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I’m travelling to Canada with a big bundle of poems translated into French by Jane Zemiro. Jane was occasionally assisted on details by French friends Daniel de Rudder of Nîmes and Loire Valleyites Danielle Fauth and Luc Martin who came to dinner at our place a few nights ago and happily ended up fine-tuning some of the translation during the nightcap hour.
I'll be participating in the ten-day-long Trois Rivières International Poetry Festival in Québec, then to Montréal for a few days. The last time I was in Québec it was summer. I wrote a poem that was a kind of inaccurate report on Montréal for a younger Australian poet, Cassie Lewis. This time I’m hoping the city will be toned golden with autumn. I’m also aiming to write a few lines for poems in these northern cities.
And it looks like I’ll just have to be there to experience more, more, more of capitalism’s implosion and a carnival of election bumper-stickering, so thence to Philadelphia, Pennysylvania where I’ll be reading at Robin’s Bookstore with Magdalena Zurawski
and Ron Silliman, courtesy of CA Conrad.
Then I'll travel down to Richmond, Virginia to read poetry at the University of Richmond, hosted by Brian Henry.
And then to Washington, DC to visit some museums and meet up with Maged Zaher, with whom I co-wrote farout_library_software.
I’ll spend a day in Los Angeles checking out the star-studded boulevards on the way home.
À bientôt mes amis.
I’ll be back here at the cyberface in early November.
Hope to see you at the Sydney launch of True Thoughts at Gleebooks
on Saturday arvo, November 15th
detail from a photo by Trish DaviesIt was an enjoyable book launch last Saturday, attended by a bright group of Blackheathens, a sizeable sprinkling of mountains residents from a little further south and a straggle of Sydneysiders. Here is a picture of Carl Harrison-Ford saying the things he liked about reading True Thoughts. Click here and scroll down to read Carl's speechette.
A reminder - come along to the book party at Hat Hill Gallery in Blackheath for my just-released collection 'True Thoughts' (Salt Modern Poets) on this coming Saturday afternoon. For directions, times, information click here
The famous Lee Marvin reading series in Adelaide continues to captivate the cultural minds of South Australian poetry fanatics.
The readings are on every Tuesday night.
Click here for the upcoming October program of luminaries and legends, entry fee, times and location.
Lee Marvin - "I always enjoy these poetry readings - they're so captivating"
Listening to
This is a beautiful album of hymns by the 16th century Tudor composer Thomas Tallis, arranged and played here by Andrew Robson (alto sax), accompanied by three other Australian jazz musicians - the amazing Sandy Evans (tenor & soprano sax), trombonist James Greening and double bass player Steve Elphick
By evening, I prefer a more bluesy tone in religious music so, as the sun goes down, I’ve been listening to the sultry, mellow, funky soul of Tina Harrod’s new album Worksongs.
'Twelve Canoes'
a great new web site in Yolgnu and English
click here
The Sydney-based literary journal Southerly
has appointed Kate Lilley as poetry editor.
Kate Lilley with Kenward Elmslie’s Sung Sex at his Sydney reading in 2005
Kate Lilley's first book of poems, Versary (Salt Publishing, 2002)
won the Grace Leven Prize. Her second keenly anticipated collection Ladylike, is forthcoming from Salt. She teaches feminist and queer literary history and theory at the University of Sydney and has published widely on poetry and poetics. Her edition of Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World (1666) is published by Penguin Classics.
For more on Kate Lilley click here
To read my review of Kate’s book Versary click here
Today I received some very sad news from Michele Cahill, the editor of Mascara Poetry : 'Some of you may know that on Sunday morning our dear friend, Tatjana Lukic, who had been suffering from a brain tumour, passed away, peacefully.' 
Tatjana Lukic (foto by Karen Bachelor, 2003)
Tatjana Lukic was born in Croatia. She graduated from the University of Sarajevo in philosophy and sociology, and worked as a college teacher, poetry editor and sociologist/researcher in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and the Czech Republic. In the 1980s she published four books of poetry in the former Yugoslavia, and won several national awards. In 1992 she arrived in Australia with her young family as a refugee from the Balkans war. On her arrival here she did not speak English and described writing poetry in English as "one of the hardest and most challenging things" she had accomplished. Tatjana lived in Canberra where she worked as a researcher for a government department, and from where she wrote and translated poetry. Her publications include (Poetry Collections in Croatian): Saslusanje (Nolit, Belgrade, 1988), Izbor (Mali katalog poezije, Osijek, 1985), Sta sutim (Svjetlost, Sarajevo, 1984), Povijedanje, zacetak poja (Matica srpska, Novi Sad, 1981). Her poems have been published in Thylazine, Famous Reporter, Poetry Without Borders, Gangway and many others. Her book la, la, la , written with the assistance of a grant from the Literature Board of the Australia Council, is forthcoming with Five Islands press in 2009.
I corresponded with Tatjana and knew her as a gracious, enthusiastic, frank, witty and bright poet. Her presence on various online poetry discussion lists was refreshing and always stimulating. With other poets in the former Yugoslavia, she was compiling a bilingual collection of Australian poetry.
