Gwen Harwood

One of the major benefits of reading anthologies such as Emergency Kit is that they draw your attention to poets who have previously passed under your radar.

I had heard of Gwen Harwood and was aware of her standing in 20th Century Australian poetry, but I'd barely read any of her work. However, three poems by her in Emergency Kit were outstanding and got me googling. I was even more attracted by what I found - articles, anecdotes and further poems - so one of my forthcoming purchases will be her new selected poems from Carcanet, titled Mappings of the Plane.