blog eats poet

2011-03-09T16:40:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sa-3DoXHQQ

Going Down Swinging No.30 launch

2010-08-07T23:52:00.000-07:00

Thursday Night Swing Club: No.30 Melbourne Launch Party

The band will swing. The funk will fly. The jazz will ignite your feathers.

Thursday 2nd September, 8pm–10.30pm, Toff In Town
$25 (No.30 included in ticket price)
Hosted by Brian Nankervis (Rockwiz) Launched by Richard Watts (RRR)

Tickets selling fast:
http://tickets.mwf.com.au/session2.asp?sn=Thursday+Night+Swing+Club&s=138

Starring: Maxine Beneba Clarke, Ezra Bix, Emily XYZ and Myers Bartlett (USA),Paul Mitchell and Eleanor Jackson. Plus DJ Johnny Topper, Silent Disco projection, and the hot swingin’ sounds of FLAP!

The Ghost Poetry Project

2009-12-09T15:24:00.000-08:00

You can find/order a copy of my latest book at Readings, Borders, Gleebooks, Fullers Bookshop, Collected Works... in fact you can order it in through any book store in Australia. Also directly through my publisher. Hope you enjoy it.

Publisher: Puncher and Wattmann: http://puncherandwattmann.com
ISBN: 978-1-92145018-1
Distributor: Inbooks

And come and listen to some of my tracks at myspace: www.myspace.com/ncurnow

ciao

Blog Battle (results)

2009-11-21T00:11:00.001-08:00

The dust settles upon the carnage and now that you’ve returned to the scene of the battle you can’t help but ask: What crazed art took place here? What kind of reckless poets fought upon these streets, in this village square, across these terracotta rooves of ancientness? Surely they were mighty warriors who had some idea of what the whole point was.

And perhaps it is not to soon to tell tales of this fight or to tag this epic story with ‘legend’. Two poets clashed, one poet was triumphant, the dust settles, the carnage. Such carnage.

Now any lesser poet might cry “foul” but with the deepest respect I must concede to Derek Motion, the winner of the first ever Australian Poetry Blog Battle. All pageantry and honour to you, Derek. May you continue your wild journey of the blogosphere, defeating foes, spreading rumours and writing marvelous, marvelous poetry.

(As you may have suspected we are actually very good friends, and he doesn’t really owe me $20 bucks. Or does he? You should ask him. 'Cause he LOVES a good Chicko Roll. And then say something like: hey man, you’ve got dreadlocks.) http://typingspace.wordpress.com/

The King is dead. Long live the King.

So hasn’t it just been a passion-fuelled few weeks of poetry, ego and mayhem? Thanks to all of those who have supported our ridiculous competition, buying into our profound shallowness which has only served to highlight our sensationalistic, adversarial and self-destructive tendencies. Your comments have made us smile, laugh out loud and sometimes, well, a little bewildered. But we hope, that like us, you've had some fun. Perhaps we’ve even captured your hearts, imaginations and done untold wonders for Australian poetry.

Some of you have hinted that this is all just an elaborate way for me to ditch my blog. And I must confess, I have grown pretty tired of it. It began as a way of keeping you in touch with The Ghost Poetry Project, and now that the book is all done I feel it’s time to move on. I’m finding engagement a little exhausting these days and god knows my addiction to self-promotion is a bore. (Isn’t it handy that for every chapter of our lives that we close we can abandon a blog to go with it?)

Still, I wanted to give Derek a good fight and only ever wanted an invitation to be lead vocals in his band! There, I said it! Perhaps I’ve got his attention now!!!

So thanks to all those who left comments, who wrote poems/made portraits of us, and to those who followed Blog Eats Poet from day one (you know who you are). Thanks also to those who sat on the fence for the two of us and for those who refused to. Also to those who signed up to a Google account just to leave a comment. A special thanks to Adam Ford.

For me it’s back to the lab again, back to the company of concentration. And I plan to enjoy it for some time.

In Sarah Day’s poem Cat Bird she writes of how the cat, through the slow act of stalking actually becomes its surroundings, becomes invisible to the bird and in some way the bird itself. This is exactly what writing is for me. Through the infernal process of typing and deleting I somehow feel connected to the universe. It’s that point where I am painfully present, making small, hard decisions and yet absent from myself at the same time. This is the deep joy and mystery of creativity, when I am completely engaged, inspired, lost and invisible. Paul Auster says: when you truly enter a state of solitude, that is the moment you are not alone anymore.

So seriously. That’s it. (Not that I won’t be out there reading or performing for you again real soon… by all means keep the invites coming) but I’m done with this blog. That was the deal and I lost fair and square…

But now nobody said I couldn’t MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/ncurnow

;)

So check out some of my performance tracks. Some of them vintage.

