Sunday, October 10, 2010

Caroline Caddy & Faye Zwicky read their poems on River Road CDs



Fay Zwicky's The Witnesses covers five decades of her poetry, whereas Caroline Caddy's The Tibetan Cabinet merely covers three decades. Ah, the riches here are many, so I am going to treat my little group at ECU South West campus with some tracks from these great River Road CDs next week. I know they will enjoy the wit and style of these two master Australian poets.

Of course River Road Press has many other fine Australian poets to offer on CD, so check out their site at http://www.riverroadpress.net

Saturday, October 09, 2010

An Imagined Conversation

‘Everyone is speeding!’ she said, disgust in her voice.
We were driving on the new Forrest Highway from Bunbury to Perth.
‘Yes, everyone is driving over the speed limit. So what does that tell you?’ I asked.
‘They’re all fools – and that includes you, you’re over the limit.’
‘I’m driving with the flow.’
‘You’re following the pack.’
‘If we’re all driving over the limit, that suggests to me that the limit is too low.’
‘You would say that, wouldn’t you – rationalize your way out of anything.’
‘Ha ha, wish I could, that’d be good.’
Silence. Just Neil Young again and the surround sound of traffic on the move, over the limit down the smooth highway.

Friday, October 08, 2010

Charlie and Singapore snakes



My son Charlie is in Singapore at present, learning to be a snake charmer - or something.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Shadow at Home

In late afternoon, the tall pencil pine
would cast its long shadow over
the lower grass level. At times,
like a wanderer trying to find
rainbow’s end and finding it,
I would walk in the shadow
to its tip and sit
a foot in front and face it
as it slowly drew over me
—sitting still,
owning my own shadow.

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Paul Kelly in-store at Planet Books 7pm Thursday



A reminder, in case you haven’t seen the posters & ads, Paul Kelly will be in-store at Planet Books, corner of Beaufort and Walcott Streets, Mt Lawley, Thursday night to sign his memoir, How to Make Gravy.

Mr Kelly will talk about the book and, with a bit of luck, will sing a couple of songs for us.

The event will kick off at 7pm.

Don’t be late as it will be standing room only.

On the Road (Bunbury to Perth)

Driving in the fast flowing traffic - trucks, utes, semis, motorbikes, sedans, hatchbacks, 4 wheel drives packed to the limit with holiday gear - I slipped into the stream of a ute packed with plumbing gear, and a dark brown Pointer strapped on a short lead near the cabin. Neil Young was plaintively singing about Cinnamon Girl and Southern Man, and my wife beside me was cursing the compiler of today's Cryptic Crossword. The dog ahead became my entertaining focus as it stood up to look over the cabin, ears pushed back by the 125kph wind, stood up there for some minutes then stood down and faced over the side of the ute. His mouth opened and closed as the wind flipped his ears about his head, opened and closed vigorously, barking into the rushing wind a rebellious bark we couldn't hear in our small cocoon. I rejoiced in his routine, standing up into the wind, then telling the world his opinion of a day's journey like this. If we'd stuck our heads out the window, our ears would have been pinned back too. For comfort's sake, I could've done with a shake of the tail too but the bucket seat and seat belt kept me safely pinned behind the wheel, steering down the highway, in the slipstream of the plumber's ute and the spittle of a windblown Pointer.
"What'll we call him?" my wife asked when I drew her attention to him.
"Neal Cassady," I suggested. "A car thief with the uncanny knack of charming strangers."

Sunday, October 03, 2010


I am off down south for four days, so there may not be much change here in that time. I will endeavour to publish interesting photos and snippets but it all depends on access to Internet, etc. You no doubt know the drill.

Friday, October 01, 2010

255k iPhone Apps, Only One For Writing Poetry – Meet The New Poet’s Pad | Apple News, iPhone App Reviews, Apple Press Releases, iOS4 iPad Rumors, iMac Applications

255k iPhone Apps, Only One For Writing Poetry – Meet The New Poet’s Pad | Apple News, iPhone App Reviews, Apple Press Releases, iOS4 iPad Rumors, iMac Applications

Get a load of this:
Emotion Based Idea Generator – Eliminate Writer’s Block:
Unique to Poet’s Pad(TM) for iPhone is its emotion based idea generator. Writers can randomly generate words and phrases that reflect their mood by tapping on a category such as ‘Love’, ‘Hate’, ‘Desire’, ‘Hope’, ‘Fear’ etc. The words and phrases that are generated can then be posted on sticky notes for later use or inspiration.

(Whatever next!)

Flarf


Flarf

I asked a man what Flarf is and he showed me this. Now I know ...

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Hip, Cool, Unusual - Marge Simpson in Playboy



Oh, how the times they are a changin' ! Read about it at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/hip-cool-unusual-marge-simpson-goes-nude-1800354.html

The Best Australian Poems 2010 list of contributors

... as chosen by His Bobship, Robert Adamson, master poet, editor and autobiographer, for Black Inc., steadfast publishers of Aussie lit:


The poets selected for inclusion in The Best Australian Poems 2010 are:

Ali Alizadeh
Chris Andrews
Meera Atkinson
Luke Beesley
Judith Beveridge
Judith Bishop
Ken Bolton
Peter Boyle
Michael Brennan
David Brooks
Jen Jewel Brown
Pam Brown
Allison Browning
Joanne Burns
Elizabeth Campbell
Bonny Cassidy
Eileen Chong
Justin Clemens
Stuart Cooke
Nathan Curnow
Luke Davies
Bruce Dawe
Tricia Dearborn
B.R. Dionysius
Lucy Dougan
Laurie Duggan
Will Eaves
Ali Cobby Eckermann
Stephen Edgar
Chris Edwards
Anne Elvey
Brook Emery
Kate Fagan
Michael Farrell
Susan Fealy
Liam Ferney
S.J. Finn
Lionel Fogarty
Adam Ford
Adam Formosa
Angela Gardner
Claire Gaskin
Jane Gibian
Keri Glastonbury
Lisa Gorton
Robert Gray
Martin Harrison
Kevin Hart
Matt Hetherington
Barry Hill
Sarah Holland Batt
L.K. Holt
Duncan Hose
Lisa Jacobson
Carol Jenkins
A. Frances Johnson
Jill Jones
Frank Kellaway
Peter Kenneally
Graeme Kinross-Smith
John Kinsella
Andy Kissane
Anna Krien
Mike Ladd
Martin Langford
Anthony Lawrence
Michelle Leber
Geoffrey Lehmann
Kate Lilley
Debbie Lim
Astrid Lorange
Cameron Lowe
Roberta Lowing
Anthony Lynch
Jennifer Maiden
Rhyll McMaster
Kate Middleton
Peter Minter
Anne Morgan
Derek Motion
Les Murray
Jenni Nixon
Nguyen Tien Hoang
Geoff Page
Pi.0
Claire Potter
Peter Rose
Josephine Rowe
Robyn Rowland
Brendan Ryan
Gig Ryan
Jaya Savige
Thomas Shapcott
Craig Sherborn
Andrew Slattery
Vivian Smith
Peter Steele
James Stuart
Maria Takolander
Hugh Tolhurst
John Tranter
Mark Tredinnick
Louise Wakeling
Chris Wallace-Crabbe
Meredith Wattison
Petra White
Chloe Wilson
Fiona Wright
Ouyang Yu


