Leeward: A Memoir

(Paperback)

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'For my first ten years I grew up in Lavender Bay with the smell of salt water, in houses facing the grey curved eye of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. There was a distant rumble, like thunder, when trains went across.'

This is a lyrical and honest memoir of a poet's life in Sydney. From Lavender Bay to Lindfield, Geoff Lehmann tells the story of his life as a poet, tax lawyer, member of the Sydney Push, single father to three small children and finally, a happily married man who returns to poetry writing and translation. His life and work crosses with some of the leading cultural figures of the twentieth century and beyond Les Murray, Judith Wright, Christopher Brennan, Clive James. He traces the contours of his own life and his family history, and the contours of particular slice of Sydney.

Author Bio

Geoffrey Lehmann was born in Sydney on 28 June 1940 and spent his early childhood at McMahons Point. He attended the Sydney Church of England Boys Grammar School before continuing on to the University of Sydney, where in addition to studying Arts and Law, he co-edited magazines with Les Murray, with whom he co-published his first book of poetry The Ilex Tree. Part of the Sydney Push, Lehmann has often satirised Sydney life. In addition to his many poetry collections, including Poems 1957-2013, (UWAP 2014) which won the Prime Ministers prize for poetry. He has edited many poetry anthologies, including Australian Poetry Since 1788, edited by Geoffrey Lehmann, Robert Gray, published 2011 by UNSW Press. His other books are textbooks on tax, for he was a partner at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and has lectured in tax law at UNSW.