Photo by John Fields
Michael Sharkey has a wonderful insight into the human condition, and an eye for the quirky. His subjects range from individuals and their paradoxes, to rural and urban society, to consumerism, and even Vegemite. As one reviewer put it, he knows of no other poet, ‘who can move so smoothly from dandruff to Land Rights, from the backyard shed to the Han Tombs’.
Sharkey is a witty and compelling satirist with many of his poems distinguished by a laconic and genuinely Australian humour. But he is also capable of beautifully lyrical and tender moments, and without any hint of sentimentality.
He was born in Sydney in 1946 and has worked as a government clerk, labourer, school-teacher, editor, and freelance journalist. He has taught literature at several universities in Australia, New Zealand, and China. He has taught writing in prisons, run his own poetry press, been a Writer-in-the-Community in two states, and is a reviewer for a number of Australian newspaper and magazines. He has also edited the work of several poets and novelists.
Since Sharkey's first publication in 1978, Michael has written more than twenty collections of poetry, and has his poems published in over three dozen anthologies.
He was born in Sydney in 1946 and has worked as a government clerk, labourer, school-teacher, editor, and freelance journalist. He has taught literature at several universities in Australia, New Zealand, and China. He has taught writing in prisons, run his own poetry press, been a Writer-in-the-Community in two states, and is a reviewer for a number of Australian newspaper and magazines. He has also edited the work of several poets and novelists.
Since Sharkey's first publication in 1978, Michael has written more than twenty collections of poetry, and has his poems published in over three dozen anthologies.
A complete list of Michael’s publications can be found on the Aust Lit web site: www.austlit.edu.au
