Poetry

A Local Habitation: Poems and Homilies by Peter Steele, edited by Sean Burke

Item: A Local Habitation
Author: Philip Harvey

by Philip Harvey •

November 2010, no. 326

Newman College, $39.95 hb, 168 pp

Poetry

A Local Habitation: Poems and Homilies by Peter Steele, edited by Sean Burke

by Philip Harvey •

November 2010, no. 326

Once in a seminar long ago, I heard Peter Steele quote one of Winston Churchill’s more disagreeable opinions, noting that Churchill was allowed to say such things ‘because he was Churchill’. This Churchillian self-definition, or certitude, or authority, or prowess, animates much of Steele’s own writings: Steele says this because he is Steele. Nor does he need to be disagreeable to do so.

Philip Harvey

By this contributor

Philip Harvey is a Melbourne poet, essayist, reviewer, and editor. His day job involves running libraries. He is the Poetry Editor of Eureka Street. His most recent chapbook is a-Z (Honeyeater Press, 2015).