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You are here: Home / Articles / John Forbes Feature

John Forbes Feature

2014-11-19 by Admin: John Tranter

  JPR01 John Forbes

  John Forbes Feature
 

 

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John Tranter: The Australian poet John Forbes suffered a heart attack and died suddenly at his home in Melbourne on 23 January 1998. He was forty-seven.

Jacket 3 is dedicated to the memory of John Forbes, and features five poems by Forbes, several photos, and poems and articles from a dozen contributors.

John Forbes was part of that vigorous generation of young writers whose fresh styles and new ideas began to be noticed in the late 1960s, though he was younger and arrived a little later on the scene than most of them. When I was editing an issue of Poetry Australia magazine, I rejected some poems he sent to me – he was still a teenager – in late 1969. But I published his second book, Stalin’s Holidays, in 1981. His growth as a poet and critical thinker during the 1970s and 1980s was extraordinary. He absorbed masses of novels, poems, military history, philosophy, and cultural and art theory, and developed a cynical understanding of politics. All this found its way into his subtle and ironic verse.

This feature gathers some pieces that look at his life and at his poetry:
[>>] John Forbes talks to Australian poet John Jenkins in 1980
[>>] Ken Bolton on the poetry and life of John Forbes in ‘John Forbes: An Introduction’
[>>] Ken Bolton: poem: ‘Coffee & John Forbes’
[>>] Ken Bolton: poem: ‘Hi John’
[>>] Ken Bolton: poem: ‘People Passing Time’
[>>] Ken Bolton: poem: ‘Perugia to John Forbes’
[>>] Ken Bolton: two poems: John Forbes, ‘The History of Nostalgia, and Ken Bolton, ‘Dazed’ (for John Forbes)
[>>] Ken Bolton: poem: ‘Luminous Hum’
[>>] John Tranter: poem: ‘God on a Bicycle’


A note on the poems by Ken Bolton:

Two of these poems, ‘Perugia to John Forbes’ & ‘Dazed’, were written & published in Forbes’s lifetime: one is formally addressed to him, the other could be considered so. The rest look back & consider John: the sequence is ‘Coffee & John Forbes Poem’, ‘Hi, John, ’ & ‘People Passing Time’, all within a year or so of his death ; then ‘Luminous Hum’ exactly a decade on (as is clear from internal evidence).
‘Dazed’ & ‘Perugia To John Forbes’ were published in ‘Untimely Meditations’ & other poems (Wakefield Press, 1997).
The trio were published as Three Poems For John Forbes (Little Esther books, 2005) and in At The Flash & At The Baci (Wakefield Press, 2006); ‘Coffee & John Fobes Poem’ appeared first in Heat; ‘Hi, John’ appeared first in Southerly.
‘Luminous Hum’ is in Sly Mongoose (Puncher & Wattmann, 2011); it appeared first in Southerly.

A note on the poem ‘God on a Bicycle’ by John Tranter:

Written in Melbourne in about 1992, the poem was sent to John Forbes. He later fell off his bicycle while carrying a vacuum cleaner, and broke his elbow.

Widget IssueM Article List

A === ARTICLES §599 to §540 ===

Brian Kim Stefans:
The Alchemy of the World

Rimbaud and Revolutionary Artifice §01-590

Chris Stroffolino

Poetics of Funk Trumpet §01-580

John Forbes Feature

Introduction §01-570

John Forbes Interview, 1980

Interview, 1980 §01-565

Ken Bolton on John Forbes, 2004

He leaves a relatively small body of work — but with a very high success rate   §01-560

Ken Bolton: John Forbes

Six poems by Ken Bolton §01-555

John Tranter: John Forbes: poem

God on a Bicycle §01-550

D === INTERVIEWS §399 to §300 ===

Charles Bernstein and Penelope
Galey-Sacks [2012]

Interview, in Paris §01-330

E === Excellent POEMS §299 to §200 ===

Note: Poems look odd on this site

Why? §01-290

Poems: Toby Fitch: Ten Poems

‘Inversions’ of some poems by Arthur Rimbaud §01-250

Brian Kim Stefans: Les Assis

‘vague / like the leprous flowerings of old walls’ §01-230

F === FOTOS... no, PHOTOS §199 to §100 ===

Photos: Poetry Reading 2014-06-30

Glebe 2037 in Sydney, Australia.   §01-162

Photos: “Experimental” Conference and Reading

In Sydney, Australia, on 7 and 8 July, 2014 §01-161

G === RESEARCH resources and memoir === §099-§081

Research Resources Warning

Warning: these resources reveal a gender bias §01-099

Berkeley Poetry Conference 1965

Schedule, Berkeley Poetry Conference 1965 §01-098

Rachel Loden: Notes from 1965

Notes from the Berkeley Poetry Conference, 1965   §01-097

G === RESEARCH resources and memoir === §099-§081

Vivian Smith: Australian Poetry in the Sixties

Some mid-century notes §01-096

Kris Hemensley: La Mama, 1973-74: the new Australian poetry

The first Poets Workshop at the La Mama Cafe-Theatre in Carlton, Melbourne, on September 3, 1968, which 17 people attended…   §01-095

Robert Kenny: Welcome Stranger

Introduction to Applestealers poetry anthology, 1974 §01-094

John Hawke: Stream magazine, 1931.

“the Melbourne journal Stream, which published three issues in 1931″ §01-093

Cyril Pearl 1970: a note
and two responses

“Stirring a brew of obscurity, banality, and imperception in a solipsistic lubberland is not the way to attract avid readers.”   §01-092

Robert Drewe: So It Goes: Fangs bared (1977)

WHO SAID that poetry was boring? Unquestionably it is the most lively form of literature §01-091

Kris Hemensley
Notes and Comments 1, 1973

Australian and International new poetry   §01-083

Kris Hemensley
Notes and Comments 2, 1974

What is a Poetry magazine and what is it supposed to do?   §01-082

Kris Hemensley
Notes and Comments 3, 1974

A primary joy in bookselling… we intend to focus our energies toward that service. §01-081

Australian Poetry at The Loft
NSW Institute of Technology, 1982-84

This page presents the dates, personnel and some photos relating to twelve poetry readings from late 1982 until early 1984… §01-080

G === RESEARCH resources and memoir === §099-§081

Introduction: Poetry Australia 32

Preface to the Seventies special issue §01-077

AUSTRALIAN POETRY AT THE LOFT, 1982-1984

This page presents the dates, personnel and some photos relating to twelve poetry readings from late 1982 until early 1984… §01-080

PA 32: Ronald Dunlop
Recent Australian Poetry

From the start of the seventies...   §01-076

PA 32: Rodney Hall
Attitudes to Tradition in Contemporary Australian Poetry

From 1970… §01-075

PA 32: Thomas Shapcott
Hold Onto Your Crystal Balls

Predicting the coming decade in poetry… §01-074

PA 32: James Tulip: The Australian-American Connexion

Australian and American writing… §01-073

Poetry Australia 32
The poems

The first eight lines of each poem...   §01-072

Poetry Australia 32:
Front matter

Editor: Grace Perry The cover, the front matter and the Contents page… §01-071

JPR08

JPR01, September 2014

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