Vincent Buckley

Vincent Thomas Buckley (8 July 1925 – 12 November 1988) was an Australian poet, teacher, editor, essayist and critic.

Early life Buckley was born in 1925 in Romsey, Victoria to Patrick Buckley, a carter and sometime farm labourer, and his wife Frances Margaret Buckley, née Condonto. He attended St Patrick’s College in East Melbourne, living in a dormitory.

Career In 1942, Buckley worked for eight months as a clerk in the Commonwealth Department of Supply and Shipping. On 13 December 1943, Buckley enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force, where he served as a recorder.

Oral history Buckley was interviewed multiple times throughout his life. He was first interviewed in 1969 about his life and career, and also reads a few of his poems. In 1974, he was recorded reading his poems. He was then interviewed a final time in 1979 by Jim Davidson. These recordings can be found at the National Library of Australia.

Themes and subject matter Buckley's subject matter ranged from the personal to the political, with a particular interest in Irish politics, culture and history. Buckley was also heavily involved in Catholic intellectual debate during the period of the Cold War and the emergence in Australia of the Democratic Labour Party.

Buckley's critical writing includes volumes on poetry, the novelist Henry Handel Richardson, and Leonard French's Campion paintings. "Stroke" 1965 Quadrant vol. 9 no. 1 January–February 1965 Arcady and Other Places : Poems by Vincent Buckley,Melbourne University Press, 1966