TATJANA LUKIC
25 August 1959 - 10 August 2008
Loving mother of Jelena,
Much loved by Jelena, Jovan
and her many friends.
A Service for Tatjana will be held
at 11am, on Monday, 18 August, 2008
in the Chapel at Woden Cemetery.
Burial will follow in the Lawn Section.
After the funeral, Tatjana's friends are welcome to gather for light refreshments at the Common Room at University House at the Australian National University (Liversidge St, Acton).
The Reality Street Book of Sonnets
was recently released in the UK
Contributors: Robert Adamson, Jeremy Adler, Tim Atkins, Ted Berrigan, Jen Bervin, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, Christian Bök, Sean Bonney, Ebbe Borregaard, Jonathan Brannen, Pam Brown, Laynie Browne, Thomas A Clark, Adrian Clarke, John Clarke, Bob Cobbing, Clark Coolidge, Kelvin Corcoran, Beverly Dahlen, Ian Davidson, Edwin Denby, Laurie Duggan, Paul Dutton, Ken Edwards, Michael Farrell, Allen Fisher, Kathleen Fraser, William Fuller, John Gibbens, Harry Gilonis, Giles Goodland, Bill Griffiths, Alan Halsey, Robert Hampson, Jeff Hilson, Anselm Hollo, Lyn Hejinian, Piers Hugill, Peter Jaeger, Elizabeth James, Lisa Jarnot, Keith Jebb, Justin Katko, John Kinsella, Philip Kuhn, Michelle Leggott, Tony Lopez, Chris McCabe, Steve McCaffery, Jackson Mac Low, Richard Makin, Peter Manson, Brian Marley, Bernadette Mayer, Jay Millar, David Miller, Peter Minter, Geraldine Monk, Harryette Mullen, Philip Nikolayev, Alice Notley, Abigail Oborne, Ron Padgett, Bern Porter, Frances Presley, John A Scott, Tom Raworth, Peter Riley, Sophie Robinson, Stephen Rodefer, Maurice Scully, Gavin Selerie, Robert Sheppard, Aaron Shurin, Eléni Sikélianòs, Simon Smith, Mary Ellen Solt, Juliana Spahr, Lawrence Upton, Carol Watts, Ian Wedde, John Welch, Johan de Wit, Geoffrey Young.
And the thing is, there’s a really good deal on postage right now -
free postage & packing until the end of August 2008 on this title (surface mail outside of Europe). Visit the Reality Street
web site to order and to read a review and an introduction to
this rich anthology, edited by Jeff Hilson
Read my review of Miriel Lenore's poetry collection in the garden in Cordite Poetry Review.
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This is a detail from Micky Allan's engraved glass, polymer resin and pastel painting, Solar Dust II, from a wonderful exhibition called Inner Weather that just closed at the Tin Sheds Gallery in Sydney last weekend. But you can find out more about Micky Allan’s beautiful paintings by visiting her new website
Micky Allan and Steenus Von Steensen are exhibiting their collaborative works The Fall of Night I-IV, (2008 inkjet prints on paper), a montage of Canberra’s night skyline, lake and bush textures, that one reviewer described as "a Pink Floydesque shiver
of apprehension", as part of The Fall of Night: A Group Exhibition at Helen Maxwell Gallery, 42 Mort Street, Braddon, a component
of Vivid, the National Photography Festival, currently showing
all over Canberra.
Virginia Coventry has an exhibition coming up in Melbourne
later this month
Also in Melbourne :
'Nightladder' exhibition opening (featuring work by Angela Gardner, Lisa Pullen, Gwen Tasker) and a book launch 'holding Job's hand',poetry by Louise Waller and images by Clyde McGill. Published by Angela Gardner & Kerry Kilner's light-trap press, this is the first of their limited edition, fine quality books combining original prints and poetry in an equal partnership between art forms.
at Firestation Print Studio,
2 Willis Street, Armadale
It will be opened by Peter Christoff
6.00 pm - 8.00 pm. Friday 22nd August.
The famous Lee Marvin reading series in Adelaide continues to captivate the cultural hearts of South Australian poetry lovers.
The readings are on every Tuesday night.
Click here for the upcoming August program of luminaries,
entry fee, times and location.
Lee Marvin - "I'll get along to hear 'The Circus' once I've finished
the washing-up."
World Youth Gay
I’ll be in Melbourne so I won’t be able to annoy anyone during the WYDSYD08 shindig but I think the most attractive event by far will be at the seventh station of the X, when Jesus meets Simon
at Cockle Bay -
Cover image : one panel from the four panel painting, La Vie en Rose,
by legendary US painter Joan Mitchell
I’ve recently read Maggie Nelson’s fantastic, revisionist book Women, The New York School, And Other Abstractions which has set me up and put me in a good frame of mind for a brief trip, next week, to the southern cold of Melbourne, Victoria for
Poetry and the Trace, an international poetry conference to be held at the Victorian State Library from 13th until 16th July.
