Bone Scan

Bone Scan

Author	Gwen Harwood
Language	English
Genre	Poetry collection
Publisher	Angus and Robertson
Publication date	1988
Publication place	Australia
Media type	Print
Pages	56 pp
Awards	1989 Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry
ISBN	0207160449

Bone Scan is a collection of poems by Australian poet Gwen Harwood, published by Angus and Robertson, in 1988. ^[1]

The collection 39 poems from the author, all previously published in various Australian literary magazines or poetry anthologies. ^[2]

It was the winner of the 1989 Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry. ^[3]

Contents

• Class of 1927 sequence
  • "Slate"
  • "The Spelling Prize"
  • "Religious Instruction"
  • "The Twins"
• "Bone Scan"
• "The Night Watch"
• "Morning Again"
• "Blackbird"
• "I.M. Philip Larkin"
• Divertimento : To Jan Sedivka sequence
  • "Notturno"
  • "Picture a Brisbane Afternoon (Affetuoso)"
  • "Scherzo"
  • "Postlude: Listening to Bach"
• "Visitor"
• "Driving Home (to the Memory of Vera Cottew)"
• "The Sun Descending"
• "Crow-Call"
• "Sheba"
• "A Feline Requiem"
• "Schrodinger's Cat Preaches to the Mice"
• "Litany (to the Memory of Graeme Buchanan)"
• "Night and Dreams"
• "Cups"
• "Long after Heine"
• "The Magic Land of Music"
• "1945"
• "Forty Years On : To Peter Bennie"
• "Sunset, Oyster Cove (To the Memory of Edwin Tanner)"
• "Resurrection"
• "Mid-Channel"
• Pastorals : To Desmond Cooper sequence
  • "Threshold"
  • "A Welcome: Flowers and Fowls"
  • "Mt Mangana in the Distance"
  • "Arcady"
  • "Reflections"
  • "Autumn Rain"
  • "Winter Afternoon"
  • "Sea Eagle"
  • "Carapace"

Critical reception

Critic Peter Pierce chose this collection as one of his best of 1989 noting that it "confirms the intelligence and impeccable ear of one of our finest and most durable poets." ^[4]

Awards

• 1989 Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry, winner ^[3]
• 1989 NSW Premier's Prize for Poetry, shortlisted ^[5]
• 1990 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, John Bray Poetry Award, winner ^[6]

See also

• 1988 in Australian literature

References

1. "Bone Scan by Gwen Harwood". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
2. "Austlit — Bone Scan by Gwen Harwood". Austlit. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
3. "The lucky seven out of 249". Sydney Morning Herald, 19 September 1989, p10. ProQuest   2526496753 . Retrieved 18 November 2025.
4. ""The Best of '89: The Pick of the Bunch"". The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 December 1989, p47. ProQuest   2526241019 . Retrieved 18 November 2025.
5. ""Boost for NSW Literary Awards"". The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 August 1989, p11. ProQuest   2526244355 . Retrieved 18 November 2025.
6. "Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 18 November 2025.