Destructing the poem: Ern Malley goes to Sappho Books

Toby Fitch organised a celebration of Ern Malley's 99th birthday (14 March). There were many there. Sixteen poets, academics, and others read a poem each. The audience was vibrant. Judith Rodriguez was there, and David Malouf, Beate Josephi, Andrew Taylor and lots of others. Readers included, Joanne Burns, aj carruthers, Leif Mahoney (who had been bruiting this idea about for some time), me (Chris Mansell), Kate Middleton, Amanda Stewart, Richard Tipping (who brought the original Angry Penguins edition), John Tranter etc

           

Michele Seminara took this pic  

of this reading mid-action. 

Low light. Far away.

My allocated poem was Night Piece (alternative version). I'd originally been allocated Night Piece so I compared/edited/stripped down the two poems.

First Night Piece:

 And here is the alternative version (also by Ern of course):

Then I thought I'd see what the differences were and see if that made any sort of sense. I've left in the Track Changes/edit so you can see I did not cheat with this. Nymph was deleted and then inserted because it changed its position.

I read this - the alternative alternative version.

And then I wondered what the remainder looked like (extracted from the blue above):

The question then is do any of the versions seem better to a contemporary ear? When you read some of the other poems in the magazine of the time you can see why Max Harris might have leapt at these poems.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go to Jacket: http://jacketmagazine.com/17/index.shtml
or more comprehensively Jacket2: https://www.jacket2.org/commentary/ern-malley

Adelaide reading

16th Reading OCTOBER 21st
o LEE MARVIN IN
YO-YOs WITH MONEY
Aidan Coleman
Ken Bolton
Jill Jones
Kyriaki Maragozidis
Simon Robb


9 Anster St., Adelaide
(off Waymouth at the King William end, near FAD nightclub)

7.30 for a prompt 8 PM start
Price $5

Readings and events coming up

Endless Summer Literary Lunch
14 June 2008

With Emma Hardman, DC Green and Meg Bishop.

When: 12noon, 14 June 2008
Where: St Georges Basin Country Club, Paradise Beach Road, Sanctuary Point
Cost: $45
Bookings: Margaret 02 4443 4207 or Vala 0422 678 940


Rocket Readings - featuring Jane Gibian and Christine Paice
17 June 2008

When: 6.30pm, Tuesday 17 June 2008
Where: Music Farmers cafe, 5 Crown Lane, Wollongong (laneway opposite the western entrance of Crown Street Mall)
Bookings and information: SCWC 02 4228 0151 or scwc@1earth.net
Cost: Free event your donation gratefully accepted.


Writing about Art with Wollongong City Gallery Director Craig Judd
12 July 2008

An introduction to some of the pleasures and pitfalls of writing about art with Wollongong City Gallery Director Craig Judd.

When: 12.30-1.30pm Saturday 12 July 2008
Where: Wollongong City Gallery, corner of Kembla and Burelli Streets, Wollongong
Information and bookings: Vivian Vidulich, Wollongong City Gallery, 02 4228 7500.
Free event. All welcome.

State of Play - Australian Poetry Now! 6th Australian Poetry Festival
5-7 September 2008

Opening Night Party and Performance; Poets from around Australia and overseas; Panels on the State of Play in Contemporary Oz Poetry; Performance Night; The Judith Wright Lecture (to be delivered by Bruce Dawe); The $3000 Poets Union Poetry Prize (entry form on site); The Scanlon Prize for Indigenous Verse; Launch of the Poets Union Anthology; Pre-Festival Events (Monster Open Reading; Reading Seminar); All to be recorded in a special double edition of Five Bells which will be a significant contribution to thinking about the craft of contemporary Australian poetry. Full Program, Ticket Prices, Early Bird Booking Coming Soon. If you have scheduled a event around this time, or you would like to do so, and you'd like it advertised in the program as an Umbrella Event, please contact Brook at the address below. All inquiries, offers to help, requests, etc appreciated. Supported by the Australia Council, Arts NSW, City of Sydney, Sydney Mechanics School of Arts, University of NSW.
Enquiries Brook Emery: brookemery@gmail.com

When: 5,6 & 7 September 2008
Where: Sydney Mechanics School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney

Poet's Picnic at Bundanon
14 September 2008

With Sam Wagan Watson and SCWC member Jennifer Dickerson.