What a good list! I look forward to it.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Writing Marathon this Saturday 1pm @ Tom Collins House



This popular form of writing workshop is suitable for all career stages, so come along and enjoy writing in the company of others with prompts and themes set by your coordinator, ANDREW BURKE.

Four full hours! Good value at $22

Tom Collins House is the historic headquarters of the Fellowship of Australian Writers, WA division. It is nestled in by the ocean just a dune or two back from Swanbourne Beach at -

88 Wood Street
on the corner of Kirkwood Street

in among the trees
on the Campbell Barracks side
of Allen Park, Swanbourne

Email: admin@fawwa.org.au Telephone: 08 9384 4771

Monday, September 27, 2010

'In Other Words' on SYNFM

Congratulations to Eliza Hull, Jorja Kelly and Florence Ay, who have been asked to produce another season of their poetry radio show, In Other Words, on SYNFM.
If you’re under 25 and would like to get involved with this show, please email admin@australianpoetrycentre.org.au

Good news from writingWA.

Downloads

If you're wondering how to write your memoirs, would like to know more about self-publishing, want to have your manuscript assessed or send it to a literary agent, or hire a freelance book designer, then download the relevant topic below. (You will need Acrobat Reader to open them)

Get it all FREE at http://www.writingwa.org/information/downloads/

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Book Review - Human Chain - By Seamus Heaney - NYTimes.com

Book Review - Human Chain - By Seamus Heaney - NYTimes.com

A positive review by William Logan. & a taste of the poems - absolutely worth reading.

Welcome back to Writing Marathon @ Tom Collins House


1 - 5pm SATURDAY 2nd October

This popular form of writing workshop is suitable for all career stages, so come along and enjoy writing in the company of others with prompts and themes set by your coordinator, ANDREW BURKE.

Good value at $22

Tom Collins House is the historic headquarters of the Fellowship of Australian Writers, WA division. It is nestled in by the ocean just a dune or two back from Swanbourne Beach at -

88 Wood Street
on the corner of Kirkwood Street
in among the trees
on the Campbell Barracks side
of Allen Park, Swanbourne

Email: admin@fawwa.org.au Telephone: 08 9384 4771

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Poetry is ...

Metaphor ?
Better more ?
Better less ?
Less is more
more or less.
Better metaphor
is best.

Ken Speckle aka Ken Hudson

Dearest Scott from Zelda ...


Swim Back Home To Me

Dearest: I am always grateful to all the loyalties you gave me, and I am always loyal to the concepts that held us together so long: the belief that life is tragic, that man's spiritual reward is the keeping of his faith: that we shouldn't hurt each other. And I love, always your fine writing talent, your tolerance and generosity; and all your happy endowments. Nothing could have survived our life.


Zelda Fitzgerald


The full story at http://thisrecording.com/today/2010/7/15/in-which-nothing-could-have-survived-our-life.html

Friday, September 24, 2010

Did Milton really write this bawdy verse?

An EXTEMPORE upon a Faggot

Have you not in a Chimney seen
A Faggot which is moist and green;
How coyly it receives the Heat,
And at both ends do’s weep and sweat?
So fares it with a tender Maid,
When first upon her Back she’s laid;
But like dry Wood th’ experienc’d Dame
Cracks and rejoices in the Flame.

by Milton (maybe)

Follow the discussion here: http://digitalmiscellaniesindex.blogspot.com/

(Thanks for the address, Max Richards)

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Crowded by Beauty; A Biography of Poet and Zen Teacher Philip Whalen, by David Schneider, forthcoming from University of California Press.


If you're a fan of Philip Whalen and Gary Snyder, take a look at this pdf file: http://www.coyotesjournal.com/uploads/Kalyanamitra.pdf It is generously put online by Coyote's Journal.

LANDSCAPE 'PERIPETATICA' ISSUE now on view

Poems now up for viewing at Landscapes magazine, http://www.landscapeandlanguagecentre.au.com/current_journal.html

'Famous' writes on! Heaney and the 'Human Chain'



This review is a bit of a back-handed compliment - the reviewer speaks somewhat as if Seamus Heaney is losing his great powers because he is 70. Seventy ain't that old for a poet, you know. This romantic idea of the poet as blazing youth should be put to bed, along with its supporters. Les Murray must be 70 by now, and he's still going strong. Andrew Taylor and Fay Zwicky, among the poets of this town, are still writing poems as good as their best.


'Heaney has become something else: a personification of an idea of poetry, a squint-eyed, white-shocked sage. With one foot still squat in the peat bog and the other crossed comfortably in an endowed university chair, Heaney can speak the language of each place with similar and unrivaled eloquence.'

Have a read of this: http://www.cleveland.com/books/index.ssf/2010/09/poet_seamus_heaney_writes_huma.html. It will be interesting to purchase 'Human Chain' and read it. Maybe I'll agree with the reviewer - but somehow I doubt it. We simply gain a different view point as we grow older. Some of this could be seen as a rich vein to be added to our youthful hijinks.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Perth Poetry Club back this Saturday 2pm

This Saturday 25 September: The Moon is open, Perth Poetry Club is back in action, all's right with the world.

Join us for the words of great local poets DICK ALDERSON & SIMON COX at The Moon, 323 William Street, Northbridge, 2 - 4 pm. Plus open mike.

