Wright, Judith (1915-2000), an Australian poet, became the leader of post-World War II poetry in Australia. Wright spent much of her life in rural Australia, and her poetry reflects her love of the countryside and Australia’s wild landscapes. Wright was deeply involved in preserving the natural environment. She also was active in the cause of Aboriginal rights.
Wright’s poetry is rich in imagery. Throughout her work, there is a search to understand the depths underlying human thought and action. Her poetry blends lyric grace and intellectual precision. One critic said that she achieved identification with the Australian earth, expressing herself in relation to her environment. The poetry shows an acute sensitivity to time and concern with age, decline, memories, and history. Many of her poems comment on the debt that people, especially Australians, owe to history.
Wright’s first book of poetry, The Moving Image (1946), immediately established her reputation. This book contains the well-known poems “Bullocky,” “South of My Days,” and “Bora Ring.” Her other books include Woman to Man (1949); The Gateway (1953); The Two Fires (1955); Birds (1962); The Other Half (1966); Alive (1973); Fourth Quarter and Other Poems (1976); Collected Poems (1971); and a selection, The Double Tree (1978). Wright’s Collected Poems was published in 1994.
For much of her life, Wright was deeply involved with the conservation movement in Australia. The Coral Battleground (1977) gives an account of the struggle between conservationists and the oil industry over Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef. We Call for a Treaty (1985) is an examination of relations between Australia’s Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people and of the rights and legal status of Aboriginal people. Wright believed that white Australia had betrayed the Aboriginal peoples of Australia in the ownership of land as well as Aboriginal culture.
Wright’s The Generations of Men (1959), is a historical biography based on her family’s pioneering history. Its sequel, The Cry for the Dead (1981), provides a background on the destructive impact of sheep farming on Aboriginal people and the Australian landscape. She continued this theme in essays collected in Born of the Conquerors (1991). Wright also wrote a collection of short stories, The Nature of Love (1966); several books for children; and many critical essays and reviews. Preoccupations in Australian Poetry (1965) is a major literary study.
Judith Arundell Wright was born on May 31, 1915, near Armidale, in New South Wales, where her family were sheep farmers. She was educated at the New England Girls School and the University of Sydney. She died on June 25, 2000.
