Les Murray's career has placed poetry at the centre of cultural debate in his country and has involved poetry in a contentious engagement with political discussions about the nature of the emerging postcolonial nation. His linguistic gifts – felt by some to be the greatest amongst contemporary poets the world over – his poetic exuberance, and his formal deftness, have also meant that Murray has become an increasingly significant figure beyond Australia. His fierce advocacy of an inclusive republicanism, his concern to capture an eclectic range of national materials in his writing, and his ability to suggest a metaphysical and religious possibility within the everyday, have done much to re-shape our sense of the efficacy of poetry, and of the revelatory potential continuing to resonate…
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Citation: Matthews, Steven. "Les Murray". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 July 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3270, accessed 25 April 2024.]