FREE - but donations graciously accepted to pay the costs of the professional sound gear and the guest poets.

Monday, September 20, 2010

New and On View: Mudlark Flash No. 58 - Janlori Goldman



Washing Dishes in Evergreen, Colorado,
and End of the World

Janlori Goldman received an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. Her poems have appeared in The Cortland Review, The Mom Egg, For the Crowns of Your Heads: Poems for Haiti, and are forthcoming in The Sow's Ear and Calyx, A Journal of Art and Literature by Women. She teaches at Columbia University's School of Public Health and lives in New York City with her daughter and sweetheart.

Cover art: David Swoyer

Spread the word. Far and wide,

William Slaughter (editor)

MUDLARK

An Electronic Journal of Poetry & Poetics
Never in and never out of print...
E-mail: mudlark@unf.edu
URL: http://www.unf.edu/mudlark

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Hold the Line

Some days
I measure things out,
more Mondrian than Pollock.
If I let my line out, say,
for a walk with Paul Klee, I do it
with a ruler and eraser
at the ready.
Other days I say,
Fuck that! and throw words around
more Pollock than Mondrian.
Looking back, I see
metaphors of fishing and knitting
rise up, reef rocks between
lounge rooms of doilies,
and running away from them all—
organic, natural as breath—
an umbilical line
heading straight for
my mother.

Friday, September 17, 2010

"I've seen the best minds of my generation ..." Howl: Coming to a Cinema near you


"Considered one of the most influential and bold works of writing from the twentieth century, Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” is being translated into a film version starring James Franco and is set to hit theaters on September 24, 2010.

“Howl,” written in 1956 as part of Ginsberg’s “Howl and Other Poems” publication, was highly criticized for containing obscene language. Consisting of many real life experiences of Ginsberg’s, the poem thrives on sexuality both homo and hetero, drugs, jazz music, poets, artists and psychiatric destruction.

The movie’s essence captures the truth behind Ginsberg’s logic and the court battle of 1957 that tried to rule the poem obscene. Upon publication, poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti of City Lights Books Publishing Company was arrested and charged with allowing the obscenity that fueled the court case to be published."

More to read at http://hartfordinformer.com/2010/09/entertainment/franco-takes-on-ginsberg%E2%80%99s-revolutionary-%E2%80%98howl%E2%80%99/

Lots of clips on YouTube - Here's one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vvzyPMa82I&feature=related

Thursday, September 16, 2010

New Poems on line ...


I have a couple of poems up at LANDSCAPES 'Peripatetitca' http://www.landscapeandlanguagecentre.au.com/current_journal.html

Lots of other notable poets, too, many of them friends of mine - so I'm happy in their company.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Writers go online in a bid to get noticed - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)


Writers go online in a bid to get noticed - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A new magazine for students to get published in Western Australia starts in November. Read all about it!

Cartoon from today's Eureka Street


Fiona Katauskas is New Matilda's former political cartoonist. Her work has also appeared in ABC's The Drum, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian, The Financial Review and Scribe's Best Australian political cartoon anthologies.

Monday, September 13, 2010

From Pi O - UNUSUAL WORK, a new mag in which to read the richness of Oz poetry


I haven't seen it either, but if Pi O's got anything to do with it, it will be imgainative, lively and worth the price. Besides, it's always good to support a new Aussie mag trying to survive in a hostile marketplace.


Subscribe now to

UNUSUAL WORK

(please tick relevant copies --- present issue No.9)

1 o, 2 o,3 o,4 o,5 o,6 o,7 o, 8 o,9 o,10 o,11 o,12 o,13 o,14 o

i.e. $30 for 3 issues (postage paid!)

Send your name and address, plus cheque or money order to

collective effort press


p.o. box 2430 GPO Melb Vic 3001



SMALL MAGAZINES are

THE LIFEBLOOD OF A GREAT LITERATURE

'The Death of the Author' by Roland Barthes


If you have never read it, here's your chance. A good translation by Richard Howard is available at http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/barthes06.htm

Friday, September 10, 2010

FROM “A PROVISIONAL POETICS” by Mark Weiss


"I never set out to write a poem. I will jot things down in my notebook, sometimes ideational, sometimes not, sometimes from the environment, or misheard, or from a dream, and occasionally a phrase will have a rhythmic urgency that compels me to jot something further, and then I'm lost in process and have no idea where I or the poem is going. This is a liminal state fraught with both joy and terror, and it is processual. The process may extend over few or many lines and take a few moments or days and months. It lasts until one emerges at the other end, back into the everyday, arrival signaled by the loss of urgency.

"And then one cleans up the mess of blind alleys, dishonesties and false starts. What’s left is the record of the process. in which the poet is reinvented and the poem discovered." Mark Weiss

Read more, plus some poems, at http://poemsandpoetics.blogspot.com/2010/09/mark-weiss-3-poems-excerpt-from.html

Buy As Landscape by Mark Weiss at Chax Press http://www.chax.org/poets/weiss.htm

Submit poems to COOKING WITH FIRE ...

Every day poets across the world scribble on napkins or snack at their computers, and the Cafe Poet program has poets writing every week in cafes across Australia, in an environment that is all about food.

Words brewed in this atmosphere are bound to be heavily spiced with foodie metaphor, so I’m putting together a hybrid recipe/poetry book to celebrate the word/food joy that is poetry.

Cooking With Fire will be a small chapbook disguised as a recipe book. Poets will be "paid" in copies of the book, which they can then sell on at any price they like. The launch will take place at BookTalk Cafe in Richmond.

I’m seeking:

a) poems that are themed around food, eating, cooking, growing, and
b) recipes that are inherently poetic.

Poems that are 30 lines or less would be ideal, but longer poems will be accepted if they are wonderful.

The submission deadline is the 20th of September 2010.

Submissions should be sent to cookingwithfire (at) live.com.au, and you can also email if you have enquiries.

Thanks!