Also let me leave you with two tracks that still serve as my favourite peptalks before I hit the stage. Two great lyricists who have written here about ambition, ego and the stakes of this crazy, crazy life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFYQQPAOz7Y

and of course…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dldtY9ZbqYs

Now let me hear your verse right where the horns are.

The View From Here

2009-11-21T00:11:00.000-08:00

Hey please check out the first part of an interview with me at The View From Here:

http://www.viewfromheremagazine.com/

And listen to this amazing piece by Cate Kennedy, featured on the new Going Down Swining no. 29 cd.

http://www.indiefeedpp.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=548965&comments=on

News on the Blog Battle coming soon.

Sarah Day & Lorraine McGuigan

2009-11-14T16:59:00.000-08:00

Very excited that two of my favourite poets are launching their latest books in Melbourne.

The work of Sarah Day has been a recent pleasure, with her new book Grass Notes (Brandl &Schlesinger) never being far from my hands. I only wish I had discovered her years ago, and have no excuse for that as she’s had such an extraordinary career. She writes of apples, rain and chickens and of a dead wombat on the side of the road with 'grey palms big and soft as a child's'. But the poem I keep coming back to is Cat Bird. A favourite of mine. So come along to Glenfern to hear her read. We might all take a bottle of champagne up onto the roof afterwards and watch the sun go down.

Launch of Grass Notes at Glenfern, 417 Inkerman Street, East St Kilda, Sunday, November 22nd at 4.30pm.

Where do I start with Lorraine McGuigan? A few years ago I read her first book What the Body Remembers and was completely over-awed. One of the finest example of life-writing I have ever come across, it is a raw, moving and deeply personal account. An inspiration from start to finish. And now we get a new collection… Wings of the Same Bird (Interactive Press).

BALLARAT LAUNCH: Dr Robyn Rowland AO
Date: Saturday, 5th December
Venue: The Ballroom, Portico Wine Bar,
203 Dana Street, Ballarat
Time: 1.30 - 3.30 pm

MELBOURNE LAUNCH:
Dr David Reiter, publisher Interactive Press
Date: Sunday, 6th December
Venue: The Hayden Raysmith Room,
Ross House, 4th Floor,
247 Flinders LaneTime: 2.00 pm

I hope you can make it along. These are two of my all time favourites and I may not be around much longer to tell you about them! Check out the Blog Battle below (as featured on Currajah) I’m losing!

Curnow vs Motion (Blog Battle)

2009-10-31T20:59:00.000-07:00

Dear faithful blog reader

There was a time when writers would quietly stow themselves away and compete for space in prestigious journals by writing the best piece they could. Or they held up another writer as some kind of creative nemesis, a necessary yardstick for their own ambition/progress.

But now, thanks to the wonders of the blogosphere, we can go head-to-head in public smackdowns that immediately determine whose work has impact, relevance, appeal, musicality, sexuality, popularity, freshness, verbal vaporessence, grounding, counterbalancing and a well-developed ‘haunting yet transparent’ latency of meaning.

So thus I challenge poet Derek Motion to the first ever Australian Poetry Blog Battle!!!

For three-weeks we will be competing for comments (support or trash-talk), tallying them up in order to determine our own inter/national significance. Why? Because we’re very important pioneers in the Australian literary scene. Because we’re about ‘conversation’ and intellectual rigour. And while I don’t have anything against Derek personally (the only trouble is his personality) I do really REALLY want to bring him down. Plus he still owes me $20 bucks for a late-night six pack and Chicko Roll in Albury! Will he even acknowledge that... I don't think so.

This is how it goes:

The tally is of comments posted on our “Blog Battle” posts which remain up and open for three weeks (culminating in the Melb Four W launch). Thereby the competition shall be declared over and the winner annouced.

The poet who receives the most comments on their blog will bask in validation, knowing that it truly confirms their poetic worth, the relevance of their practice and their place in Australia’s literary canon.

In turn, the loser must abandon their blog FOREVER and go home crying to his momma. And with any luck it'll be Derek, with this taped over his mouth: http://ilovestickytape.blogspot.com/2009/10/poem-on-roll-charles-bainbridge.html

Now thems the stakes and the only rules. Oh, plus the variety of commenters will also be taken into account. So I’m calling for support from the big and little names in Australian literature, to the big and little names in Portland’s over 55 cross-stitching guild. If you’ve ever enjoyed my poetry but never bought a book… or if you bought a book but never enjoyed the poetry… I need you now. Talk it up. Send out the message. He was in the 'top 50 writing blogs' and in Best Aust Poems 09…

I’ve got my work cut out for me!

