The blurb on the back of the book refers to this type of writing as ‘hard pastoral’. It is what we encounter in those bucolic bards, Seamus Heaney and Les Murray. It is also what we see in that lesser-known Australian Phillip Hodgins, a poet who was taken from us far too young. By Brendan’s admission, all three poets have influenced his writing. The sensibility of these four poets is a far cry from the sentimental evocations of rural life by the likes of Banjo Paterson and CJ Dennis.