Laura

City of Fremantle, Fremantle Arts Centre invites you to
Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award 2010 supported by Little Creatures Brewing

James Dodd: Boab Inscriptions
Poppy van Oorde-Grainger: Watercolour Paintings
on the Pavement from the City of Fremantle Art Collection

Exhibitions Opening 6:30pm Friday 24 September 2010

Winners of FACPA10 Awards announced at the opening

To be opened by Dr Brad Pettitt, Mayor, City of Fremantle

Bar + Timothy Nelson & The Infidels + DJ Jens

Exhibition continue to Sunday 21 November

RSVP by Wednesday 22 September to rsvp@fremantle.wa.gov.au

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Explore WAVE ROCK and LAKE TOOLIBIN


From the Director of the International Centre for Lanscape and Language, Dr Glen Phillips:

Dear ICLL Members and Friends:

There are still a few spaces left...please reply soon to reserve your place (email to jryan9(at)our.ecu.edu.au).

ICLL FIELD TRIP TO WAVE ROCK & LAKE TOOLIBIN

October 2-3, 2010.

Wave Rock is the final granite monolith in the field trip program of the International Centre for Landscape and Language plan to study three major rock domes, monadnocks or bornhardts in the WA Wheatbelt. The first two were Yorkrakine Rock near Tammin and Boyagin Rock near Brookton.

The trip will commence early on Saturday 2nd of October and reach Hyden by lunchtime. In the afternoon we will briefly visit Wave Rock and then proceed to the Humps to see cave paintings, gnamma holes and granite formations dominating the countryside. Later we will return to Wave Rock for walks around the rocks and to Hippo's Yawn followed by sunset photography.

The evening meal will be in the Hyden Wave Rock Motel complex where we will be accommodated in twin rooms.

On the Sunday 3rd October we will allow for a further session of photography at Wave Rock before breakfast to catch the dawn light.

Leaving Hyden by 8.30am we will drive south west to Lake Toolibin to inspect the freshwater retention program and the swamp biology before continuing via Wickepin (home town of Albert Facey and Dorothy Hewett) to the Dryandra Forest near Cuballing and from there back to the City via Popanyinning and the Brookton Highway. We expect to be back in Perth just after sunset.

Details of share room cost and dinner at Hyden will be available shortly and transport by Edith Cowan University vehicle will be provided. Accommodation on Saturday night will be available at Wave Rock Motel.

http://www.waverock.com.au/motel.asp


Glen Phillips,

Director, International Centre for Landscape and Language.


--
International Centre for Landscape and Language


Landscapes Journal

http://www.landscapeandlanguagecentre.au.com/

More about TOOLIBIN LAKE:
Toolibin Lake is a seasonal wetland about 200 kilometres south east of Perth, in the headwaters of the Blackwood River.

A woodland of Sheoaks and Paperbarks grow across the lake floor. When flooded this habitat supports a high diversity of waterbirds, many of which use the lake to breed.

Toolibin Lake’s conservation values are based on its comparatively good water quality. Toolibin is now the largest remaining wetland representing a habitat that was once widespread across the Western Australian wheatbelt.

Wednesday, September 08, 2010



Lifted from Eureka Street http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=23177

Fiona Katauskas is New Matilda's former political cartoonist. Her work has also appeared in ABC's The Drum, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian, The Financial Review and Scribe's Best Australian political cartoon anthologies

Kenyon Review Reading Period Begins September 15


The Kenyon Review will begin accepting submissions through its online submissions site on September 15, 2010 and the submissions period will continue through January 15, 2011. Short fiction, poetry, drama, essays, and translations will be accepted for both the magazine and KROnline from a single pool of submissions.

KR Editor David Lynn writes:

Reading submissions is the most important work that we do. We receive thousands of submissions over the course of our reading period, and we give each of them careful consideration. Our standards are high. We ask, “Does this poem or story or essay offer surprise and delight? Does it seem fresh, necessary, startling? Does the author—young or not so young, someone of established distinction or a talent as yet undiscovered—display a mastery of language, especially as necessary to this particular piece?”

What we publish in print in The Kenyon Review, on the one hand, and electronically in KROnline, on the other, will be different in tone and timeliness, and will probably speak to different audiences as well. Nevertheless, it’s our mission to offer a great variety of literature all held to the highest of standards.

How does this process of evaluation work? KR’s offices are in Gambier, Ohio, a lovely wooded village, but very far from any graduate program in creative writing which would allow us to draw readers from among the advanced students and faculty. Instead, we have a tree of readers, beginning with our Kenyon Review Associates, who are themselves carefully selected from a highly competitive pool of student applicants. Before the Associates even begin to read new work, they spend time with our editors, discussing the skill and the art of evaluating stories and poems and essays that are fresh, sometimes rough, but very different from what they usually find in their textbooks for classes.

As part of this training process, we work together through a number of samples. Once they are assigned a set of manuscripts, Associates work in teams of two, and if one reader feels a manuscript warrants further consideration, it will be passed up to a higher branch of the tree, where one of our consulting editors will evaluate it in turn. All of this sharing, collaboration, and discussion is aided by our online submission process—it would be almost impossible were we still slinging about shipping boxes full of paper manuscripts.

The point here is not merely that we pay individual attention to the precious creations of writers from around the world. We do so because we know that amidst these thousands of unsolicited submissions lie the gems that will make up the bulk of The Kenyon Review and KROnline. It’s the labor necessary to fulfill our mission. We wouldn’t want it any other way.

Submission information at http://kenyonreview.org/krsubmit/submissions/

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Kleinzahler's Workshop at MWF ...

At the Melbourne Writers Festival yesterday, August Kleinzahler conducted a workshop. This was the blurb for the event:

'This workshop will concentrate on the role of ‘voice’ in poetic practice. We all sound different from one another: background, family, place, education, reading and temperament all play significant roles in determining individual voice. The emphasis will be on locating or finding one’s way to one’s own poetic voice, exploring dramatic monologue, song, extemporaneous rant, personal argot, daily experience and the beat of what goes on in one’s own head. Please bring two poems that sound distinctly like you and no one else.'

Now, isn't that an element to aim at in every poem you write? I'm wondering which of my poems I would bring ... Hmmm, I'll post 'em here when I've thought about it long enough.

Thursday, September 02, 2010

"Dodgy Dealings continue in the Uranium Industry"

by Mia Pepper, Nuclear Free Campaigner with the Conservation Council of WA

"This week the Barnett Government announced that the Australian Centre for Geomechanics has won a tender to form an ‘independent panel on uranium mining regulations’. Sitting on the panel are pro-nuclear lobbyists and behind the scenes are corporate sponsors including some that are anything but independent. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are two of the sponsors − companies with operating uranium mines in Australia and uranium interests in WA.

