I have not updated my website for quite a while now, and not much since the pandemic. Firstly, the Pandemic really slowed me down, I was still writing and working but my circle of contacts really closed. Alongside that so did my reaching out, but I was still writing, performing, and working and so still getting things done artistically. Secondly, someone bought my original web address and tried to sell it to me. Once I got the site back up and running and logged in, I found a draft post underway for a publication and saw so much that I need to update. But I am back here to post about the recent publication of Admissions: Voices within Mental Health.
Admissions: Voices within Mental Health was published in October 2022 by Upswell Publishing. The anthology contains an amazing breadth of voices. I am still working my way through it. Like another anthology, Solid Air, dipping into it at random has been my approach and in doing that I have so far loved the essay, IF I SMELL GAS AND THERE IS NO GAS or AM I A PSYCHOANALYST IF I DON’T HAVE A COUCH by Pascalle Burton, and the poems Suicide Dogs by David Stavanger and Hard Pressed by Grace Tame, and Learning from Shastra Deo.
Make sure you grab a copy from Upswell Publishing, and like me, recommend it to any mental health professionals you see.
I have a letter published with Cicerone Journal. In
July 2020, I asked people for a letter topic to write to and promised them a letter
and Star Wars sticker. The first letter I wrote was in July, to two young fans
of Star Wars. I am proud of this letter, it is to two young people, but also to Star Wars, to creativity, and examines my philosophy of artmaking. Thanks to everyone who makes and has made Star Wars for all the inspiration. Thanks to Cicerone Journal for publishing this.
I have a poem in the ‘TENSE’ issue of Rabbit Journal. Lately I have been writing a lot about work, and this poem covers some aspect of what
I have been focused on in that context. The journal was guest edited by Pascalle
Burton and David Stavanger, thanks to both for including my poem.
You can purchase the journal at Rabbitpoetry.com or
subscribe for several issues. Thank you to Rabbit Poetry Journal.
I have a
poem in the latest edition of the Tundish Review, apparently it is sold out.
But you can make sure you get a copy of the next edition by submitting, they are currently accepting work for issues 9 and 10. They
can be found on Facebook or go directly to their submission page here.
The Tundish Review Issue 4 was launched on Wednesday
night at Betty's Espresso & Bar in Brisbane. The zine includes
poetry by Jarad Bruinstroop, Juanita Simmonds, Ankita Bellary, Sean West, Sam
Bolte, Shastra Deo and two pieces from me. I was also interviewed for this
edition, I don’t usually talk or write much about my process but I really
enjoyed the questions from the editors, as well as some of the discussion we
had about why they wanted to interview me. The launch was packed with people and was such a fun night of poetry and drinks.
The artwork by Link Raptor is really interesting and fits well with this edition of the zine, the
piece he drew for my poem, Axolotl Limbo, gave me a new perspective on the work. One of the ideas I like in the zine is the use of a fictional editor, this creates space for experiments, as well as character for the publication. The two real life editors, Katelyn Goyen and Nick van Buuren, have put a lot of love into
this zine, they’ve promised that there will be a call out for issues 5 & 6
shortly, so make sure you have the latest copy, submit your work, and like the
zine on Facebook.
You can probably grab a copy by contacting them
through their website or facebook, and you can
definitely get editions at Junky Comics.
Here are some photographs of the launch (taken by Anton van Buuren), you can find more here.
The works
are based on writing to a series of images, primarily from Simon Stålenhag’s
forthcoming book, the Electric State, and hiromi suzuki’s works, Black Sun and an untitled series centred on envelopes.
I did also include a range of other favourite famous and less well known images in the process. You can see most of them above.
I am part
of the 22 November launch of Brisbane zine, The Tundish Review. The editors
were not only kind enough to accept two of my poems, but they also interviewed
me for the edition.
Putting
together any publication takes commitment and effort, and putting one together
full of other writers, artists and performers deserves support. So get to Betty’s Espresso & Bar at 7:30pm on Wednesday 22 November to hear poetry from Ankita
Bellary, Sean West, Shastra Deo, Jarad Bruinstroop, Juanita Simmonds, Sam Bolte and
me. Then grab a copy of the zine. Thanks to the editors Katelyn & Nick.
