The collection contains 100 Australian poems from a variety of sources.[2] Also included are a Foreword by Phillip Adams and an introduction by the editor.
The poems are split into nine different sections with individual poems arranged by ascending year of the poet's birth (where this is known).
Reviewing the anthology for The Australian newspaper Jaya Savage saw the good aspects of the book: "If an historical anthology such as this is like a used car, the paint job on 100 Australian Poems is slick. Under the bonnet, the engine is in good nick, the poems are sturdy, the pistons greased, the spark plugs firing; Australian poetry can hold its head high among English-speaking traditions, and Grant is to be commended for his toil." Although that was followed by: "Sadly, however, the vehicle's chassis, the book's critical framework, shows serious signs of rust damage. The giveaway is Grant's unashamed reversion to a nationalistic discourse, which gives the book a sepia effect."[3]
Notes
In his introduction editor Jamie Grant gave an explanation for his choices: "The selection made represents the opinion of one person only, with all the prejudices, accidental omissions and blind spots one individual must be prone to, and the individual is me. There has been no attempt to be fair or comprehensive or respectable or historically representative. Instead, I have simply chosen a hundred Australian poems I, as a reader, have been unable to forget."[4]
↑ Grant, Jamie (December 2008). 100 Australian Poems You Need to Know. Melbourne, Australia: Hardie Grant Books. p.11. ISBN9781740666206.
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