There are now over 140 companies with uranium interests operating in WA, three proposed mines in the environmental approvals process, and many more companies exploring, negotiating and sometimes even fighting over uranium deposits. But the industry’s record in Australia should give us pause for thought.

BHP Billiton is proposing the Yeelirrie uranium mine in WA. BHP Billiton also operates the Olympic Dam uranium mine in South Australia and enjoys a raft of indefensible exemptions from the SA Environment Protection Act, the Natural Resources Act, the Aboriginal Heritage Act and the Freedom of Information Act.

Photos taken by an Olympic Dam mine worker in December 2008 show radioactive tailings liquid leaking from the ‘retention’ system. The company’s response to the whistleblower’s evidence was to threaten “disciplinary action” against any mine worker caught taking photos of the mine site. Last year, a whistleblower released documents which suggest that the company uses manipulated averages of workers’ radiation exposures and distorts sampling to ensure its ‘official’ figures slip under the maximum radiation exposure levels set by government. There is still no National Radiation Dose Register for uranium mine workers in Australia despite promises from federal Labor that the Register would be in place by the end of 2009.

Rio Tinto owns the Ranger uranium mine bordering the Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory. There have been well over 100 leaks and spills at the mine. The independence and track record of the mine’s regulator − the Office of the Supervising Scientist − has been hotly contested for many years. One incident which attracted widespread attention occurred in 2004, with 150 workers exposed to drinking water containing uranium levels 400 times greater than the Australian safety standard. ERA (a Rio subsidiary) was fined $150,000 − a rare example of a uranium mining company being prosecuted for breaching operating conditions.

The pattern of secrecy, poor performance and inadequate regulation is all too evident in the 2003 report by federal parliament’s Senate References and Legislation Committee. The Committee found “a pattern of under-performance and non-compliance” in the uranium mining industry, it identified many gaps in knowledge and found an absence of reliable data on which to measure the extent of industry’s environmental impacts.

Already problems are evident in WA. There have been many complaints made by pastoralists and Traditional Owners who have not been informed about uranium projects on their country. Traditional Owners who are connected to specific areas have been left out of heritage surveys; pastoralists have been ignored by companies and not informed about projects that affect their property and water supplies.

Environmentalists, unions, Indigenous and public health groups have been calling on the Barnett Government to hold an open and transparent public inquiry into uranium mining. To date the government has refused that request and the prevailing culture of secrecy is further evident with the refusal by the Department of Mines and Petroleum to publicly release the full terms of reference for the newly-formed ‘independent’ panel.

We still do not know whether or how key issues − such as workers’ health and safety, tailings rehabilitation, transport, and groundwater impacts − will be addressed by the panel. We fear that crucial issues – such as impacts on workers health and communities and nuclear weapons proliferation − will not be addressed at all. The panel excludes experts in relevant areas such as occupational health and safety, transport, Aboriginal heritage and native title, non-proliferation and safeguards."

Mia Pepper is the Nuclear Free Campaigner with the Conservation Council of WA.

http://uraniumfree.wordpress.com/2010/09/02/dodgy-dealings-continue-in-the-uranium-industry/?preview=true&preview_id=269&preview_nonce=b9bcb023a1

Poets at QUEENSLAND POETRY FESTIVAL August 2010





Special guest poets of the 2010 QUEENSLAND POETRY FESTIVAL - Jon Paul Fiorentino (Canada), August Kleinzahler (USA), Ken Babstock (Canadian)

Now, I would have supplied a lot more photos but after the first events at Judith Wright Arts Centre, I was unceremoniously reprimanded for taking photos (even with the flash turned off and the permission of the subjects). Being a well behaved, quiet visitor, I obeyed their rules, even though I disagreed with them absolutely.

For more on August Kleinzahler, see a very personal take by Jeremy Balius at http://jeremybalius.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/5-reasons-why-we-need-august-kleinzahler-in-our-lives-or-how-august-kleinzahler-blew-into-town-and-made-off-with-all-our-women/





Some of the Australian poets at QUEENSLAND POETRY FESTIVAL 2010: Andrew Taylor, Angela Gardner, Martin Langford, Jean Kent.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Saturday 2-4pm SUE CLENNELL and PHIL McNAMARA at Perth Poetry Club



This Saturday 4 September at Perth Poetry Club hear local poets and guests of the WA Poetry Festival, SUE CLENNELL and PHIL McNAMARA.
Sue has just released a CD; Phil has just published a book. Check them out 2-4pm at The Moon, 323 William Street, Northbridge.

Plus open mike. All welcome. Come and listen.

NEXT WEEK 11 September
there will be no Perth Poetry Club, as The Moon will be closed for maintenance.
18 September there will be open mike if the Moon is open again.
25 September? We'll be back!

Info, contact info & artist bios: http://www.perthpoetryclub.com

10 Tips for Writing A Short Story by Amanda Lohrey



Author Amanda Lohrey shares her tips for writing a great short story at Black Inc's blog at http://theincblot.blogspot.com/2010/08/10-tips-for-writing-short-story-by.html#comment-form

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Here's to the Queensland Poetry Festival 2010


I have returned from the Queensland Poetry Festival refreshed. Thank you to all who steered that beautiful weekend safely into port. It was so well organised! I noticed the unnoticeable, the invisible flow of event into event, only achievable if everything works like clockwork. With a Swiss movement at that. Herding a pack of poets (or is it a 'pride' of poets?) into an intensely enjoyable 3 day event is a miracle, and - while I had my reservations about some of it as poetry - the standard of the performances and the material presented never fell below an acceptable standard. My eyes and ears were opened to the work of a number of poets, some of whom I'd heard of and some I hadn't. Now I'm trying to read the stack of books I brought back in some kind of disciplined order But there is no 'order': there is simply impulse followed by impulse. And I am also distracted by some work at this end: can't they see I'm busy reading poetry books??!!

Further direct assessments of what I am reading as I get deeper into them, but now I must go and prepare a workshop for tomorrow. No rest for the ...

Tuesday, August 24, 2010


The program for Queensland's Poetry Festival, plus artists' profiles, etc, is at http://www.queenslandpoetryfestival.com/

I'm packing my bags now and selecting a book to read on the plane ... 'Yellow Dog' by Martin Amis or 'Foe' by Coetzee? Or will I be too busy trying to manufacture a poem out of the shape of the clouds as they roll by?