I know that in the past much of my blog has been about self-promotion. I know. And you might even think this Battle is a bit over-the-top too. But check out my last post about the Thar. I mean that’s good work, that’s contributing, and it’s a prime example of what you’re not gonna see anymore if I happen to get shut down in this vain (yet let’s not forget ‘groundbreaking’) maelstrom of words.

Plus I invented the Fb DanceTrain… I INVENTED it!!!

Oh and here’s a link to Derek’s blog: http://typingspace.wordpress.com/

Thar

2009-10-26T23:18:00.000-07:00

So I received this anonymous postcard the other day which had a picture of a Thar on it. All that it said was:

Happy new home in Ballarat! This is not a bunyip, it is a Thar. I didn't even know there were such things.

Then yesterday I received an email from a Sydney poet in praise of The Ghost Poetry Project:

Bloody hell, I say, bloody hell! Just finished your book last night, and bloody hell it is good! Bloody hell. You have made a fine fine thing indeed, matey.

And little things like this are enough to keep one going.

Final Draft and Reeling and Writhing

2009-09-21T23:55:00.000-07:00

Hey just a couple of new things out on The Ghost Poetry Project:

First, this interview from Benedict Taylor up at the Final Draft website of 2SER. But will it be enough for the good people at Gleebooks to get it in now on their shelves? hmm... we will see ;)

Check it out here:

http://finaldraft.podomatic.com/entry/eg/2009-09-21T18_50_19-07_00

And here we go... wow... my book's first official review by Genevieve Tucker here:

http://austlit.typepad.com/cfn/2009/09/curnow-nathan.html

Plus if that's not enough head over to Famous Reporter for the launch speech that Kevin Brophy delivered at Old Melbourne Gaol:

http://walleahpress.com.au/FR40Brophy.html

The Ghost Poetry Project

2009-09-06T21:08:00.000-07:00

You can find/order a copy of my latest book through Readings, Collected Works, Gleebooks, Fullers Bookshop. In fact you can order it in through any book store in Australia. Also directly through my publisher. Hope you enjoy it.

Publisher: Puncher and Wattmann: http://puncherandwattmann.com
ISBN: 978-1-92145018-1
Distributor: Inbooks

Yay Paddy!

2009-09-02T18:35:00.001-07:00

Off to Sydney tomorrow for my launch. But a big thanks to novelist Paddy O'Reilly before I go. Paddy kindly had me as her guest on her ABC Ballarat spot with Dominic Brine.

http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2009/09/02/2674300.htm?site=ballarat

Check out Paddy's website here. She's a superb storyteller and a new neighbour of mine. Ballarat, huh, what a town! http://www.paddyoreilly.com.au/

Now if you're looking for The Ghost Poetry Project head over to Readings. Carlton has already sold out of it (their 2 copies?) but it's on its way to other stores and you can always order it in. St Kilda store have me up on their "recommended reads" which is brilliant!

http://www.readings.com.au/product/9781921450181/ghost-poetry-project

Or go to 'Orders' at the website of my publisher Puncher and Wattmann: http://puncherandwattmann.com/

While you're there why not order Westering by Peter Kirkpatrick. He's doing the honours, launching my book in Sydney.

Okay freaks. The shout-outs are over for now. Hope to catch you all at a reading (either yours or mine) soon. Or else for a quiet beer.

Liner Notes/Sydney Launch

2009-08-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

Well Liner Notes (Thriller) at the Melbourne Writers Festival last night was AMAZING (the best Liner Notes ever, perhaps the best MWF gig ever!) Major shoutouts to Rosemary Cameron, Steven Grimwade and the festival organisers for including it in the program. It's such a winning concept: pop culture/live music/spoken worders/comedians/novelists, all brought together to respond to a classic album. Sean M Whelan, you're not only a kick-arse poet but a big ideas man. Emilie Zoey Baker, you're a goddess of the stage and mic. Michael Nolan, you're SO super sharp I am in awe. You will all go down in legend!

So now I'm heading up to Sydney for the launch of The Ghost Poetry Project. Sept 5, 4-6pm at St Stephens church in Newtown. I'm looking forward to a relaxed avo gig there. No need to turns the lights out this time. Might even have a bit of a Q&A if we get a good turn out.

Then flying back home to Melbourne to read at Passionate Tongues for the Overload Poetry Festival with Cate Kennedy, Jennifer Compton and Miles Allinson, which is a really cool line up of established and emerging poets.

http://overloadpoetry.org/passionatetongues

Check out Cate's new novel here:

http://www.scribepublications.com.au/book/theworldbeneath

Then I have some Ballarat readings, a reading in Portland and the Tassie Poetry Festival in Launceston which looks like fun. And then, after that, everything should be pretty cruisey.

