Waltzing Matilda

by Alice Notley

"This book was originally published in 1981 by Lita Hornick's Kulchur Foundation."--Title page verso.

Genres: Poetry

133 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Alice Notley was an American poet. Notley came to prominence as a member of the second generation of the New York School of poetry—although she always denied being involved with the New York School or any specific movement in general. Notley's early work laid both formal and theoretical groundwork for several generations of poets; she was considered a pioneering voice on topics like motherhood and domestic life.
Notley's experimentation with poetic form, seen in her books 165 Meeting House Lane, When I Was Alive, The Descent of Alette, and Culture of One, ranges from a blurred line between genres, to a quotation-mark-driven interpretation of the variable foot, to a full reinvention of the purpose and potential of strict rhythm and meter. She also experimented with channeling spirits of deceased loved ones, primarily men gone from her life like her father and her husband, poet Ted Berrigan, and used these conversations as topics and form in her poetry. Her poems have also been compared to those of Gertrude Stein as well as her contemporary Bernadette Mayer. Mayer and Notley both used their experience as mothers and wives in their work.
In addition to poetry, Notley wrote a book of criticism (Coming After, University of Michigan, 2005), a play ("Anne's White Glove"—performed at the Eye & Ear Theater in 1985), a biography (Tell Me Again, Am Here, 1982), and she edited three publications, Chicago, Scarlet, and Gare du Nord, the latter two co-edited with Douglas Oliver. Notley's collage art appeared in Rudy Burckhardt's film "Wayward Glimpses" and her illustrations have appeared on the cover of numerous books, including a few of her own. As is often written in her biographical notes, "She has never tried to be anything other than a poet," and with over forty books and chapbooks and several major awards, she was one of the most prolific and lauded American poets. She was a recipient of the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.

Reviews

[Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Granted the title poem gets some extra energy by walking through all the experiments that come before, but it really doesn't warrant this much of a book to support it. I'm a huge Notley reader, but reading flat conversational poems with no ending, or an "interview" that is a transparent 30-page over reflective ars poetica, just seems a bit too indulgent. "Waltzing Matilda," the poem, really pushes at the fact, and then family, and then lifestyle.

[great hit · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a thrill!

[Cynthia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Forget this- wrong book and I couldn't erase it