FOUR GUEST POETS and a ZINE LAUNCH @ Perth Poetry Club

Perth Poetry Club on Saturday 28 August is a special MEGA-GIG as part of the WA [Spring] Poetry Festival, with four festival guests: interstate poets MEG MOONEY and CHRIS MANSELL, local talent ROLAND LEACH, and, especially transported from Kalgoorlie, CORAL CARTER, reading work by a selection of her favourite female poets.

Plus we'll launch Perth Poetry Club's second zine, 'Positively Geared AntiTaxPax 2010', showcasing the diverse and fabulous words of just over a year of weekly open mike (and the weird creativity of some of our helpers).

Plus open mike, naturally.

2-4pm at The Moon, 323 William Street, Northbridge.

Info, artist bios, contact:
http://www.facebook.com/l/62e931wUZUYFi8orHjyTzSC9k8g;www.perthpoetryclub.com

perthpoetryclub@gmail.com

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Edwin Morgan RIP



Edwin Morgan was a continuing influence on me from his witty concrete poems, free-wheelin' early poems, Glasgow Sonnets, and on. A wonderfully inventive poet who kept evolving as all great poets should. A full and rich creative life right up until the end. A sad loss but so great to have had him on the planet for so long.

The Guardian said:
Edwin Morgan was a singular voice in a country with a literary tradition rich in singular voices. He managed to be both an outsider and an academically respected writer who rose to be one of the best of his time; a defender of the underdog and the individual who was nationally lauded when, in 2004, he was elected the first Scots Makar, the Scottish Parliament's equivalent of Poet Laureate. It was a position that formally recognised Morgan as the national treasure many had already long since viewed him as.

More at http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/aug/20/edwin-morgan-universal

Thursday, August 19, 2010

New CD by local poet, Sue Clennell

Sue Clennell has a CD out with poems of love, depression & domestic violence, but mainly love, read by the sensual voice of Mags Webster. Catch Sue at The Perth Poetry Club or the Perth Spring Poetry Festival, city farm & Murray st. Mall 27-29th August & following week...

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Egret at Jo-Jo's

Out to Jo-Jo's on the river
for lunch / late winter

a biting breeze ruffles
the lordly egret's chest

as he extends
his long neck
and shits on
the entrance deck

between long legs
in grey hose with
knucklebone knees

'Will that be all, sir?'

Election antidote: ANTIPOET Allan Boyd at Perth Poetry Club this Saturday 21 August



We've dragged him into town from the outer suburbs to perform for you... on a short break from tree planting, movie-starring, rocking, facebooking, web design, activism, parenting and teaching at some university or other... the one and only ANTIPOET! AKA allan boyd.

2-4pm Saturday 21 August
at The Moon, 323 William St, Northbridge.
Plus open mike.

There will be two bursts of boydtext, one in each half, so those who insist on rocking up halfway thru will miss half the action.


NEXT WEEKEND
is the WA [Spring] Poetry Festival, so we're having a MEGA-GIG with Meg Mooney, Chris Mansell, Roland Leach and Coral Carter plus Perth Poetry Club's second zine launch.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Queensland Premier Book Awards 2010 Short Lists ...

Poetry Collection - Arts Queensland Judith Wright Calanthe Award

* Peter Boyle for Apocrypha
Vagabond Press
* Jennifer Maiden for Pirate Rain
Giramondo Publishing Company
* Les Murray for Taller When Prone
Black Inc.
* Maria Takolander for Ghostly Subjects
Salt Publishing

Australian Short Story Collection - Arts Queensland Steele Rudd Award

* Peter Goldsworthy for Gravel
Penguin Group (Australia)
* Karen Hitchcock for Little White Slips
Picador
* Thomas Shapcott for Gatherers and Hunters
Wakefield Press
* Archie Weller for The Window Seat
University of Queensland Press

See all the categories at http://www.premiers.qld.gov.au/awards-and-recognition/literary-awards/2010-shortlist.aspx#poetry-collection

Signing, Singing, Speaking: How Language Evolved : NPR

Signing, Singing, Speaking: How Language Evolved : NPR

Always an interesting subject.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Queensland Poetry Festival

Queensland Poetry Festival: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

I'm off to be a guest at this illustrious fest on 26 August, so if you're in Brisbane around then, say hello. Andrew Taylor and Jeremy Balius are also going from Perth, so I will have some familiar faces to hobnob with. For a full run down of guests, got to the website indicated and click on Artists.

I'll be back in Perth to do a Poetry Workshop at the Perth City Library on 1st September - 10am if my memory serves me well. More information on 9461 3581.

li'l poem by andrew burke

keep the matter
simple
as dirt does

this muscle distorts
thou/ght

matter is

Sunday, August 15, 2010

she says, swamp
I say, lake

Thoreau says, pond

in the wetlands
ibis peck in dry reeds




(for andrew taylor, in reply)

the fourth annual troubadour international poetry prize

judged by gwyneth lewis & maurice riordan
with both judges reading all poems

prizes: 1st £1000, 2nd £500, 3rd £250
& 20 prizes of £20 each
plus a spring 2011 coffee-house poetry season ticket
and a prizewinners’ coffee-house poetry reading
with gwyneth lewis & maurice riordan
on mon 29th nov 2010 ...for all prize-winning poets

submissions by fri 15th oct 2010

judges

Gwyneth Lewis was the first National Poet of Wales (2005) and her words appear over the Wales Millennium Centre, opened in 2004. Educated at Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen, a bilingual school near Pontypridd, and at Oxford, Columbia and Harvard Universities, she has written oratorio as well as having written on clinical depression and Two in a Boat—The True Story of a Marital Rite of Passage, inspired by a sailing journey during which her husband was diagnosed with cancer. Her poetry collections in English include Parables and Faxes (1995), Chaotic Angels—Poems in English (2005) and A Hospital Odyssey (2010, all Bloodaxe).

Maurice Riordan
(b. Lisgoold, Co, Cork, 1953) is the author of three collections of poetry, A Word from the Loki (Faber, 1995, a PBS choice), the Whitbread shortlisted Floods (Faber, 2000) and The Holy Land (Faber, 2007) which received the Michael Hartnett Award. A Next Generation poet, he has been Poetry Editor of Poetry London and is currently Professor of Poetry at Sheffield Hallam University, has translated the work of Maltese poet Immanuel Mifsud (Confidential Reports, 2005), has edited and co-edited anthologies on science, space and ecology, and has edited a selection of Hart Crane’s poems for Faber’s Poet to Poet series (2008).