The Ghost Poetry Project on MWF blog

2009-08-25T00:05:00.000-07:00

An interview with me about The Ghost Poetry Project is currently up on the MWF blog.
Thanks to Estelle Tang.

http://mwfblog.com.au/2009/08/25/interview-nathan-curnow/

Why not head over to Readings for a copy?

http://www.readings.com.au/

Flip Side (Thriller)

2009-08-15T18:15:00.000-07:00

Well the Melbourne launch of The Ghost Poetry Project was INCREDIBLE! I am so lucky to have celebrated such a big chapter in my life with such friends, peers (and fans!) and in the city's dark heart: Old Melbourne Gaol. WOW! What a ride! The gaol was a spectacular venue and I got to tread the walkways, looking down on my audience as I performed, many of whom have played a major role in my development.

Check out a write up of the night at Angela Meyer's Literary Minded: http://blogs.crikey.com.au/literaryminded/

Check out pics at Sean M Whelan's: http://loveisthenewhate.blogspot.com/

And the night was made extra special by Kevin Brophy who said some very kind things to launch the book. Stay tune for his launch speech in Famous Reporter later on in the year. For now check out a poem of his here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/jan/05/poem-week-kevin-brophy-painters

Now the Sydney launch: Saturday, Sept 5, St Stephens, Newtown 4-6pm.

But before then it's Melbourne Writers Festival time and I'll be doing a couple of gigs this year, including reading some ghost poems at the Festival Club for Wordplay on August 23rd.
http://www.mwf.com.au/2009

Oh and then there is this small gig:

Bunyips only eat avocadoes

2009-07-29T17:28:00.000-07:00

The Ghost Poetry Project is a unique approach to the paranormal, melding historical accounts with personal experience. A narrative of one extraordinary year it consists of around seven responses to each ‘haunted’ site, drawn together by ‘Bunyips only Eat Avocadoes’.

A father of four young children, poet Nathan Curnow became increasingly interested in how language works to both terrify and embolden us. This was most apparent when his daughter became afraid of bunyips, a fear that could not be relieved by any amount of her parents’ loving persuasion. After months of sleepless nights it was suddenly undone by the words of another child who told her that bunyips only eat avocadoes.

As a child Nathan Curnow experienced that same debilitating fear. He could barely breathe due to an overwhelming sense of terror. The Ghost Poetry Project is about returning to that place. It is an account of the ghosts he met, their stories and of what a poet can and cannot put to rest.

The ten haunted sites include:

The Chifley Suite (ACT), Old Adelaide Gaol (SA), Picton (NSW), Monte Cristo Homestead(NSW), Fremantle Arts Centre (WA), Richmond Bridge (TAS), Elvira The Haunted Hearse(NSW), Norfolk Island, The Quarantine Station (NSW), Port Arthur (TAS).

Book launch details below...

Front Cover

2009-07-01T19:28:00.000-07:00

The Ghost Poetry Project

Melbourne launch: Friday, Aug 14, 6-7:30 pm at Old Melb Gaol. Launched by Kevin Brophy.

Sydney launch: Saturday, Sept 5, 4-6 pm at St Stephens in Newtown. Launched by Peter Kirkpatrick.

Crazy BIG Things

2009-06-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

Crazy BIG things going on for me in the next couple months:

The Ghost Poetry Project

Melbourne launch: Friday, Aug 14, 6-7:30 pm at Old Melb Gaol. Launched by Kevin Brophy.

Sydney launch: Saturday, Sept 5, 4-6 pm at St Stephens in Newtown. Launched by Peter Kirkpatrick.

Wordplay

One of the best gigs going and I get to feature on August 13, the night before my Melbourne book launch. Following that I’ll be featuring for Wordplay at the upcoming Melbourne Writers Festival along with poets Ben Ezra, Chris Wallace Crabbe, Chloe Wilmott Jackson and Geoff Lemon.

http://www.wordplay.org.au/

Thriller (Liner Notes)

In more Melbourne Writers Festival news, I’m performing for THE hottest ticket in town, Liner Notes. And yep, we’re doing none other than MJ’s Thriller. So, yep, it's gonna be big!

For each Liner Notes event, novelists, poets, comedians, writers, hip hop artists and the like are assigned a track each from a much-loved album. They're invited to create a response to it in any way they see fit. All up, it makes for a great themed night, combining the best of literary, anecdotal and musical pleasures.

At the Toff in Town on Thursday, 27 August. Starring Linda Jaivin, Nick Earls and Josh Earl. Check the MWF website for more details soon.

ps. the track I’ve been entrusted with is Thriller! ARGGGH. I'm not worthy. I’ve booked in lessons this week to get some moves down.

