The Wild Reciter: Poetry and Popular Culture in Australia 1890 to the Present (Peter Kirkpatrick, MUP)

Now a forgotten species, the wild reciter was once an entertainer who frequented small local parlours and music halls, reciting poetry to the public. Around a century ago, at a time when poetry was seen more widely as a form of entertainment and social activity, the reciter was ‘so common as to be a pest’. This bygone era of poetry’s mass appeal is the bedrock of Peter Kirkpatrick’s new book, The Wild Reciter: Poetry and Popular Culture in Australia 1890 to the Present. Kirkpatrick, a poet and professor in English and writing, is well-placed to trace Australia’s rich recent history with poetry since 1890, from the bush ballads of the late 1800s, when reciting poetry was the norm, to the emergence of new media in the 20th century, new poetry styles and the arrival of slam poetry in our current time. Kirkpatrick is robust in his research, detailing the form’s many transformations alongside colonial Australia’s maturation with clarity and inquisitiveness. Although The Wild Reciter occasionally presents a nostalgic longing for a time long past, Kirkpatrick ultimately leads the reader to gaze forward, looking at the myriad ways poetry has shifted to exist outside of convention and institutions. The Wild Reciter is an expansive exploration of both Australian poetry and recent history and should appeal to a broad audience.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Anthea Yang is a writer and editor living in Naarm/Melbourne. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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