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Allen Curnow (1911–2001)

Author of The Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse

36+ Works 222 Members 1 Review

Works by Allen Curnow

The Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse (1985) — Editor — 90 copies, 1 review
Selected Poems, 1940-1989 (1990) 9 copies
Four plays (1972) 4 copies
Island & time 3 copies

Associated Works

Emergency Kit (1996) — Contributor, some editions — 112 copies, 1 review
An Anthology of New Zealand Poetry in English (1997) — Contributor — 26 copies
One World of Literature (1992) — Contributor — 25 copies
Collected poems (1990) — Introduction, some editions — 17 copies
The Penguin New Writing No. 27 (1946) — Contributor — 11 copies
Auckland : the city in literature (2003) — Contributor — 10 copies
The Penguin Book Of New Zealand War Writing (2015) — Contributor — 4 copies

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Common Knowledge

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Reviews

Well, there are two very different "Penguin Book(s) of New Zealand Verse" and I am surprised that this version, the less famous, is the one selected.

I have both and have poured over both.

This one, the Wedde version, has a very nice modern New Zealand aspect to it, many recent poets, respect for Maori traditions.

The older, the Allen Curnow, has a mildly confrontational introduction that takes up probably 1/5th of the book and, as discussed in great detail by James K. Baxter, apologizes for New Zealand poetry as not being British enough, doesn't describe the veins and growth of New Zealand poetry to that time, and shows the resentment of a famous but clearly poor, even clumsy, poet (Curnow) having a chance to stake his claims on the large stage.

Both are great books. Both are road signs, mile stones, in the young history of New Zealand poetry.
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GirlMeetsTractor | Mar 22, 2020 |

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Statistics

Works
36
Also by
9
Members
222
Popularity
#100,929
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
1
ISBNs
21

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