First Light : A Selection of Poems

Philip Hodgins was the most loved poet of his generation, whose life was cut tragically short. “If he had lived as long as his admired Goethe, he would probably have been Goethe.” – Clive James.

The fourth book in the Braziller series of Australian poets. Philip Hodgins is unique in his unflinchingly honest and mordant account of country life in Australia. In a vivid and lucid style, his astonishing poems reveal the complexities, depths and urgencies of living at the edge of life and death. Renowned for his sophisticated yet understated craftsmanship, Hodgins writes with subtlety, humor and heartbreaking intensity.

Philip Hodgins is the author of six volumes of poems, including a verse novel, Dispossessed, and the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Book Council Poetry Prize. He has been published in major publications, such as The New Yorker. He died in 1995, age thirty-six. In 1997, the annual Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal was inaugurated to honor writers of distinguished literary accomplishment.

Paul Kane is a poet and critic who has published six collections of poems and a dozen other books. He has received a Fulbright award, Guggenheim and NEA Fellowships and grants from the Mellon Foundation. He is general editor of The Braziller Series of Australian Poets, and is currently Professor of English and Environmental Studies at Vassar College. He lives in Warwick, New York.