Top Lines from Australian Contemporary Poets

Top Lines is a collection of poems from 46 of Australia's best known and most promising poets selected to appeal to lower and middle secondary students. Finding poems which will interest and are relevant to students in Years 8 - 10 has always been a problem for English teachers. Developing effective and interesting poetry lessons is likewise not easy. Problems solved.

Who are the poets?

Robert Adamson, joanne burns, Grant Caldwell, Heather Cam, Hal Colebatch, Bruce Dawe, Geoffrey Dutton, Robert Gray, Myron Lysenko, Shane McCauley, Les Murray, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Marjorie Pizer, Elizabeth Riddell, Judith Rodriguez, Margaret Scott, Coral Hull, Christopher Kelen, Andy Kissane, Peter Kocan, Thomas Shapcott, Peter Skrzynecki, Colin Thiele, John Tranter

and many others, have chosen the poems they have written which they think will most appeal to students in years 8 - 10. The resulting collection covers a wide range of poetic forms, techniques and subjects.

 '...a worthy acquisition as a class set...a useful source of otherwise unattainable material on every English teacher's bookshelf. "Top Lines Activities and Resources", to accompany the anthology is the most useful poetry-teaching resource I have seen in many years.' - The Australian English Teacher

Top Lines is accompanied by Top Lines Activities and Resources Book which provides teachers with information and ideas, including reproducible activity pages about: the poems, the poets, poetic inspiration, forms and structures, poetic language, techniques, analysis, and how to write a poem.

Top Lines Contents

Robert ADAMSON

• Gutting the Salmon
• My Granny

David BEACH

• Stuntman
• Railway Station Escalators
• joanne burns
• horizontal hold
• together

Mark BUTLER

• Beethoven once (for The Doctor)
• Letter to a dying man

Grant CALDWELL

• Hamburgerology
• Ozone But

Heather CAM

• That homemade garment
• How I come to own a black leather jacket with studs, zippers, snaps, and pockets galore

Hal COLEBATCH

• Casting off
• Grass stems at the Zoo

Bruce DAWE

• Interviewing a Poet
• Doctor to Patient

Geoffrey DUTTON

• The Stranded Whales
• Burning Off

Carolyn GERRISH

• Wearing Reeboks
• Fatal Attraction

Maureen GRANGER

• Family Funeral
• Jason to the Rescue

Jamie GRANT

• Daylight Moon
• Grandfather Clock

Robert GRAY

• Descent
• Currawongs

Susan HAMPTON

• Wax
• The Kitchen Of Aunty Mi And Aunty Pearl

Libby HATHORN

• Stories Grandmothers Tell
• Silicone Chick

Coral HULL

• King Browns, Taipans & Crocodiles
• stick insect

Dot JENSEN

• Hoyts
• Believer
• Help!

Jill JONES

• Like Dante in the library
• The man on the bus

Antigone KEFALA

• Prodigal Son
• The Lunch

Christopher KELEN

• When Is the Use of a Beach Necessary?
• Snow

Andy KISSANE

• Fancy Footwork
• Facing the Moon

Peter KOCAN

• The Fathers
• Written and Directed By ...

Martin LANGFORD

• Aussie
• The Disco

Tony LINTERMANS

• We Think We're Something

Myron LYSENKO

• She Ran Off with a One-legged Man

Billy MARSHALL-STONEKING

• Spirit Child
• Assimilation/Western Desert/ 1962-1974

Shane McCAULEY

• Baby Stick Insect

Peter McFARlANE

• Lullaby
• Hey Look Mum I'm on Telly

Les MURRAY

• The Rollover
• The Wedding at Berrico

Vera NEWSOM

• Fable

Oodgeroo NOONUCCAL

• A Song of Hope
• Last of His Tribe

Geoff PAGE

• Christ at Gallipoli
• Fledgling

Marjorie PIZER

• Monologue for Henry Lawson

Ron PRETTY

• Bald Hill with Gliders
• Turning Off

Brian PURCELL

• Morning in Tuscany
• Photographer

Elizabeth RIDDELL

• Here Lies
• The Letter

Judith RODRIGUEZ

• Poolfish
• The Big Girl
• The House By Water

Ian SAW

• Introduced Species
• You were making good time

Margaret SCOTT

• The Black Swans
• Shark

Kerry SCUFFINS

• Suburban Girls
• R.I.P. Rehabilitation in Prison

Thomas SHAPCOTT

• Portrait of Captain Logan

Jemal SHARAH

• Kristallnacht

Peter SKRZYNECKI

• Silky Oak
• Children on Swings

Colin THIELE

• Radio Telescope
• The Wire

John TRANTER

• Smoke

Lauren WILLIAMS

• My Right Leg
• My Grandmother Met My Grandfather