This happened last week, one evening. All four speakers - Alex Miller, Hannie Rayson, Dorothy Porter and Barry Jones - good in their different ways, covering the sort of ground that you'd expect them to but doing so convincingly and engagingly, and each staking out different ground: Miller in a very literary way, his words falling like lines from a poem; Rayson more casual, with a sparkle and a patter; Porter putting the politics a bit more upfront; and Jones showing his politician's grounding in his amusing discursive polemic. None of them spared the literary references, of course ("The Second Coming" - my favourite poem in high school - getting a guernsey, and Gide, and Proust (but of course), and so on) and all did a good job of addressing the question from their chosen perspective. No summaries, exegeses or criticisms from yours truly, 'cause I'm still struggling with this enervation thing I've got going.
(w/ Nicolette)