Dog Chain 4-7-9-1 or How the Goose Broke Open
(working title)

While all of this rolls on, and thanks to the Australia Council, I’m writing my new play. I haven’t spoken much about it yet because… well, superstitious reasons I guess. But I’m attempting (in a pretty lame way) to say a bit more than usual in this post.

Based upon convict stories and escape myths it is an inspired mash up of characters such as the bushranger/escape artist, Martin Cash, and the cannibal, Alexander Pearce. It is a world of quarantine, paranoia, madness, love and dreams, separated by a chain of savage dogs.

Jeez, wish me luck. I'm exhausted just thinking about it all ;)

Surfer SA (stuff)

2009-06-15T02:05:00.000-07:00

Okay. The Sydney dates for the launch of the The Ghost Poetry Project are now confirmed. So here are the full details again. My cover is coming soon (I promise).

Melbourne launch: Friday, Aug 14, 6-7:30 pm at Old Melb Gaol. Launched by Kevin Brophy.

Sydney launch: Saturday, Sept 5, 4-6 pm at St Stephens in Newtown. Launched by Peter Kirkpatrick.

I am SO chuffed to have Kevin Brophy and Peter Kirkpatrick doing the launch honours. Such support is truly humbling. Thanks guys!

Now I’ve just come home from performing at the Going Down Swinging launch up in Melbourne. It was a great night and had a top response to my work. The Sydney launch is tonight in fact, so I’m hoping it all goes well up there too.

While up in Melbourne I got to hang out with Daniel Ducrou. He's been a joy to meet. And a surfer from SA, wouldn't you know. We stayed up late workshopping titles for his forthcoming book with Text. So check out his link. He’s a cool dude.

http://www.danielducrou.com/

And a big shout out to Steven Amsterdam whose book Things We Didn’t See Coming (Sleepers Publishing) I’ve just had the pleasure of reading. Thanks Steven. I mean, wow!

http://www.stevenamsterdam.com/

Finally check out the submission guidelines for Four W this year. It’s closing soon and Four W have launches planned for Sydney, Wagga and Melbourne. So chances are you’ll be able to take your mum along to one.

http://www.csu.edu.au/faculty/arts/humss/booranga/submission-guidelines.html

Stay tune now 'cause I’ll be posting the talk I did for the emerging Writers festival. The Art Vs Craft (bunny incident).

cheers

Made From the Matter of Stars

2009-06-13T00:18:00.000-07:00

Below is a link to Made From the Matter of Stars, a performance piece I was commissioned to write for Going Down Swinging. This abridged version was part of a show titled Static that involved myself, Sean M Whelan and Alicia Sometimes.

It's up at IndieFeed for just a few days. So hope you like it.

http://www.indiefeedpp.libsyn.com/

The Ghost Poetry Project

2009-06-09T02:03:00.000-07:00

Okay. So this is where we're at with the new book...

Will show you the cover soon. We're working on it now and so far it's lookin HOT.

Melbourne launch: Friday, Aug 14, 6-7:30 pm at Old Melb Gaol. Launched by Kevin Brophy.

Sydney launch: most likely the weekend of 5/6th Sept. Launched by Peter Kirkpatrick. (location still to come, but there's been talk of St Stephens in Newtown).

Ten night. Ten haunted locations. One terriyfing adventure aacross Australia.

From a gaol cell to a lunatic asylum to a night in a haunted hearse, The Ghost Poetry Project is one poet's attempt to find a language of guts and daring. A unique exploration of fear, courage and the power of mystery and myth.

Post EWF (bunny report)

2009-06-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

After a panel session in the Yarra Room this bunny went to browse the EWF zine fair and hang out with his pal the wooden wombat. He had a great time in Melbourne and thinks the Emerging Writers Festival totally dacks on all others.

Poet Bunny RockStar

2009-05-31T21:10:00.000-07:00

An invite to the coolest gig in town. We all hope to see you there.

So I'm just home from the Emerging Writers Festival in Melbourne. Um, I don't know what to say about it other than just wait for the pics. That might be best. This Poet-Bunny-RockStar is SO tired. It turns out that if you happen have to a giant bunny suit handy you can do good deeds like assisting with wedding photos. I gave a kiss to one beautiful bride on the steps of the Town Hall before heading inside for my session. Felt awesome! (thanks to Angela Meyer for the "poet bunny rockstar" tag. that's a keeper. I couldn't be happier with that.)

And another thing I learnt is that if you do have a bunny suit Jennifer Mills will always help zip you up. Check out her new book with UQP here... http://www.jenjen.com.au

Now pop Friday, August 14 in your diary for the launch of The Ghost Poetry Project at Old Melbourne Gaol. 6-7:30 pm. Launched by Kevin Brophy.

