As Hibberd writes: "Gross's FEAR carries us to post-war Poland, establishing and examining in sedulous depth the plundering slaughter of Jews across 1945 and 1946. He focuses on the Kielce pogrom of July 4, 1946, well after the cessation of hostilities".

You may wish to catch the Weekend Australian before it is too late while we are working on the Polish translation of this anti-Polish article.

Let's start with the author. Who is Jack Hibberd?

"Jack Hibberd was born during 1940 on the plains of north-western Victoria, educated at Bendigo and at the University of Melbourne, where he clinched a medical degree. He has written 38 plays including Dimboola, A Stretch of the Imagination, A Toast to Melba, Slam Dunk, and Legacy. His plays ‘draw on a ribald vernacular and music hall traditions.’ As well, he has published three novels, Memoirs of an Old Bastard, The Life of Riley, Perdita and The Great Allergy Detective Book. Jack has survived Melbourne for forty years, being married to the actress Evelyn Krape, and a father to Lily and James, from a first marriage, and Spike and Molly. The Genius of Human Imperfection, Jack Hibberd’s first poetry collection, was followed by Madrigals for a Misanthrope in 2004."

What The National Library of Australia has to say about Hibberd?

Playwright, poet and novelist. Born in Warracknabeal, Victoria, Hibberd studied medicine at the University of Melbourne, and practised as a doctor in Melbourne from 1964 until 1973. He was closely associated with the Australian Performing Group until 1976. His plays include A stretch of the imagination (1973) and Dimboola (1974). More recent works include the novels Memoirs of an old bastard (1989), The life of Riley (1991), and Perdita (1992). He has also published translations of poems by Baudelaire, Le vin des amants (1977), and with Garrie Hutchinson, The barrackers' bible: a dictionary of sporting slang (1983).

A Review of "Madrigals for a Misanthrope" by Jack Hibberd

sardonic, democratic, unpredictable verse
Alan Wearne, The Australian

Acerbic and despairing
Oliver Dennis, Island

"The Führer wore layered cotton waste
around his dapper genitals
when exhorting hordes of supplicants
at those Walpurgisnacht spectacles."

Bookended by Eve and Adam but haunted by the depravity of the Third Reich, Madrigals for a Misanthrope questions our place on the planet. Author of one of Australia’s most famous plays, Dimboola, Jack Hibberd is Swiftean, savage and funny. His satire flays human pretensions. The poet’s affinity with Baudelaire is given in a suite of adaptations. His laments on the deaths of lost friends form a group of mellower character portraits.

Jack Hibberd has been Melbourne’s irritant-conscience for more than three decades. He writes sardonic, democratic, unpredictable verse. Alan Wearne, Sydney Morning Herald

Hibberd’s talent, really, is for Jacobean revenge and spleen about the body... Poem after poem indulges a morbid disgust with human motives, an an ennui about the inevitable end of things. His linguistic zest, which is skillful and considerable, is at its best with political caricatures and his his clever takes on various poetic forms. Barry Hill, The Australian

His poetry is characterised by verve and abundance in vocabulary and verse form. Gig Ryan, The Age

Hibberd has a professional’s skill, an amateur’s openness... I should say that he is writing trenodies. That seems appropriate to the formality which he finds congenial, the grief at loss which pervades many of the poems, and the spanning of both public and private experience. Peter Steele Australian Book Review

Have a look at the photo of Hibberd and his wife, actress Evelyn Krape. Click here

Evelyn Krape played in a TV series "Greek on the Roof". Here is a Forum comment:

"one of the worst TV shows I've ever seen, 5 June 2005" by Author: tater_tot1987 from Australia

"This show is a load of garbage, a very poor, cheap ripoff from the hilarious "Kumars at number 42". "Greeks on the roof" is an example of Australia's unsuccessful attempts to create new shows with old ideas. One of the worst TV shows I've ever seen, it is painful to watch. I cannot physically sit down in front of the TV to endure this 'show' without dying of boredom or changing the channel. The characters are bad, the jokes fall flat, the whole concept is appalling. Why does Australia take successful overseas TV shows and ruin them? I am sorry if this review may offend some people, but the truth hurts. I don't want to see Effie and that awful hair again until she figures out how to write a decent TV show. It would also help if it was funny, as she is a comedian she should know a joke or two."