OUR CLIENTS
Kevin Hart
Poet, Non-Fiction Writer
Kevin Hart was born in the UK in 1954, and grew up in London and Brisbane. He was educated at the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne. He is married and lives with his wife and two daughters in Indiana, USA. An award winning poet, he is Professor of Philosophy and Literature at the University of Notre Dame and has written extensively on critical theory, modern poetry and eighteenth century literature.
The Dark Gaze: Maurice Blanchot and the Sacred was published in 2004 by The University of Chicago Press. This book is not a mere introduction to Blanchot but rather a profound reconsideration of how his work figures theologically in some of the major currents of twentieth-century thought. Hart reveals Blanchot to be a thinker devoted to the possibilities of a spiritual life; an atheist who knew both the Old and New Testaments, especially the Hebrew Bible; and a philosopher keenly interested in the relation between art and religion, the nature of mystical experience, the link between writing and the sacred, and the possibilities of leading an ethical life in the absence of God.
Derrida and Religion Other Testaments co-edited by Hart and Yvonne Sherwood, was published in 2004 by Routledge and is the most extensive exploration and test of Derrida's contribution and influence on the study of theology, biblical studies and the philosophy of religion. In addition to original contributions from over twenty highly-regarded scholars including John Caputo, Daniel Boyarin, Edith Wyschogrod, Tim Beal, and Gil Anidjar, the volume opens with a lengthy interview with Derrida.
In 2003, Hart’s Postmodernism: A Beginner’s Guide was published by Oneworld Publications. Clearly and succinctly, Kevin Hart explores the themes, theories and key terms of postmodernism, such as post-structuralism, post-humanism, post-metaphysical, along with his discussions of all the major figures, among them Foucault, Baudrillard, Lyotard and Derrida. Unique to Hart’s book is his consideration of the place of religion in a time where all meaning is relative – specifically whether or not religion still has a place at all. He also assesses the idea of a “postmodern Bible” and distinguishes between postmodern religion and religion in postmodernity, finally asking, whether postmodernity is a secular affair, or if it offers new opportunities for the spiritual life.
Praise received for the book includes:
“Invaluable: deserves the attention of all serious students of postmodernity.”
~ David Tracy, University of Chicago
“Kevin Hart has produced a guide to postmodernism by which everyone, beginner or advanced, can be instructed. No one will fail to learn from this primer that is charming, personal, chatty and informative and manages to be both erudite and readable. An unqualified success.”
~ John D. Caputo, Villanova University
Visit the Oneworld Publications web site to find out more about the book.
Kevin Hart’s work of criticism, The Trespass of the Sign: Deconstruction, Theology and Philosophy, was published by Cambridge University Press in 1989. A.D. Hope, Kevin’s critical study of Australia's most internationally renowned poet was published by Oxford University Press in 1992.
Kevin’s most recent poetry publication is Flame Tree: Selected Poems published in Britain and the USA by Bloodaxe Books (2002) and in Australia by Paperbark Press (2001).
“Hart is a leading, and highly individual, figure in Australian poetry. A visionary, his work is deeply rooted in both English Romanticism and European Modernism”
~ The Buyers Guide: Spring Books 12 January 2001
Six other collections of his poetry have been published: The Departure, 1978, University of Queensland Press; The Lines of the Hand, 1981, Angus & Robertson; Your Shadow, 1984, Angus & Robertson (won both the 1985 Victorian and New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards for poetry); Peniel, 1991, Golvan Arts Publishers (shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards and the Adelaide Festival Awards in 1991); New and Selected Poems, 1995, Angus & Robertson; and Wicked Heat, 1999, Paper Bark Press. Kevin has translated The Buried Harbour: selected poems of Guiseppe Ungaretti published by Leros Press in Australia in 1990 and he edited The Oxford Book of Australian Religious Verse in 1994.
Kevin Hart has been awarded the Christopher Brennan Award by the Fellowship of Australian Writers. This Award recognises a poet who has made a sustained contribution to Australian poetry.
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