Ten nights. Ten haunted locations. One terrifying adventure across Australia.

From a gaol cell to a lunatic asylum to a night in a haunted hearse, The Ghost Poetry Project is one poet's attempt to find a language of guts and daring. A unique exploration of fear, courage and the power of mystery and myth.

Overland 195

2009-05-27T03:21:00.000-07:00

Two of my poems from The Ghost Poetry Project (forthcoming in August with Puncher & Wattmann) are up at Overland 195.

These were inspired by my stay at the Quarantine Station, Spring Cove, Sydney. Check out my archives for pics.

http://web.overland.org.au/?page_id=1168

And here's an interview I did for the Skill Share Series with Tess Jager from Express Media...

http://www.expressmedia.org.au/content.php?content_id=504

My jeans still hug me

2009-05-10T19:23:00.000-07:00

So here's a few things you might be interested in getting along to.

I'm running a workshop for Express Media on Performance Poetry, which is really cool. I get to talk about my favourite tracks and discuss a form that's been good to me/interested me for a long time.

www.expressmedia.org.au/events.php?content_id=496

Then come and see if I'm up to scratch the following weekend at the Emerging Writers Festival. I'll be in a debate/panel session at the Melbourne Town Hall. One titled Art vs Craft.

www.emergingwritersfestival.org.au/MTH.html

Whether you're ready for it or not I'm planning to bust out some John Laws poetry on ya.

My jeans

still hug me

but i'd rather

you did

And then I get to perform for real at the upcoming launch of Going Down Swinging #28, June 10 Northcote Soical Club. These nights are always BIG. And I'll be going unplugged with the piece they commisioned me to do for last year's Melbourne Writers Festival. Static is one of my faves. So I can't wait for this one. More news on this soon.

www.goingdownswinging.org.au/index.html

Gaol pics

2009-04-19T07:22:00.000-07:00

With thanks to photographers Julie Millowick, Julie Hough and the Castlemaine State Festival

Zorro dog

2009-04-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

Now don’t forget that Page Seventeen is currently open for submissions until June 30 so check the submission/competition guidelines carefully…

http://www.pageseventeen.com.au/news.html

I am fortunate enough to be judging the poetry competition this year, so I’m looking forward to reading some strong poems.

Also, Express Media in partnership with the Emerging Writers Festival, is presenting a mini workshop series in May. I’ll be running a workshop on performance poetry, alongside Lisa Dempster (Independent Publishing) and Ben Eltham (pitching)

http://expressmedia.org.au/workshops.php

And make sure to check out Lisa Dempster’s site, Unwakeable. At moment you’ll find pictures of her little dog dressed as Zorro. Just without the mask.

http://www.lisadempster.com.au/

Oh and I’m on a panel for the Emerging Writers Festival too…

Art vs. Craft?
One of our special Two Sides of the Coin debates where writers debate with themselves. Is it all about lyrical musings regardless of plot and structure, or can you put any old a pap down if the plot rocks? Obviously you need both…obviously. Obviously?

With Nathan Curnow, Kirk Marshall, & Elise Hurst
Hosted by Susan Hayes

12:30 Sunday the 31st of May
Yarra Room, Melbourne Town hall

The EWF program is being launched on the 23rd April.

Poetry Tough Talk

2009-04-05T14:15:00.000-07:00

I’m after creative tough talk that incorporates poetry titles. Some examples, along with the author of the book…

If you don’t shut up I’m gonna kick you in the Magisterium!
(Joel Deane)

I’ll beat the Minorphysics out of you! (Paul Mitchell)

Meet my fists: Folly and Grief! (Jennifer Harrison)

That’s it, I’m going Atomic Ballet on you’re arse! (S K Kelen)

Let me serve you up some of my hot Kurri Kurri Book of the Dead! (Greg McLaren)

Ok. Time to bust out a little ManWolfMan (LK Holt)

Gaol gig was bonkers!

2009-03-31T02:03:00.000-07:00

Just home from the Castlemaine State Festival. I had the pleasure of reading at the Old Gaol up there which was a perfect setting for ‘ghost poetry’. I featured with two blow-your-mind poets, Ian McBryde and Karen Knight, who just happened to blow my mind.

So I get up there, the lights go down and I start shouting at the audience who are surrounded by cells, sitting just beneath the gallows.

Who was there to shout back at me from the second storey?

The kick-arse-wonder-poet, Ross Gillett. This guy handled the call-and-response poem like the true professional he is, helping open my set to perfection. Ross is a total inspiration to me, and I’ve learnt so much from his lyrical poetry over the last few years. Thanks mate! You really do put the ‘la’ in Ballarat ;)

And was extra-chuffed too with the poets & peers who turned out to listen and support the evening. It makes me feel very encouraged and well, just plain gooey-ectoplasm-special. Ta. Ross Donlon, you rock!

