Ruby Street

These days, especially it seems, reviewers, panels/judges, constructors of ‘canons’, etc, seem to want a singular style or approach, a kind of unified body of poetry at least for each book if not overall, something they can theorise about or judge or slot-in easily. In other words, there has to be a focus, a centre, if you will. A poet is not allowed to wander where she/they will or may, not always constrained by the ‘signs’ of category. OK, ‘allowed’ to do so but as a consequence not taken seriously, or neglected, because she/they can’t be pinned down. I’m aware of that working in my own case – it’s been said to me more than once – and I suspect it is so for others. I take my work seriously (and sometimes not so seriously, because you just have to let all that go as well). As Gertrude Stein once wrote in T ender Buttons : “Act so there is no use in a center.”. Forms, procedures, styles or themes don’t need to be centralised, rounded-up. If I approach composition as making, f...

My next book, now it’s public, will be called Brink (unless there is a last-minute title change, always possible in publishing). Now that it’s more or less settled, I am of course working on writing ideas beyond that – ideas that are more than a poem here and there. Needless to say, this includes a ‘next next’ book, the one after this next book, as an idea.   I realise, of course, that in poetry publishing there’s never a ‘next book’ until it’s signed, sealed and delivered, but the idea of ‘next’ is a focus for activity, as well as a goad, and a reminder that there may be a place for a few things to land together. It may never happen, I may not make it (that gets more clear as you get older), and the-world-as-I-know-it may not make it (that’s pretty clear right now), but you never know your luck. Brink , I suspect, will be seen as broadly ‘ecopoetic’ (more on that soon) – anyway, I’ll bet at least one review (should I get any reviews but, hey, you never know your luck) will me...

I’m not sure why there is always this flurry of best-of lists for the end of each year, and usually not even at the end of the actual year, thus simply being wrong, in all senses. Overall, my year wasn’t a good year, but that's another story. Suffice to say, I realised confirmed a few too many things about a few too many things. Nonetheless, the year, on a broad rather than exact scale, began and ended with two best things, for me. My last but one book, The Beautiful Anxiety , won a prize in late January . Well, I prize it anyway, plus they gave me money. It was the work of a number of years. And my most recent work, Breaking the Days , was published in late November. It was work of a different sort, a shorter term project, but it was a good thing. So me, myself and I raise my/our glass to these two, my little 2015 bests. And recognise it’s more betterer than what a lot of folks got this year. So, to myself I say, stop yr sobbing. As for other things, specific things of interest...

While I'm looking forward to the progress of The Beautiful Anxiety , I don't want to forget my 7th book, Ash is Here, So are Stars , which was published late 2012 by Ralph Wessman of Walleah Press , and to whom I'm thankful for taking a chance on this little book. And it is a book I am fond of. It was born of a more specific project than The Beautiful Anxiety , in fact, developed from a manuscript which was shortlisted for the 2011 Whitmore Press Manuscript Prize. To that idea I added three slightly older poems which had not found a place in a past book. It gained a few good reviews, mainly online, but seemed to pass most people by. I suspect this was due, partly, to issues of distribution. Although these days you probably won't find it in a bookshop, now it is available easily online, including from The Book Depository , at a decent price, as well as from the publisher if you live in Australia , or overseas . Interestingly, this time around, mostly the reviewers go...

There's a strong editorial from Sophie Cunningham for the latest Meanjin , pointing out that the gains(not) for women over the last decades are something to keep in the forefront of concerns, that feminism is not something to be shunned as a quaint old seventies marker. She concludes: "Last year not a single female lead singer was included in Triple J’s hottest 100 survey. Catherine Strong explores the implications on this in her essay ‘The Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time 2009 and the Dominance of the Rock Canon’ on p. 124 of this issue. I could go on. I won’t. I’ll just say this: either women can’t sing, paint, write or think as well as they used to—certainly not well enough to offset their tendency to become less beautiful with age—or we live in a culture that does not like the things women say or does not know how to hear them when they say it. In other words, Irigaray is right. Women sit outside language." I read this just having listened this morning, as it happene...

Lars Palm has got busy publishing again through his ungovernable press . He's just published three works in pdf format (free, downloadable), including my own Passages: Annotations . This e-chapbook is an extract from something I hope one day might see the light of day in hard copy, and is a collection of writing from this blog and a number of other projects that I was engaged with over the last ten years. It is a poetry and poetics assembly. The cover photo is by Annette Willis . Lars has set up a good reads page so, once you've had a read, you can leave a comment there or here on the blog, if you like. The other two new ungovernable press publications are Amanda Laughtland's Take It and Felino A. Soriano's Intersecting Views of the Possible Interaction . You should check them out as well. And all the other great downloads there. Ungovernable press now has a facebook page , if you want to join up. I'm honoured to be part of ungovernable, and well pleased to have ...

Out of the Box: Contemporary Gay and Lesbian Poets is celebrating with its second launch, this time offshore. If you are in Singapore, come along to: Books Actually Tuesday December 15, 7.30-9.30pm There will be readings by Michael Farrell (co-editor) and guest reader, Cyril Wong. *** And watch this space for more details of launches in Melbourne (2 Feb) and Sydney (26 Feb).