There will be two public readings in the State Library Theatrette,
328 Swanston Street, Melbourne (entry to the Theatrette is via La Trobe Street) - everyone welcome.
société jamais-jamais & gleebooks present
Three Salt Poets
Reading on July 6th in Sydney
Rachel Blau DuPlessis is a United States poet-critic.The latest sections of her on-going long poem project, begun in 1986, is collected in Torques: Drafts 58-76 (Salt Publishing, 2007). In 2006, two books of essays were published: Blue Studios:Poetry and Its Cultural Work, and a second edition of the ground-breaking The Pink Guitar: Writing as Feminist Practice, both from University of Alabama Press. She teaches at Temple University, Philadelphia. 
Since 1971, Pam Brown has published many books and chapbooks including Dear Deliria (Salt Publishing, 2003) which was awarded the NSW Premier’s Prize for Poetry in 2004. She has two books forthcoming - True Thoughts (Salt) in August 2008 and Authentic Local (Papertiger Media) in 2009. She is the associate editor of Jacket magazine and a contributing editor for Fulcrum.
Kate Lilley's first book of poems, Versary (Salt Publishing, 2002) won the Grace Leven Prize. Her second, Ladylike, is forthcoming from Salt. She teaches feminist and queer literary history and theory at the University of Sydney and has published widely on poetry and poetics. Her edition of Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World (1666) is published by Penguin Classics. Mistress of Ceremonies : Morgan Smith
Sunday 6th July
3.30pm for 4pm
gleebooks upstairs
49 Glebe Point Road
Sydney
A free event
Everyone welcome
For more info visit gleebooks events
and scroll down to 6th July
Selected links for these poets:
Salt Publishing
C.A. Conrad interviews Rachel Blau du Plessis in March 2008.
Kate Lilley on Poetry international Web
Pam Brown on Poetry international Web
Maged Zaher and Pam Brown - farout_library_software (Tinfish Press, 2007)
I read Julia Leigh’s second book Disquiet when it was first published in April this year. It was, to use the colloquial lingo of my times, ‘un-put-down-able’, meaning not that it was beyond criticism (the ‘putdown’, and the book has received some of those) but that I found it so compelling that I read it from start to finish in one sitting.
In short, I think this small book restores dignity to Australian fiction (not that Julia Leigh would like that responsibility or, in writing the book, sought that kind of burden). It’s just that the sprawling domestic, possibly faux-historic, and usually confessional, narrative ‘fiction’ that is churned out here is really just an opiate that seems to disregard the intelligence or intellect of readers and book buyers. Prose writers like Beverley Farmer, Martin Edmond, John Hughes and Gerald Murnane provide an alternative to the general mediocrity and muck and write from an interest not only in content but in what Julia Leigh calls 'the fall of the word on the page'.
I was given so much pleasure, and pleasure of thought, by the brilliant artifice, exact contrivance, self-consciously mannered and incredible wit-filled style in Julia Leigh’s Disquiet that, like some of the figures in the book, I was stunned into a kind of speechless reverie. It's a strange tale of the return of an Australian woman and her two children to her home and family in a French chateau, and it seems to have sent reviewers scurrying after a category. Some settled for 'Gothic' - I don't think so. I see the book as sliding through various 'categories' like German Romanticism,French nouveau roman (Michel Butor, shades of Nathalie Sarraute) and mystery.
This week I found a review that acknowledges Julia Leigh's writing's highly developed literary qualities in Kirsty Gunn’s intelligent piece in ‘The Guardian Weekly’. There is another positive review by Nicholas Birns in the May issue of the 'Australian Book Review' but, alas, it's not available online.
The reviewer in Melbourne’s daily newspaper, The Age, isn’t quite as disappointed in her assessment of this small knot of a book as her more conventional and perplexed counterpart in the 'Sydney Morning Herald' who seems unaware of any precursor or genre that relates to this intensely considered novella, other than the usual story-telling style of narrative that fills the shelves and piles up on coffee tables of the 'general readers' of Australian novels. The review seems to have been written without any notion of a context for this extraordinary book.
You can listen to a podcast/streaming of a brief interview with Julia Leigh, broadcast today on ABC Radio National.
detail from a photo by Trish Davies
Lee Marvin - "I always enjoy these poetry readings - they're so captivating"
Kate Lilley with Kenward Elmslie’s Sung Sex at his Sydney reading in 2005
Tatjana Lukic (foto by Karen Bachelor, 2003)
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Lee Marvin - "I'll get along to hear 'The Circus' once I've finished 
late night streetscapes melbourne last week
early morning melbourne from my window last week
Susan Stewart giving her paper 'Trace of Rhyme' - her gestures shadowing 
John Tranter, in the dark,confessing his years of poetic filching with a nicely 
Peter Minter & Gig Ryan
Elizabeth Wilson reporting incidents of Kiwi misreadings to Wystan Curnow
Michael Farrell
Rachel Blau du Plessis drafting with Hazel Smith & Mike Farrell. Bob du Plessis 
Kate Fagan
Tuesday's end - Mike Farrell, Pete Minter and today's blogger
