Good for the soul: John Curtin's life with poetry

In his first days as Prime Minister, John Curtin presented himself to the press as a self-styled intellectual who loved sport and relaxing, when he could, with a book, beach walk, game of cards or fossick in the garden. He also revealed that he enjoyed poetry so much that he held to a Sunday night poetry ritual.

Curtin was Australia’s third wartime Prime Minister, Labor’s eighth Prime Minister, and the first Prime Minister from a Western Australian electorate. The author, an esteemed scholar and poet, is also his great-grandson.