Joanne Burns is one of the best-known names in contemporary poetry. Writing in both line-break and prose-poem format, she has perfected the art of compression in revealing meaning and significance. Her targets are hypocrisy and falseness in society, but at the same time she is able to evoke as she says in "space dust," "the mystery in the mundane; to see both sides of the coin" (Poetry and Gender, 1989). Challenging in both technique and subject matter, Burns's work can range from humor to biting satire. Her self-consciously aware and lucid statements of her own poetics provide an invaluable aid to understanding and evaluating the extent of her achievement.

Joanne Burns was born in Vaucluse, Sydney, on 5 December 1945, the only child of Sheila Dorothy (née Partridge) Burns and Charles Malcolm Burns. She grew up in the eastern suburbs, at Rose Bay and Dover Heights, close to both...