Both judges will read all poems submitted.

rules

General: Entry implies acceptance of all rules; failure to comply with rules will result in disqualification; competition open to poets of any nationality over 18 years; no competitor may win more than one prize; judges’ decision is final; no individual correspondence will be entered into.

Poems:
Poems must be in English, must each be no longer than 45 lines, must fit on one page of A4, must be the original work of the entrant and must not have been previously broadcast or published (in print or online); winning & commended poems may be published (in print or online) by Troubadour International Poetry Prize and may not be published elsewhere for one year after Friday 15th October 2010 without written permission. No limit on number of poems submitted. No alterations accepted after submission.

Fees: All entries must be accompanied by fee of EITHER £5/€6/$8 per poem, if fewer than 4 poems, OR £4/€5/$7 per poem if 4 or more poems submitted; payment by cheque or money order (Sterling/Euro/US-Dollars only) payable to “Coffee-House Poetry” with poet’s name (and/or e-mail Entry Acknowledgement Reference, if appropriate) written on back.

By Post: No entry form required; each poem must be typed on one side of A4 white paper showing title & poem only; do not show author’s name or any other identifying marks on submitted poems; include a separate page showing Name, Address, Phone, E-Mail (opt), Titles and Number of Poems EITHER @ £5/€6/$8 each OR @ £4/€5/$7 each; no staples; no Special Delivery, Recorded Delivery or Registered Post; entries are not returned.

By E-mail:
No entry form required; poems must be submitted in body of e-mail (no attachments) to CoffPoetry@aol.com; entries should be preceded by Name, Address, Phone, Titles and Number of Poems EITHER @ £5/€6/$8 each OR @ £4/€5/$7 each; acknowledgement will be sent to entrant’s e-mail address showing Entry Acknowledgment Reference; send payment by post within 14 days quoting Entry Acknowledgement Reference; e-mail entries will be included only when payment received by post; no Special Delivery, Recorded Delivery or Registered Post.

Acknowledgement/Results: will be sent to all e-mail entrants after entry deadline and winners announcement respectively; no correspondence; postal entrants should include stamped, addressed postcard marked “Acknowledgement” and/or stamped, addressed A5 envelope marked “Results” if required.

Deadline: All postal entries, and postal payments for e-mail entries, to arrive at Troubadour Poetry Prize, Coffee-House Poetry, PO Box 16210, LONDON, W4 1ZP postmarked on or before Friday 15th October 2010. Prizewinners will be notified individually by Monday 22nd November 2010.

Prizegiving will be on Monday 29th November 2010 at Coffee-House Poetry at the Troubadour in Earls Court, London
.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Marine Super Highway: Wonders of the Kimberley

Change of Venue for "Marine Super Highway: Wonders of the Kimberley" Science Week event

Sunday's National Science Week event has changed from Cable Beach to the Broome Courthouse Markets.

Talks start at 11am:
Kevin Smith - Turtles
Fiona Bishop - Seagrass
Chris Sampi - Dugongs
Marty Gent - Snubfin dolphins


There will also be fun activities for the kids.

Then on Monday 16th August at Lotteries House (off Cable Beach Road) at 5.30pm:
Come along and hear the Bardi Jawi Rangers talk about their dugong project, and a marine biologist talk about out internationally significant snubfin dolphin population found here in Roebuck Bay. Sausage Sizzle to follow at 6.45pm

28-29th August at Pender Bay, Dampier Peninsula:
Join us for a weekend of whale watching and surveying, camping at beautiful Pender Bay. Book now. Places are strictly limited. $50pp.

For bookings and more information call Environs Kimberley 91921922.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Long poems grapple with narrative but aren't prose.

Just one quote from an interesting article at http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21750 I find I have the desire to write a long poem, but rarely write more than a page. Connecting them all up and calling it one poem always seems like a false format to me.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

ATTENTION WRITERS OF BUSH VERSE!

From the Organisers of The Blackened Billy Verse Competition and
The CountryEnergy Tamworth Bush Poetry Competition

THE BLACKENED BILLY VERSE COMPETITION


The 2011 Blackened Billy Verse Competition will be opening on September 1.

This is regarded as one of the most prestigious BUSH POETRY competitions in Australia.

First prize is $500 plus the famous BLACKENED BILLY TROPHY.

Second prize is $250 and third $150.


Bush poetry is a traditional type of verse written with rhyme and rhythm that reflects the Australian way of life. The genre has widened in recent years to encompass modern living in both the city and the bush. 2010 winner, Ellis Campbell, wrote on a subject which was very close to our hearts last year in a moving poem called ³The Arsonist².

Tamworth Poetry Reading Group welcomes entries from new and old writers.

To learn more, go to
http://www.abpa.org.au/archive/competitions/Blackened_Billy_Bush_Poetry_Comp
etition_Results_2010.html


Entry forms will be available on September 1.

Please write to Jan Morris PO Box 3001, West Tamworth or email
janmorris@northnet.com.au

Entries close November 30 and the winners will be announced at the Tamworth
Country Music Festival in January 2011.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Political Poem

one clear note before dawn
spikes the suburban lawn

black-headed parrot sings
on the antenna as day begins

repeat, repeat and repeat again
just like the politician's game

I loosen muscles in my throat
and whistle back the sharp note

my vote is cast in wintry sun
no surprise the parrot has won

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

'Gratitude to the Unknown Instructors'

What they undertook to do
They brought to pass;
All things hang like a drop of dew
Upon a blade of grass.

William Blake

WA Poets Inc. Notice of Annual General Meeting


The annual general meeting of WA Poets Inc. will be held from 6 till 7 pm on Sunday 5th September 2010 at City Farm, 1 City Farm Place, East Perth (next to Claisebrook train station).

All committee positions will be vacant and open to election. Gary de Piazzi has indicated he would like to vacate the position of Treasurer. The accounts are set up in MYOB software, so it would be highly desirable if anyone wanting to take up the position had appropriate software knowledge. Mar Bucknell is willing to continue as Secretary but would prefer to continue as an ordinary committee member if there is someone who would like to be Secretary.

The positions of Chair (or co-Chair), Treasurer and Secretary are open. We are also seeking an unlimited number of committee members, including delegates from other existing poets’ groups.

