Paper Bark Press
The Unforgiving Poem
2000, 72 pages, softcover, 215x150mm
ISBN 1 876749 24 5
Cover photograph by Jon Rhodes
'Literary schools and literary politics have nothing to do with the poems of Max Williams. He is a man steeped in life, communicating with himself and, as it were, leaving his poems to find their own public. Simple phrases are made strange by leaps of mind (the unexpected use of a word, slips from present to past or singular to plural), producing poetry born of deep thought, self-questioning and a generous acceptance of the foibles of human nature. There is a stillness here, a contemplative and even elegiac mode. The language is transparent. The impact is direct. From poignant memories of childhood to the wisdom of his reflections on growing old, these poems – with their powerful sense of place and character – are the creation of a gregarious yet solitary man addressing us in an Australian voice unlike any other.'
~ Rodney Hall