I have been working on the concept of a novel for a number of years and, while I haven’t progressed very far with the writing of the novel itself, the process has resulted in a number of poems. Among these are a number of prose poems which have just appeared in Live Encounters January 2025. These four pieces are fragments, which one day may fit together … or not.
Once again many thanks to Live Encounters editor Mark Ulyseas for reaching out and requesting these pieces.
It was a great feeling to wake up on New Year’s Day to find four poems from my upcoming collection, The Office of Literary Endeavours, published on the the Lothlorien Poetry Journal blog. Many thanks for editor Strider Marcus Jones for publishing ‘cutting the grass’, ‘the other city’, ‘consolidation’ and ‘Northern Stone’.
It’s alway exciting to be contacted by about contributing to an upcoming issue of Live Encounters and particularly so this time as the November-December Issue celebrates the on-line journal’s 15th anniversary.
My contribution to this issue consists of three poems from my upcoming collection, The Office of Literary Endeavours, which will be published by Five Islands Press in the first half of next year. The three poems include two of my film poems, ‘Final Reel’ – After Breathless (1960) directed by Jean-Luc Godard, ‘Taking Tea’ – After Cléo from 5 to 7 – directed by Agnès Varda (1962), and another shorter poem titled ‘Consecration’.
I was honoured to be asked to contribute to this “interview documentary” on the life of poet Robert Adamson. I’m also looking forward to the Sydney premiere screening this coming Tuesday night.
29 October, 6pm-8pm, Metcalfe Auditorium, State Library of NSW. Presented by David Adès, WestWords and the State Library of NSW.
I am thrilled to announce that my next collection, The Office of Literary Endeavours, will be published by 5 Island Press. While it is exciting to have a manuscript accepted for publication, it is also a honour to part of a list that already includes poets like Robyn Rowland, Helen Swain, Michael Leibowitz, Sue Lockwood and Mark Tredinnick, not to mention the eight other poets who will join the list with me in 2025, Helen Jarvis, David Ades, Benjamin Dodds, Alison Gorman, Helga Jermy, Kai Jensen, Jennifer Kornberger and Kevin Smith.
5 Islands Press has a long and distinguished history in publishing Australian Poetry, founded by Ron Pretty in 1986 and named after the 5 Islands off the coast of Port Kembla. After Ron stood down in 2007 the press continued for over another decade before publishing it’s last titles in 2019. In late 2023 Mark Tredinneck and Steve Meyrick took over responsibility for the press. A history of the press can be foundhere. For more information on the current 5 Islands Press publishing program go to the new website.
I’m looking forward to becoming part of the 2025 5 Island Press publishing program.
Many journals have themed issues but, as guest editor Les Wicks points out in his introduction Live Encounters Poetry & Writing, Special Humour Edition, humour is not a theme normally associated with contemporary poetry. Forms such as limericks and nonsense verse obviously have humour at their core, but aren’t really recognised as ‘serious’ literature. Perhaps the first ‘real’ poem which really made made me laugh out loud in public was Chris Mansell’s Definition poem: Pissed as a parrot, which I seem to recall I first heard at a reading upstairs in a strange, secret, vegetarian restaurant in Leichhardt, NSW.
But onto the issue at hand – my attempt at a humourous poem, The demise of poetry, somehow made the cut and made it into the Live Encounters Special Humour Edition. I hope that it provokes at least the hint of a giggle…….
WAR: 24-Hour Chapbook Challenge VII, edited by Colin Dardis, Rancid Idols Productions, Northern Ireland
I tend to take time writing a poem. A first draft, some initial revisions and then coming back over a period of time, reviewing and editing. I think my record from first mark on paper to completed poem is 30 years. So the concept of writing a poem from a single word prompt and being published all withing 24 hours was a particular challenge for me.
The challenge, by Rancid Idols Production, was part of their sporadic poetry challenge series: a one-word prompt was sent to participating poets, we replied back with a brand new poem, It is then collated and a free digital chapbook available to be download all within 24 hours!
The one word prompt was ‘War’, unfortunately currently a very fertile ground for artists. My poem is based around the Gweagal Shield, which is currently held, under dispute, in the British Museum. Although its providence is questioned, is it supposedly the shield dropped by a Gweagal warrior following the confrontation with British Marines on the shore of Kamay (Botany Bay) in 1770.
The chapbook, which contains some remarkable poems, all of which were written withing 24 hours over the weekend, is available for download here:
Many thanks to Colin Dardis who coordinated and edited the project and to all the other poets who took part in producing this remarkable little artifact in such a short period of time.
Rancid Idols Productions also runs the Poet Alone project and maintains a Bandcamp channel of music, poetry and noise. You can access these projects at
Although it was published in 2019 I only just discovered that my prose poem ‘Gaanha-bula’ was translated into Hindi as part of the Spineless Wonders Shuffle Translation Project. The work first appeared in in Shuffle, An Anthology of Microlit, published by Spineless Wonders in 2019, so it was a pleasant to find it had been translated.
Many thanks to the translators, Anindya Singh and Ishrat Parween, to Paulette Smythe who produced the video poem of the translation and to Anindya Singh who read the poem. And of course thanks to the Spineless Wonders team who pulled the project together.
I was a little surprised and very honoured to have had my poem ‘Skipping’ included in the long list for the 2023 Liquid Amber Poetry Prize. The poets nominated in the long list include many writers I respect and seek out so it is exciting to be included in the list with them. Congratulations to all nominated poets and a big thanks to the judges Anne M. Carson, Rose Lucas and Reneé Pettitt-Schipp.
I haven’t sent much work out over the past 12 months, but I did try to find a home for one of my film poems and was excited when ‘The weather was perfect for making movies outside’ – a poem based on the Godard film Made in the USA – found a home in the excellent Sublunary Review. Many thanks to poetry editor Ruslan Garrey and the Sublunary Review team. You can read it here:
Printed Shadows - 40 Years of Cultural Journalism 