When: 12noon-4pm, 14 September 2008
Where: Bundanon Bomestead Lawn, Bundanon, near Nowra NSW
Cost: $10/$7
More information: http://www.bundanon.com.au

The Loft Reading which is actually in the UTS Studio this time:

Reading/performing are:

• Antigone Kefala
• Jennifer Maiden
• Amanda Stewart

Music from

• David Finch

Thursday the 12th of June

UTS Studio (Note: NOT The Loft), 6.30 (for 7) pm

Dear friends, poets and lovers of The Word— Come and join us for an evening of poetic pleasures with three of Australia’s most diverse and accomplished poetic voices. On Thursday the 12th of June, Antigone Kefala, Jennifer Maiden and Amanda Stewart will be performing at the UTS studio. Their work spans a huge aesthetic spectrum, from variations on traditional prose forms to abstracted experimental poetics, and this promises to be reading not to be missed.

Doors open at 6.30 – come down and join us for a drink before the show. Readings will begin shortly after 7.

The UTS Studio/Performance Space, Building 3 (Bon Marché), Room 105

(Corner of Harris Street and Broadway Road, Broadway. Entry on Harris St)

Entry: $5/$3 for Students and working/unworking poor

For More Information... Berndt Sellheim: 0420 243 751 / berndt.sellheim@uts.edu.au

The Loft Readings could not continue without the support of the Writing and Cultural Studies Area at the University of Technology, and generous funding from The Literature Board of The Australia Council for the Arts.

Antigone Kefala was born in Romania of Greek parents. She moved with her parents to Greece while still a child, and in 1960 came, via New Zealand, to live in Australia. She writes in both Greek and English, and these diverse influences contribute to a poetry that is haunting and intense. She has published a number of poetry collections, including The Alien, Thirsty Weather, European Notebook and Absence: New and Selected Poems. Her most recent publication is a prose work entitled Sydney Journals: Reflections 1970 – 2000, with Giramondo Press.

Jennifer Maiden was born in Penrith, New South Wales. Thirteen of her poetry collections (one including short stories) and two of her novels have been published. Her most recent collection, Friendly Fire (Giramondo, 2005) won the Age Book of the Year Award, and she has received a swag of other prizes for her work, including, on two occasions, the N.S.W Premier’s Award for Poetry, The Victorian Premier’s Award for Poetry and the Christopher Brennan Award for a lifetime of achievement in poetry.

Amanda Stewart is a Sydney based poet and sound artist. Since the 1970s she has been producing a variety of poetic texts, performances, radio, film and multi-media works in Australia, Japan, the US and Europe. In 1989 she co-founded the performance ensemble Machine for Making Sense, she co-wrote and directed the 1990 film Eclipse of the Man-Made Sun. Her collected works book and CD entitled I/T won the 1999 Anne Elder Award for poetry.

International Women's Day: Shoalhaven 2008 Program

A celebration of Women Past Present Future



History of International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day originated from a public demonstration by women members of the International Garment Worker’s’ Union in New York in 1908, who were demanding changes to their intolerable working conditions.


In Sydney, IWD was first celebrated in 1928 at a rally that called for equal pay for equal work, an eight hour day for shop workers, no piece-work, a based wage for the unemployed and paid annual holidays. Rallies and marches have been held throughout Australia every year since. Some of the major issues on which women continue to campaign include workplace reform, international human rights, poverty, childcare and violence against women.


Green, white and violet were the colours used in 1908 by the women who fought for votes for women in England and have been used ever since.


In Australia in 1902 following Federation the Commonwealth Franchise Act gave women the right to vote and to stand for Federal Parliament. Through the work of the Womanhood Suffrage League, women gained suffrage and began the first significant steps toward equality between men and women. Aboriginal women achieved the right to vote in 1967.


IWD stands for equality between women and men. It is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of women’s rights



Celebrations for the Shoalhaven
March 2008

Selected highlights

WOMEN’S BUSHWALK/ PICNIC
Sunday 2 March 2008 10.00am – 1pm
Come along for some fun, exercise and socialising. We will meet at the Currarong shop at 10am and do the “Abraham’s Bosom” walk. Bring your own lunch and drinks
Venue: Abraham’s Bosom walk Currarong.
Cost: Free
Contact: Melissa Hedger 0423 606 100

Y QUEST LAUNCH
Monday 3 March 2008 6.00pm to 8.00pm
Launching Y Quest 2008. Y Quest is a leadership program for young women aged 15 – 25 and this year’s entrants in the program will have an opportunity to introduce themselves to the community
Venue: To be advised
Cost: No cost
Contact:YWCA NSW 4423 8501


IWD MORNING TEA AND AWARD PRESENTATION
Friday 7 March 2008 10.00 am – 12.00 noon
Morning tea, entertainment and awards to local women in recognition of their services to the community
Venue: Ulladulla & Districts Community Resource Centre, 78 St Vincents Street Ulladulla
Cost: Free
Contact: Maria Peters 4454 0477


MEROOGAL WOMEN’S ART PRIZE EXHIBITION
Saturday 8 March 2008 1.00pm
Official opening of the Meroogal Women’s Art Prize. Exhibition open 8 March – 25 May 2008
Venue: Wollongong City Gallery
Cost: Free
Contact Wollongong City Gallery 02 4228 7500

