That Fatal Song: A Tribute to Judith Wright and A.D. Hope, Southerly, Volume 61, Number 1, 2001. Ed. David Brooks. Sydney: Halstead Press. ISBN 1-875684-54-9 [Book review]

"David Brook's editorial for this special issue of Southerly advertises a double purpose: 'commemoration' and 'continuation' - the 'customary presentation of ... new and established Australian writers' (6). The second is closely related to the first because in continuing to provide a forum, a kind of tribute is offered to Hope and Wright. Both, we are reminded, were early contributors to the journal and both have prompted, directed, and been the subjects of discussions that have filled its pages. Thus, the memorial proceeds under the auspices of a larger claim for the poets. As Brooks puts it, between them they 'virtually set the register' (5). That Hope and Wright were instrumental in shaping Australian literary life is indisputable. However, as important and timely as this commemoration may be, unless it leads to a renewal of questions it risks monumentalising its subjects, using them as occasions for nostalgia until like most public monuments, they are familiar, but unremarkable and unregarded. The measure of this journal, then, lies in the questions addressed by the various tributes, commentaries and original works it brings together."