So, the gig was friggin ace! You could have heard a pin drop (or a condemned man) through each of the readings. Now if anyone else has a gaol they want me to read at, just send me a line. The Ghost Poetry Project will be launched in August. Can't wait!

Check out one of my ghost poems here on Stylus, written about the 'haunted' Quarantine Station at Spring Cove. Friggin spooky!

http://www.styluspoetryjournal.com/main/master.asp?id=920

Now a big shout-out to my kiss-and-a-punch poetry star, Alicia Sometimes. Check out her super new book, Soundtrack, plus she’s working on a new spoken word spectacular at the Melbourne Planetarium. How cool will that be? Check out the details here…

http://www.aliciasometimes.com/page13.htm

So after all this festival action I had the pleasure of running into Australia’s Rummikub champion. Yes the game of Rummikub is played at the highest level, and before long she found herself on an all expenses paid trip to Holland to battle it out with the best… placing ninth in the world! Not bad for someone who’d only ever played the game once before. I am so in the wrong game!!! But with a bit of enthusiasm you too could be off to the next competition in Spain. Bizarre.

Poetry Thread

2009-03-24T00:49:00.000-07:00

Hey

I hope you wanna check out this new thread of poems. From four exciting Aussie writers (and a new poem of mine at the end). I was chuffed just to be invited.

http://grahamnunn.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/guided-by-poets-queensland/

might see you at Castlemaine this weekend.

Speedos & Silver Bullets

2009-03-16T05:40:00.001-07:00

Just back from another weekend in Melbourne.

I spent Friday night drinking Silver Bullets with the Dream Technologist. Turns out that neither of us are Werewolves.

Saturday morning and I was swimming laps at Brunswick pool in tight Speedos. I know, I don’t know how that ended up happening either. I haven’t worn Speedos since I was ten! But I slipped them on and loved every second of it.

Then I went and had a coffee with my friend and shit-hot director, Greg Carroll. He said:

Yeah I’ve known a lot of poets. I’ve looked after them. They’re all dead now. ;)

Next was a recording session for Going Down Swinging at RRR. It was great to catch up with my Melbourne posse who helped me lay down my 8 min track. Sean was on the studio floor belting the crap out of Lisa's leather handbag at my feet. I guess you'll just have to hear it. They even gave me some fashion tips before I went off to a wedding. They said: Nathan, no bandana! Which turned out to be good advice.

The wedding went well and I finally met Joel Deane, poet, novelist and the Premier’s speech writer. Joel and I have been published in a number of journals together, including in the Best Aust Poems 08. So we had a chat about the difference between poetry and political rhetoric (in which I think I said some dumb things) then we covered Peter Garrett, community groups and the bizarre world of Doncaster Shoppingtown.

Check out his blog here. http://joeldeane.blogspot.com/

Progress?

2009-03-02T00:58:00.000-08:00

So here's a poem I didn't write but that was published with my name beneath it... in a literary hoax that I'm only just catching up on. How slow am I?

I guess this is the poetry equivalent of being 'punked'. But my main objection is that the hoax wasn't more creative... a computer came up with stuff and they just stuck names to it. So here is my first computer generated poem that i didn't even have to generate.

Progress

Right rights and left
.earrings
A glass
A shore
A delay
A delay

Glory

Serenity written inside hardihood
A kind of champaign
Confronted
Throwing
Singleness
Progress
High desires and
.sure places

Flash/Man's Head Exploding

2009-02-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

Well I hope everyone has survived the heat. A few odds and ends for you to check out. Firstly, Flash, a UK journal has accepted one of my ghost poems… they like short short stories, up to 360 words. If it sounds like your kinda bag check it out here…

http://www.chester.ac.uk/flash.magazine/

I also did an interview about my forthcoming book The Ghost Poetry Project on ABC NT last night with Melanie Tait… I’ll post the link here soon.

Now my favourite pic at the moment is by super poet and artist, Miles Allinson. This is from the postcard work he does, titled Man’s Head Exploding…

Hope you liked my beach photos the other day. But the true photographer down here is Kirsten Jones. Check out these crazy-sick shots of Portland and stuff. I mean... unbelievable!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/huntingglee/sets/72157603869265704/

Finally, thanks to my friend Kat Cameron who read my poem, Those Adamant Shapes, recently at the local poetry group. Apparently what followed was an argument between group members about my lack of attendance. Does that means they liked the poem? Hmmm….