Our aims at this stage are to promote poetry in Western Australia, publish online poetry and to hold an annual festival.

All welcome. Light refreshments will be served.

If you know anyone who might be interested in participating who isn’t currently a WAPI member, please pass this on to them.

Mar Bucknell
Secretary
WA Poets Inc. 9th August 2010


--
WA Poets Inc
wapoets@gmail.com
http://www.wapoets.net.au
PO Box 684
Inglewood WA 6932

Monday, August 09, 2010

Martin Duwell's generous blog: Australian Poetry Review

Martin Duwell is my favourite Australian poetry critic. In fact, he is probably the most consistent voice addressing Oz poetry since his days reviewing for The Australian. He now does us all a great service by writing a blog with formal reviews of current titles. Here's a short list of recent titles he has examined, to whet yr appetite:

February, 2010: Laurie Duggan: Crab & Winkle (Exeter: Shearsman)

March, 2010: Martin Langford: The Human Project: New and Selected Poems (Glebe: Puncher & Wattmann)

April, 2010: Michael Farrell and Jill Jones (eds.): Out of the Box (Glebe: Puncher & Wattmann)

May, 2010: Sarah Day, Grass Notes (Blackheath: Brandl & Schlesinger)

June, 2010: Les Murray, Taller When Prone (Melbourne: Black Inc.)

July, 2010: On Holiday

August, 2010: Peter Boyle: Apocrypha (Sydney: Vagabond Press)

And it is all FREE. Go now and read the archives at http://www.australianpoetryreview.com.au/

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Eavan Boland - 1944 and on ... Irish poet of today.


"Over the course of her long career, Eavan Boland has emerged as one of the foremost female voices in Irish literature. Throughout her many collections of poetry, in her prose memoir Object Lessons (1995), and in her work as a noted anthologist and teacher, Boland has honed an appreciation for the ordinary in life. The poet and critic Ruth Padel described Boland’s “commitment to lyric grace and feminism” even as her subjects tend to “the fabric of domestic life, myth, love, history, and Irish rural landscape.” Keenly aware of the problematic associations and troubled place that women hold in Irish culture and history, Boland has always written out of an urge to make an honest account of female experience."

Read more at http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=670?iframe=true&width=100%&height=100%

Friday, August 06, 2010

2010 St Kilda Word Prize - but Hurry!

There's a lot happening at St Kilda in competitions and opportunities - for buskers, photographers and writers. Closes 13th August 2010 - so get a move on!

Take a look for yourself at http://www.stkildaessence.com.au/

Applications for KSP's Emerging Writer-in-Residence close Friday, 27 August 2010



Each year KSPWC is proud to promote the craft of writing by hosting a number of writers in our residency program which is funded by the Department of Culture and the Arts. The residency program includes positions for established and emerging writers as well as our young writers residency. As well as allowing each writer the time and space to work on their own writing projects, the writers participate in the events of the centre and run workshops thus sharing their knowledge and experience throughout our writing community.

Applications for the Emerging Writer-in-Residence are closing on Friday, 27 August 2010

Three positions are available - dependent on funding – for a full-time period of four weeks.

Each resident will receive a salary of 2,250 and be given writing space and time to concentrate on, develop or complete a work in progress.

Preference for one position will be given to a WA rural/regional or culturally and linguistically diverse writer.

Emerging does not mean beginner.

The Selection Committee will be looking for talented writers able to show application to the craft of writing. It is expected that selected writers will have some published material, in the print, visual or broadcast media. Ideally, applicants should be working towards achieving their first major full-length publication.

For selection criteria, guidelines and application forms please go to http://www.kspf.iinet.net.au/writer_res_info.html

Or for queries please email kspf@iinet.net.au or phone 08 9294 1872

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Alec Choate RIP

Thank you to Prof Dennis Haskell for the following:

Alec Choate
[Australian poet] died peacefully on Tuesday morning, 2nd August, at the age of 95.

Alec Choate was born in England in 1915 but migrated to Australia in 1922. He published seven collections of poetry, including A Marking of Fire (1986), Schoolgirls at Borobudur (1990), Mind in Need of a Desert (1995) and The Wheels of Hama (1997), and was poetry editor for Summerland: A Western Australian Sesquicentenary Anthology of Poetry and Prose (1979). He won the inaugural Tom Collins Poetry Prize, the Patricia Hackett Prize, the 1986 Western Australia Literary Award (for A Marking of Fire) and the 1997 Premier's Book Award for Poetry for his collected war poems, The Wheels of Hama, as well as other awards. Alec's war experiences made him deeply aware of "some curse/of hurt on humankind" and determined to celebrate the "meltingly beautiful" in people and place. "History", he wrote, "is a succession of cages" but his poetry is largely celebratory: "the voice of science itself/cannot help but come to me singing", "a fragment of glass/... is sea-beryl/and bites the sun's edge/like a waking eye" but "lies/in the crucible/of your hands as gold". Writing of a "Botticelli Quilt" Alec Choate commented on "the wistful calm he gave all he touched" and the comment could readily be applied to Alec's own work. He was a lovely man, in poetry and in life.

A service will be held:

Monday, 9th August, Karrakatta Cemetry, 2:30 pm

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

John Tranter's 'The Blast Area', free download



from the publisher's site at http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/the-blast-area/12089423:

John Tranter's “The Blast Area” (originally published as a pamphlet in 1974, and no longer in print) consists of poems that are varied and strange, often veering away from common sense into a quirky surrealism. The final third of the book consists of 'The Poem in Love', a sequence of fifteen pseudo-sonnets (set up by an epigraph from the possibly fictitious Paul Ducasse) which critic Andrew Johnson noted, 'might stand for the variety of strategies we employ to make sense of the world, and for the fleeting, unstable patterns we think we perceive in our experience. It's as if having reached an extreme of cynicism about "meaning", Tranter lets it in through the back door, and a new-found humour with it'.

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Slope 17 particularly an adventurous Anthology of FU poems


Every reading you go to, too many poets rely on swearing as a vehicle for poetry - it is emotive, they say, as poetry should be. But the art falls out of such endeavours very quickly, does it not. Here is an anthology of poems which are Fuck You poems - and which work through wit and style. Go and see if I'm not right at http://slope.org/archive/issue17/main.html