In 1941 the Jindyworobak poet and critic Victor Kennedy sent out a survey to a list of almost thirty Australian poets on behalf of the Jindyworobak club. Entitled 'Whither Australian Poetry?' the survey asked its recipients to comment on modern poetry and 'the new verse':
A great change has come over poetry in our day, not only in form and technique but in aim and outlook. Poetic theory has been revolutionised as well as poetic method. The 'modern poets' have practically taken over the field, and newvalues have replaced the old.What do you think of the new verse?
One of the respondents to the survey was the Angry Penguin and aspiring modernist poet, Max Harris. Harris was annoyed by the way the survey collapsed the figure of the poet into the world ofliterary societies and book clubs.