Three of
my poems have been translated into Italian and published by Nuovi Argomenti.
The poems are Art, Industry, Architecture and Pets, Spaceship Twang Dog and The
Periphery, the first two where first published in English respectively by Today, the voice you speak with may not be your own and The Delinquent, all three
appear in my book For All The Veronicas (The Dog Who Staid), Bareknuckle Books.
Thank you
to Massimiliano Mandorlo for his time and effort in translating these three
poems, and thank you to Nuovi Argomenti for publishing the work. You can find
the poems on the Nuovi Argomenti website, and you can find Massimiliano
Mandorlo at his website.
Tincture
Journal has published my poem Corymbia / Evergreen in its 18th
issue. I wrote the poem after being in Alice Springs as part of the Red Dirt Poetry Festival in 2016. Thanks to Laurie May for inviting me to be part of the
first two editions of that festival.
This
issue contains work from Felicity Plunkett, Jill Jones, Peter Bakowski, Mark
Ward and many other writers.
Follow
the link to buy the issue, and you can subscribe for more.
Thank
you to Stuart Barnes and Daniel Young for including my work in issue 18 of
Tincture Journal.
I have a
poem in the latest and last issue of Pascalle Burton’s, Today, the voice you speak with may not be your own. This is issue 8 and it also
features the work of Carody Culver, Ian Gibbins, Elena Kotasvili, Jackie Ryan,
Nathan Shepherdson, Renee Vaughan Sutherland and Anne-Marie Te Whiu.
My piece
is A transcript of the Dungeons &
Dragons opening credits. I’ve included the video source below. The series was
never concluded and so these six kids have been left trapped forever in the
realm of Dungeons and Dragons.
Published out of Washington State, the magazine has a heavy focus on
the beats, but includes many types of literature, film, music, and art. Since I
have been visiting there seems to have been a heavy focus on collage, which I have
found interesting and led me to new artists who have provided influences on my
writing. Particularly Hiromi Suzuki,
whose work has inspired a poem forthcoming with M58 as well as others still in
development.
Check out the work of mine published by Empty Mirror and
investigate some of the other artists found there. Thanks to Empty Mirror for
publishing the poems.
I have
three poems in Otoliths issue forty-four, two are experiments: in responding to
random lines and in ekphrastic collage. Another is a bit of history. There is a
lot of work in this issue, follow the links above and check out the writing and art
of contributors from around the globe.
The green
streets of Canberra City was written for an exhibition at the Photography Room
in June 2016, you can now read it in Pressure Gauge Press, issue four. Thanks to the Photography Room for the opportunity and to Pressure Gauge Press for publishing the poem.
Pressure Gauge Issue 3 includes two of my poems alongside work by Lino Anunciacion, Natalie
Catalan, Stephanie Chan, Lauren Elma, Ry Irene, Jasmine Mi, Linette
Reeman, Melissa Rose Kalena Thwaits and Nyein Way. Check it out here: Pressure Gauge Issue 3.
Including work from: Hasti Abbasi, Venero Armanno, Mandy Beaumont, John Birmingham, David Ades, John Ashbery, Peter Bakowski, Bill Berkson, Ashley Elizabeth Best, Robbie Coburn, Deborah Conway, Stuart Cooke, Brett Dionysius, Michael Dransfield, Liam Ferney, Cal Freeman, Andrew Galan, Amy Hempel, Matt Hetherington, Rose Hunter, Lachlan Jarrah, John Kinsella, Robert Lort, Sophie MacNeill, Margaret Malone, Ian McBryde, Frank O’Hara, Chuck Palahniuk, Angela Peita, Laura Ellen Scott, Tom Shapcott, Tom Spanbauer, David Stavanger, Mark Terrill, Samuel Wagan Watson, John Wainwright, Ashleigh Watson, Edward Willes, Ouyang Yu + more
Wednesday
27 April you are invited to a night of poetry, music and performance from some
of Canberra’s most original writers, musicians and performers. Including
Eleanor Malbon, David Finnigan, Nick Delatovic and Melinda Smith, this
gathering is to launch Andrew Galan’s latest collection, For All The Veronicas
(The Dog Who Staid) - New Poems, published by Brisbane’s Bareknuckle Books. The
event will be MCed by BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!’s Joel Barcham.
