems each, and sixty-four opportunities to discover that the world is considerably more complicated than it first appears. Mathematics rarely produces anything particularly lyrical, but in Eight by Eight (1963), the arithmetic is unusually satisfying. Eight Australian poets were gathered together, given equal space to express themselves, and somehow managed to produce a literary collaboration without anybody insisting that their contribution deserved an additional seventeen pages.

Published by Jacaranda Press in 1963, Eight by Eight is a fascinating anthology of Australian poetry, bringing together eight distinctive literary voices at a particularly interesting moment in the country’s cultural development. The contributors are Vincent Buckley, Laurence Collinson, Alexander Craig, Max Dunn, Noel Macainsh, David Martin, R. A. Simpson and Chris Wallace-Crabbe, a gathering of considerable poetic talent whose members shared an enthusiasm for literature without necessarily agreeing on what everybody ought to be writing about.

The collection emerged from a circle of Melbourne poets who met, exchanged ideas and maintained a mutual respect for poetry, one another and their individual creative interests. Happily, this respect was not required to be excessively solemn, suggesting that literary gatherings in 1960s Australia occasionally involved something more entertaining than arguments about the correct placement of a semicolon.

Each poet selected eight contributions, providing readers with a more substantial introduction to individual styles than the usual anthology arrangement, in which a writer is permitted three appearances before being hurried offstage to make room for somebody else.

The result is a literary snapshot of Australian poetry at a time when writers were increasingly developing distinctive voices and exploring the possibilities of language beyond inherited conventions. The collection offers variety in approach, temperament and poetic imagination, reflecting eight different perspectives rather than attempting to manufacture one convenient national literary personality.

Among the contributors, Vincent Buckley became a major figure in Australian literary criticism and poetry, while Chris Wallace-Crabbe developed an internationally recognised reputation for his lively, inventive and intellectually adventurous verse. Their companions bring additional perspectives to a collection that rewards exploration and comparison.

There is something rather appealing about the anthology’s straightforward arrangement. No elaborate literary manifesto, no grand declaration concerning the imminent collapse of civilisation, and no suggestion that poetry must be reconstructed from its foundations. Just eight poets, eight poems apiece, and the perfectly reasonable assumption that readers might enjoy discovering what each had to say.

Condition: Good. This 1963 Jacaranda Press edition is a previously owned copy showing the ordinary signs of age and handling. Having survived more than six decades of changing literary fashions, it deserves a certain respect, even if its original owners occasionally disagreed with the poets.

Offered by Crappy Old Books, where we consider sixty-four poems from eight Australian writers a remarkably economical arrangement. No ISBN, naturally, as this volume belongs to an era when books were still expected to identify themselves through such primitive devices as titles, authors and publishers.

An appealing vintage anthology for collectors of Australian literature, poetry enthusiasts and anyone who appreciates the reassuring proposition that eight different writers can share a book without one of them attempting to take over the entire operation.

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