'Out of the Box: Contemporary Australian Gay and Lesbian Poets', edited by Michael Farrell and Jill Jones ( Puncher and Wattmann ). To be launched by Professor Susan Sheridan at Feast Festival Saturday 21 November, 11am at Saldechin, 21 King William Street, Adelaide. Readers at the launch include Michael Farrell, Jill Jones and Peter Rose. Poets in the anthology include David Malouf, Dorothy Porter, Peter Rose, Pam Brown, Chris Edwards, Lee Cataldi, Martin Harrison, joanne burns, Bel Schenk, Terry Jaensch, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, Tricia Dearborn, Javant Biarujia, Kate Lilley, and many many others. "Out of the Box is poised at the junction of the poetic moment and the queer moment in contemporary Australia – a doubly-rich rubric for reading the wonderful poems here. The collection poses complex interconnections between poetics, politics and identity: just one measure of its great achievement." - Elizabeth McMahon "These writers are amongst the best of Australian p...

As many of you will know, poetry publisher, Salt, is feeling the effects of the economic downturn (or GFC if you prefer). Their three year funding from the English Arts Council ends this year. Spring sales were down nearly 80% on the previous year, and despite April's much improved trading, the past twelve months has left a budget deficit of over £55,000. So, Chris and Jen Hamilton-Emery are asking for some help - a small ask to save this important international poetry list. JUST ONE BOOK 1. Please buy just one Salt book, right now. They don't mind from where, you can buy it from Salt or from Amazon, your local shop or megastore, online or offline. If you buy just one book now, you'll help to save Salt. Timing is absolutely everything here. They need cash now to stay afloat. You could go to their online store and help keep them going, or buy from your favourite online or real world bookshop. Salt UK and International store Salt US store Say, you could buy one of my Salt boo...

I’ll be back in Sydney this May for the following events at the Writers' Festival. 1. Poets Paint Words at the Wharf Paintings from the Newcastle Region Art Gallery and the poems they inspired will be projected in the Heritage Pier Cafe during Sydney Writers’ Festival. The poets include Robert Adamson, Judith Beveridge, Judith Bishop, Michael Brennan, Luke Davies, Kate Fagan, Michael Farrell, Jane Gibian, Keri Glastonbury, Robert Gray, Martin Harrison, Ivy Ireland, Jill Jones, John Kinsella, Anthony Lawrence, Kate Lilley, Peter Minter, Les Murray, Dorothy Porter, Jaya Savige, John Tranter and Mark Tredinnick. Paintings from the Newcastle Region Art Gallery collection include Arthur Boyd, John Brack, Grace Cossington Smith, Grace Crowley, William Dobell, Margaret Olley, John Olsen, Gloria Petyarre, Imants Tillers, Albert Tucker, Brett Whiteley and Fred Williams. Poets Paint Words is curated by Peter Minter and Lisa Slade, in conjunction with Sydney Writers’ Festival. When: Thursday,...

QLRS is fresh .

On the difficulty thing, there's some good comments over at jen crawford's blue acres blog about this. That poems aren't for 'understanding', in the sense that they have to be 'solved', but can be read for what they are, combinations of words, combinations of sounds.

First bit of catch up. Late last year, Steve Tills over at Black Spring did a close reading of my poem ’Cowboys’ which was published in Shampoo . You can read Steve’s reading and our discussion on his blog (and many thanks, Steve, for the close reading). In my comment, I pointed out that the poem was based around something I saw just before Easter in Oxford Street, Sydney some years ago. I suppose I wanted to add that, to me, it's a ‘gay’ poem (if you can say that) but in a very broad sense. However, and obviously, it may not be read as that by others. All of that commentary from me, however, makes me contemplate how much being from one place and/or culture affects how you read work made in another place/culture. It sounds very obvious, sure, but still you get surprised. I had the same feeling last year when someone mentioned, with regard to a poem of mine which makes reference to (fruit) bats published in The Australian , that when she’d shown it to another friend (in Adelaide, ...

THE MATERIAL POEM an e-anthology of text-based art & inter-media writing The Material Poem is a new e-anthology, edited by James Stuart and published by non-generic productions. It features the work of some 28 Australian poets, artists and critics, all of whom are engaged with poetry, and more broadly language, as a material form. This body of work is inter-disciplinary, inter-media and often collaborative, spanning a wide variety of formal contexts – page, screen, canvas, space, book, performance and more. The Material Poem showcases the vibrancy of experimental writing in Australia, demonstrating how writing functions as a practice that is never purely literary. Available now as a free download NOW. CONTRIBUTORS ALEX SELENITSCH | AMANDA STEWART | CHRIS EDWARDS | ELENA KNOX | FRANZ EHMANN | GARETH JENKINS |HAZEL SMITH | JAMES STUART | JILL JONES & ANNETTE WILLIS | JOHANNA FEATHERSTONE | KLARE LANSON | KOMNINOS ZERVOS | KRISTIN HANNAFORD | LINDA CARROLI | LINDA MARIE WALK...

‘Midway along the journey of our life I woke to find myself in a dark wood …’ Dante, Canto 1, The Divine Comedy - Inferno ‘I was doing all right, and now I’m in the midst of it’ My mother, 6/4/07, a hospital, Sydney