So join
us at the Gorman Arts Centre from 7:30pm for an 8pm start.
Cost:
Free.
Drinks
and books available for sale at the event.
If you
would like more information about each of our performers please read on.
Andrew
Galan
Andrew
Galan is an internationally published poet and co-producer of renowned poetry
event BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!. Described by reviewers as ‘riddled with satire’,
his poetry is gut, direct, and imagination and reality meeting to eat and
fight. Showcased at events including the Woodford, National Folk and Queensland
Poetry festivals, and Chicago’s Uptown Poetry Slam, his verse appears in
journals such as the Best Australian Poems, Jet Fuel Review and Cordite. That
Place of Infested Roads (life during wartime) - KF&S Press, 2013 - is his
first book. His latest is For All the Veronicas (The Dog Who Staid) -
Bareknuckle Books, 2016.
Melinda
Smith won the 2014 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for her fourth book of
poems, Drag down to unlock or place an emergency call (Pitt St Poetry, 2013).
She has performed her work all over Australia. She is based in Canberra, and is
currently poetry editor of The Canberra Times. Her next book of poems will be
out later in 2016.
Nick
Delatovic
Nick
Delatovic is a writer, producer and performer based in Canberra. He has been
one of the folks behind You Are Here festival since 2011, creating and
assisting with hundreds of experimental arts events in that time. An alumni of
the Street Theatre's Hive program for emerging writers, Nick has written stage
plays including Rig (2011) and The Last Prom (2013). He is currently touring
Bomb Collar, his one-man sci-fi cabaret musical. As one half of music-and-film
production company Lick Nuke he has created dozens of music videos and the odd
short film, including the Screen ACT-commissioned Lights (2013).
David is
a writer, theatre-maker, festival producer and pharmacy assistant from
Canberra, Australia. With science-theatre ensemble Boho, he works with research
scientists from institutions including University College London, the Stockholm
Resilience Centre, CSIRO and the Australian Academy of Sciences. He has been a
resident artist for the Battersea Arts Centre in London, Tanghalang Pilipino in
Manila and Campos de Gutierrez in Medellin, Colombia. David has been
commissioned to create new work for organisations including, Coney, the
Powerhouse Museum, the Canberra Street Theatre, Opera Australia, the National
Film and Sound Archive, and the Free Word Centre in London, and his scripts
have been nominated for the Max Afford National Playwrights Award and the
Queensland Premier’s Literary Award. David is a Churchill Fellow (2012) and an
Australia Council Early Career Fellow (2014-16) and founded and co-directed two
ongoing arts festivals: the Crack Theatre Festival in Newcastle (2009-10), and
the You Are Here festival in Canberra (2011-13).
Eleanor
Malbon
Ellie is
a Canberran who writes poetry. She performs predominantly in Canberra;
including for BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!, Feminartsy, RIP publishing, Grapple
publishing, Scissors Paper Pen, the Canberra Poetry Slam, You Are Here festival
and various other charming pop up events.
I have a new poem at Demos Journal. They offered this description, ‘Responding
to the pervasive influence of America, Andrew Galan explores imagery of place
and identity’. The piece is titled Poetry For Fighting (They Say). The image is by Amanda Coghlan and was taken in El
Bruc, Catalonia during my 2014 residency at the Can Serrat International Artist Residency. Thanks to Demos for publishing the poem.
The work has
been published alongside pieces from Ian Gibbins, Elena Kotasvili, Nathan Shepherdson, Renee
Vaughan Sutherland and Annie Te Whiu.
This is
what the zine series creator Pascalle Burton has to say about the series, ‘The
zine consists of the words, images and concepts of others. Expect found and
visual poetry and collage, plus contributions from other artists and poets. Even
the title of the zine series must be attributed to DJ Spooky that Subliminal
Kid.’
