The poetry of Robert Gray

‘For more than 30 years,’ Michael Hulse writes, ‘Robert Gray has been one of the tiny number of wholly genuine poets whose every word I have wanted to read.’ Two generations of Australian readers share that love and appreciation of Robert Gray, one of the major poets of our times.

‘I return to Robert’s work,’ writes Judith Beveridge, ‘for sustenance, for instruction, and to be amazed.’

Because we often forget to celebrate our elders while there is still time for them to hear it, as Robert Gray approaches 80, 5 Islands Press publishes Bright Crockery Days — a collection of 25 essays, each examining one of Robert’s best-loved poems — edited by poet Mark Tredinnick. This special event features tributes and readings from Robert’s work by Anna Funder, Peter Goldsworthy, Judith Beveridge, Sarah Holland-Batt and others as they fete Robert and remind us why poetry matters.

Judith Beveridge one of Australia’s foremost and beloved poets, has published eight books of poetry, mostly recently Tintinnabulum. She was poetry editor of Meanjin for 10 years and taught poetry writing for 16 years at the University of Sydney. Her books have won major prizes, including the 2019 Prime Minister’s Award for Poetry for Sun Music: New and Selected Poems.

Rob Carlton is a Logie Award winning Australian actor and writer. Best known for writing and starring in the comedy series Chandon Pictures, he has appeared in countless films and television series, such as A Country Practice, Home and Away, Blue Heelers, McLeod’s Daughters. Rob is a brilliant storyteller, speaker and MC; he won a Logie for his portrayal of Kerry Packer in Paper Giants, and he has most recently appeared in the Netflix TV adaptation of Trent Dalton’s novel, Boy Swallows Universe. His one-man show, Willing Participant, was a hit at the 2024 Adelaide fringe, and played in the Factory Theatre in Sydney in August and September this year. He is married to the writer and teacher Adrienne Ferreira, and together they run Bravewords.

John Foulcher has written 12 books of poetry. His latest book, Dancing with Stephen Hawking, was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Poetry Prize. His work has appeared in Australian magazines and anthologies over nearly 40 years; his many awards include the National Library Poetry Prize and the ACU Poetry Prize, shortlistings for the Newcastle, the Peter Porter, the Gwen Harwood and the Montreal prizes. Poems from his first book, Light Pressure, were set for study on the New South Wales Higher School Certificate syllabus for 10 years. In 2010–11 he was the Literature Board of the Australia Council’s resident at the Keesing Studio in Paris.

Anna Funder is the author of the fabulously successful and influential 2023 book Wifedom, which has garnered worldwide attention and a range of glowing reviews and awards; and she is the author of the groundbreaking non-fiction work Stasiland, which won the Samuel Johnson Prize in 2004. Her other works include the novel All That I Am and the novella, The Girl with the Dogs. She was educated in Melbourne and Paris and holds a doctorate in creative arts from UTS. She worked as a human rights lawyer for the Australian Government before turning to full-time writing.

Peter Goldsworthy, one of Australia’s best loved and most prolific writers, grew up in various Australian country towns, finishing his schooling in Darwin. After graduating in medicine from the University of Adelaide in 1974, he worked for many years in alcohol and drug rehabilitation. Since then, he has divided his time equally between writing and general practice. He has won major literary awards across a range of genres: poetry, short story, the novel, in opera, and most recently in theatre. His memoir of childhood, His Stupid Boyhood was published in 2103. His most recent book is the cancer memoir The Cancer Finishing School.

Lisa Gorton has published four collections of poetry, most recently Mirabilia—and a novel. She is the winner of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Fiction, the Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal, and the Victorian Premier’s Poetry Award.

Geoffrey Lehmann’s Spring Forest was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize in 1994. His Poems 1957–2013 won the Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Awards in 2015. He has co-edited three anthologies of Australian poetry with Robert Gray. He is a former chairman of the Australian Tax Research Foundation.

Lindsay Tuggle, born in Kentucky and resident now in Gundungurra Country in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, is a celebrated writer of non-fiction and poetry. Her non-fiction book, The Afterlives of Specimens, was a cover feature in The New York Review of Books. Her poetry collection, Calenture was named one of The Australian’s Books of the Year. Her work has been recognised by a number of international grants, and in 2023 she was Writer-in Residence at Château Orquevaux in Champagne, France, and at Bundanon in the Shoalhaven.

Mark Tredinnick is the editor of Bright Crockery Days and the managing editor of 5 Islands Press, is a celebrated Australian essayist and poet, whose work is acclaimed in Australia and overseas. His 25 works include The Blue Plateau, The Little Red Writing Book, Fire Diary, Almost Everything I Know, Walking Underwater, A Beginner’s Guide, Nine Carols, and House of Thieves. He won the inaugural Montreal International Poetry Prize in 2011 and has won the Newcastle, ACU, Blake and Gwen Harwood prizes, along with two Premier’s Prizes. Mark has taught poetry, literary journalism and creative writing at the University of Sydney for 30 years. He was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for services to poetry and education in 2020 and the Golden Antelope International Poetry Prize in China in 2023. The Six Gifts: Selected Prose and New & Selected Poems appear in 2025.