WOMEN’S PERFORMANCE NIGHT
Saturday 8 March 2008 7.00pm until late
This women only event is loads of fun and an excellent opportunity for women to perform for the first time. Meals will be available to purchase, come at 6pm to eat and mingle and BYO drinks. Performances start at 7.30pm
If you wish to sing, dance, read poetry, fire twirl or entertain in any way ring Sandra
Venue: Tomerong Hall, Tomerong
Cost: $10.00 or $5.00 concession. Pay at door
Contact: Sandra on 4421 8150


WELL WOMEN HEALTH AND WELLBEING EXPO
Thursday 13 March 2008 11.00am – 6.00pm
Join us and participate in a variety of experiential workshops including relaxation, light exercise, resilience and singing. Visit a number of stalls promoting a range of available health and wellness services and businesses available in the Shoalhaven.
Venue: Wesley Hall. Opposite old Post Office building, Nowra
Cost: Gold coin donation
Contact: Judith Reardon 4423 8501


INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY DANCE
Saturday 15 March 2008 7.30pm – 11.30pm
Groove the night away with DJ Kung.
Lucky door prizes. Bring Supper to share.
Venue: School of Arts Annex
Cost: $10.00 or $5.00 concession. Pay at door.
Contact: Marg 4422 0103 Women only event



Proudly supported by:
Meroogal
Office for Women NSW Premier’s Department
Older Women’s Network (OWN) Shoalhaven Branch
Shoalhaven City Council
Shoalhaven International Women’s Day Committee
Shoalhaven Women’s Health Centre
Shoalhaven Women’s Resource Group
Shoalhaven Youth Centre
South Coast Register
Unions Shoalhaven
University of Wollongong – Shoalhaven Campus
YWCA NSW

Reading

Here's a reading you don't see every day...in a (very unusual) hair salon! See you there if you are from the Illawarra or nearby. 6 pm 20 November at Hair as a Weapon, Globe Lane, Wollongong. Enquiries, South Coast writers centre, 02 4228 0151.

Gathering at Bundanon

At a reading at Bundanon for the Shoalhaven Poetry Festival Anthony J. Bennett (poet, publisher, Kardoorair Press), Alan Baptist (Arts Manager, visual artists Shoalhaven City Council), Robert Dickerson (visual artist) and Les Wicks (poet).

Larry Buttrose's book launch

Wednesday 6.30 pm 29 August 2007 by Ita Buttrose
Ariel Bookshop 42 Oxford St Paddington NSW

LAUNCH: Love Poems

[left: Patrick De Gabriele, Chris Mansell & Kate Khoury of Our Book Shop, Berry; Jen Saunders, who launched the book, & Chris Mansell.]

Thank you Jen Saunders, poet and artist, for launching Love Poems on 9 December 2006 at Our Book Shop, Berry. A more generous and insightful launch speech does not exist I think. Here's what she said:

I am honoured to be in the position of saying things about Chris Mansell's new book Love Poems‚ not only because it's a mark of Chris' confidence in me as a friend and reader, but also because it's given me an excuse to read poems for the last two weeks.

Noone should need an excuse - but that's another story. Fortunately we are lucky enough to live in a community that provides us with a year full of plenty of book launches, live music, art exhibitions, poetry readings and even the occasional launch of a lingerie and sextoy boutique. As Sir Les Pattersen would say 'culture up to our arses'.

On that note I'd like to give you a little bit of background and context to Chris as a writer (which I've stolen from her website). Chris' first book of poems was published in 1978. Since then she has had seven other collections of poetry published as well as a children's book, audio recordings of her poems and several plays. She is widely published in literary journals in Australia and overseas. She has also given many, many, many live and recorded readings of her work. She has founded and edited a literary magazine, set up the publishing company PressPress and established and coordinated poetry festivals.

She has lectured in creative writing at University of Wollongong and the University of Western Sydney. She has been writer in residence and or editor in residence in Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia, NSW. She has won prizes for several poems and in 1993 she won the Queensland Premier's Award for poetry and in 1995 her collection Day Easy Sunlight Fine was short listed for the National Book Council's Banjo Awards.

She has mentored, officially and unofficially, poets throughout Australia and conducted many workshops with children and adults. Nearly all her working life has been involved in writing, performing, print production, editing, and in lecturing about or teaching writing. And this is just the stuff she's got out there into the public domain - this doesn't tell you all the stuff she does behind the scenes!

