Bruce Dawe is one of the most successful and prolific contemporary poets of Australia. In a writing career that, to date, has spanned five decades, more than five hundred of Dawe's poems have been published individually and in anthologies. Dawe's poetry reflects the Australian way of life, representing it in a language that captures the Australian idiom with its frequently satirical tone, distinctive cadence, and tendency to understatement. The wide-ranging subject matter of Dawe's work embodies the ordinary, everyday experiences of urban dwellers as well as displaying the poet's commitment to social, political, and religious issues. While some commentators have noted the stylistic influences of Dylan Thomas, William Butler Yeats, and W. H. Auden in particular, Dawe draws on multiple styles, sometimes using them as vehicles of parody to achieve, overall, a distinctive voice in all his work.

Donald Bruce Dawe was born in Geelong, Victoria, on 15 February...