This collection ranges from the early nineteenth century of Francis MacNamara and Charles Harpur, through the later years of C J Dennis and Henry Lawson, right up to the present day of Gig Ryan, David Malouf, Stephen McInerney and Kate Jennings. The preoccupations of the different eras are given a full airing - convicts and stockriders, the challenges of drought and war, the rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney, the divide between the city and the bush, and the different approaches of generations X, Y and Z. The 'smaller' issues have their outing too: love, barbecues, giraffes, sky writing and pumpkins so big they don't seem real.