Some of you are writers and some of you aren't. To be able to explain what it's like to make a poem I'll tell you what I think it isn't:

Writing a poem is not: relaxing, easy, nice, charming, ladylike, a hobby, a delightful past-time, a doddle, a walk in the park, simple, straightforward or something to be undertaken lightly. A lot of the time it isn't fun (although possibly Pam Ayres has fun - I don't know).

Making a poem is work and, like hard work of any kind, it's best done in an appropriate work place under ideal working conditions where you can get plenty of it done in big chunks of uninterrupted time supported by people who understand the effort, time and personal cost involved and preferably being paid handsomely for your efforts.

As most poets will tell you, those conditions don't exist - because money has to be earned, bills paid, appointments kept, children and pets fed, etc etc - all the day to day things we all have to do.

Therefore, to make a poem is even harder work, because you never get those ideal conditions. Chris is an extremely hard worker. she works hard at her life outside writing and she works hard within her writing life. And where is it that this writing life takes place?

Samuel Beckett said the three constants in a writer's life are the inability to speak, the inability to keep silent and solitude. And in a similar vein David Malouf has said that writers are actually dumber than most people, not less intelligent but more silent. And it's this inner silence and solitude that is the work place of the poet.

Now from that exhausting list of Chris' achievements that I just read you, you may be able to see how difficult it could be to find time and headspace to get to the solitude. And just in case you're thinking that it's all ambient ocean sounds once you get in there - it's not.

Like hard workers everywhere who are dedicated to their task she works with great precision and sets herself the highest standards. The precision of Chris' language is evident when you hear her read - the words, phrases, syllables, pauses and breaths are pieced together with absolute care and attention. She wants you to get the sound of her poetry like a piece of music, as well as the words and the feeling and the crosscurrents... she wants you to work a little bit. She issues a challenge to you - come on, have a go! But Chris' poems are never exclusive or high-falutin' .

Again I want to say what writing a poem isn't - it isn‚t just thinking up something clever and writing it down. It is construction. Chris' poems are like a very finely wrought sculpture that has been pieced together with incredible delicacy and care along with the boldness and adventure that experience brings.

In writing that description I saw a suit of chain mail - extremely strong and practical but also flexible, shifting, with the vulnerable flesh and blood sensed underneath. And it is that flesh and blood, that pumping heart that is being offered to you.

You are being offered gut feelings (lust, despair, pride, fear, tenderness, bravery, weakness) but not only that - in this book of poems you get sharp, intelligence and very pointy wit, and you get a good belly laugh, and you get a flirtatious tickle, and you get sparklingly clear, beautiful pictures, and you get outright weirdness to disturb your dreams or your insomniac hours, and you get pure undressed sadness, and protective maternal fierceness and all sorts of cocktails and mixtures of these and more.

But this complexity is being given to you with no threads hanging, it is seamless. So beautifully done - it's almost un-authored. And it's in the inner silence I spoke of that this construction is done.

One more quote from Australian writer Alex Miller, from his book The Sitters:
"The silence that surrounds everything we do while we're doing it. Trying to bring something into being there. Hoping to coax it out. Waiting for that first little sign of presence. That offer. The first shuffling movement in the dark. through the screen. What's in there? And then the happy accident, the distraction of our thoughts .. .while we‚re thinking of something else, and suddenly it's happening. it's not our intention. But here it comes. We're alone. Then it's greeting us. And we've never seen it before. It's the same old thing and we've never seen it before. It's completely new and unexpected and we know it and we've always known it. It's the trace of ourselves. Look at that! Nothing makes you feel better. You're happy. Just for a little while you've surprised yourself and you're tired but happy."

And it's that inner, solitary place that good writers go off to, to make poems that bump, elbow and shake us readers around a bit. Enjoy being bumped by Chris' new book.

Launch of Mortifications & Lies

After a long, long wait, for the final poem to come Mortifications & Lies has finally hit the deck. Launched on 24 March in Armidale (home of publisher, Kardoorair Press) it's good to see it physical.

It's three poems: 'country', '&' and 'Lies' all on the subject of country, one's place it in, one's right to bomb other people's, and as occupier of a land which is not of one's own ancestors.

Orders can go through Kardoorair Press or from me.

Now for the anxious wait for reader's reactions ....

Shoalhaven Poetry Festival 2005

Probably the smallest poetry festival in the known universe, the Shoalhaven Poetry Festival is putting together the program for next year. In the past we've had readings/spoken word in the pub and cafes, workshops, in infamous Poetry Cup (modelled on the Tasmanian Poetry Cup), a reading/cruise down the Shoalhaven River, book launches, poetry postcard exhibitions, readings in wineries, new media work of various kinds etc. This year we're having it in Berry - in the Shoalhaven NSW Australia. We have had and still have a very very very tiny budget. Let me know if you'd like to come and we'll see if we can put you in. Should be fun. Usually is.