Birds

by Judith A. Wright

Published by the National Library of Australia. The poems in Judith Wright's Birds volume have long been recognised as among the best-loved poems written in Australia. Many people have grown up with the beguiling rhythms of "Black Cockatoos", or the jauntiness of "The Wagtail". Now, in this new edition, commemorating 25 years since the poems were last published as a single collection, these works appear with six additional poems and a personal introduction by the poet's daughter Meredith McKinney, for whom many of the poems were written. The poems are complemented by full-colour illustrations drawn from the National Library's Pictures Collection, featuring the work of artists such as John Lewin, Lionel Lindsay, Lilian Medland, William T. Cooper and Betty Temple Watts. "Birds" is both a celebration of Judith Wright (1915-2000) as writer and passionate environmentalist, and of the centrality of birds in the poet's imagination.

Genres: Poetry, Birds, Australia, Environment

88 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Judith Wright was probably Australia's greatest poet; she was also an ardent conservationist and activist. She died in 2000, at the age of 85.

Over a long and distinguished literary career, she published poetry, children's books, literary essays, biographies, histories and other works of non-fiction.

Her commitment to the Great Barrier Reef began in 1962, when she helped found the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland. She went on to become a member of the Committee of Enquiry into the National Estate and life member of the Australian Conservation Foundation.

Judith Wright worked tirelessly to promote land rights for Aboriginal people and to raise awareness among non-Aboriginal Australians of their plight arising from the legacy of European settlement. She has written The Cry for the Dead (1981), We Call for a Treaty (1985) and Born of the Conquerors (1991).

Judith Wright was awarded many honours for her writing, including the Grace Leven Award (twice), the New South Wales Premier's Prize, the Encyclopedia Britannica Prize for Literature, and the ASAN World Prize for Poetry. She has received honorary degrees (D.Litt.) from the Universities of New England, Sydney Monash, Melbourne, Griffith and New South Wales and the Australian National University. In 1994 she received the Human Rights Commission Award for Collected Poems.

Reviews

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the stars for this wonderful collection of poetry. With the birds of Australia as the central motif, these poems vary in mood and theme. Some are bright and playful, others full of melancholy. I definitely recommend the 60th anniversary edition, which is beautifully illustrated and has a forward by the poet’s daughter, plus some additional poems.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book of finely crafted poems. Wright has an unadorned style. She has a keen eye for detail, and her poems in this book are mostly objective, dwelling on the things of the world rather than on the workings of her own mind. Like most poets, she is something of a Platonist, who sees the ideal, beautiful side of things. Occasionally this philosophy comes out explicitly:

Whatever the bird is, is perfect in the bird.

She is also something of a Wittgensteinian postmodernist, who thinks that language shapes our experience of the world:

The birds go by;
but we can name and hold them, each a word
That crystals round a more than mortal bird.

Mostly, however, her philosophy is as unobtrusive as herself. She tries to capture the particular behaviours of each bird, and find the beauty in its appearance. Black cockatoos gang up. Orioles that don't return sing in the memory. The wagtail flits around on the ground. The magpie carols its unearthly song. They are lovely little poems, and the included images accompany them beautifully.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning new Hardcover 60th Anniversary Edition of this beautifully illustrated collection of poems.
A friend shared that she had found this edition and once I saw it I had to add it to my collection.
Do I have a favourite. No I can’t pick. Each poem and each incredible illustration has their own story and each speaks to me

[Maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best poems are bird poems.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the beginning of National Poetry Month 2022, I decided to read some of the poetry books I had acquired. I buy books at readings, friends give them to me, I read something by a poet and order the book (from my local, independent bookstore!). I feel so fortunate to have gotten my hands on this edition, with the truly wonderful illustrations. I have been reading Wright's poetry for decades, admiring the intensity of her vision — so often of figures in the landscape of Australia. The birds in the poems are so finely realized within their settings. I love them all — the poems and the birds — but, of course, particularly recommend "Lyrebirds."

[Sian Ballantyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

When our Year 11 English teacher read Judith Wright poems to us in 1958, it set me on the path to study English at university and become an English teacher myself. I recently re-read this volume of her poetry and recognised again the precision of her vision and her language. She shows attentive knowledge of the appearance and habits of many species and can evoke without sentimentality their gifts of song, plumage, hunting or migratory flight. The poems are complemented by illustrations from the National Library’s collection of Australian bird paintings. This lovely publication can be viewed online through Google books.

[Zoya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, thoughtful poems about birds combined with the gorgeous illustrations by Australian artists.