Literary Minded

2009-01-20T16:27:00.000-08:00

Check out this link for an interview with Sean M Whelan and myself... by the incomparable Angela Meyer

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/literaryminded/2009/01/19/id-like-to-introduce-you-to-two-of-my-favourite-poets/

the book/the publisher... the relief

2009-01-16T16:25:00.000-08:00

Just home from Sydney and my big news for 2009 is that The Ghost Poetry Project (working title) is being published later this year with Puncher & Wattman. That’s right, call it an exclusive. You heard it first here at Blog Eats Poet.

http://www.puncherandwattmann.com/

This is a big deal for me after terrifying myself at haunted sites and working so hard on the manuscript. David Musgrave and Greg McLaren are doing exciting stuff at P&W and I’m really happy to be with a publisher who values the importance of taking risks. So now I guess it’s time to organise a ‘reading tour’ for later on in the year. Some time from August. Full speed ahead.

While I was up in Sydney I also got to check out the first week of the Short and Sweet Play Festival at Newtown Theatre. My play Cable Car of Death was on among others by Tom Taylor and Bridgette Burton. A big thanks to the cast who did a great job: Lisa Fineberg as Kat, Matt Thomson as Ollie, Matt Zochling as Floyd and Johnny Cordukes as Harry Houdini. Check them out here.

http://kadmusarts.com/festivalphotos/images/82_CableCarofDeath014.jpg

Oh and i just finished devouring a book called The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Such a beautiful tale. LOVED it!

"When someone wants a sheep, it is proof that they exist."

"As if, instead of stars, I'd given you a string of little laughing bells..."

AND why not follow

http://www.timeoflight.blogspot.com/

written by poet Miles Allinson... 100 poems in 100 days... an experiment of the creative process... Miles is the true guerilla poet!

merry xmas

2008-12-21T12:54:00.000-08:00

Merry Xmas you lot. Have a safe and happy one…

Well it’s been a big year for me. So many cool things have happened, not least my No Other Life But This getting a mention at Literary Minded as one of Angela Meyer’s top reads of 08. Crikey!

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/literaryminded/2008/12/21/literature-that-rocked-my-world-in-2008/

2009 will be kicking off with my Cable Car of Death on at the Short and Sweet Festival in Sydney. And I’ll have news on the launch date of The Ghost Poetry Project later in the new year.

oh and the new header picture is of the gaol gates on Norfolk Island... a fave of mine... think I'll keep it up for a while.

ciao for now & thanks for stopping by

the quiet faith of others

2008-12-07T14:07:00.000-08:00

New pic in the header again. This one is from Old Adelaide Gaol. It's up there as the spookiest night of my life.

I’m just home from performing at the launch of harvest magazine, another beautiful issue from the mob at RMIT. This officially wraps up my gigs for the year… and what a year… I’m exhausted. Now it’s downhill to Xmas.

One of the nice things about launches is the people you run in to. Can’t name them all here but you know who you are, you Melbourne lit lovers and wonders. And it was a lovely surprise to finally meet Fiona Wright from Sydney. Catch you next time in Newtown!

But the biggest surprise was meeting Clare Renner who is managing the RMIT creative writing course these days. Clare was one of my first teachers back in 2001(?) when I seriously set out to learn more about writing. I still remember her playing us Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart on cassette. She’s been a real believer in me from the start… and the quiet faith of others has been so important over the years.

Getting reflective at the end of the year ain’t I!

Now I’ve managed to score a studio space down here for launching in to a new play over December and January. And trying to get my head in order for a big 2009. Coming up later, an interview I've done with Angela Meyer (that young powerhouse) http://blogs.crikey.com.au/literaryminded/

and more news on The Ghost Poetry Project soon.

girly socks

2008-11-30T13:26:00.000-08:00

Well as you can see I’m still mucking around with a new pic for my header. This one is from the Dining Hall of the Quarantine Station in Sydney. There are numerous ghost stories attached to it… including accounts of smells, like fresh roasting potatoes, or the little girl who appears in the kitchen downstairs with plaits and bubonic plague.

Now big thanks to Going Down Swinging who commissioned our spoken word show Static. Our last performance up in Bendigo was a blast. Met some lovely people including Tru Dowling and heard from local poets… Spring is a slut… won’t be forgetting that line for a while.

After that we retreated to our hotel room to eat pizza and watch Revenge of the Nerds. Alicia and Sean finally confronted me with the fact that I wear girly socks (a real breakthrough moment for us) then we laughed, drank, oh how we laughed some more, and then I crashed out first. The following morning was spent in the spa.

Ah, life on the road.

Desperate to get into the studio now to record the Static show. Hopefully you want to hear it…

And don’t forget the launch of GDS No. 27 at Northcote Social Club, 3rd December, 7.30pm. I’ve been lucky enough to have a squiz at it already and they say the spoken word cd is a knockout this year. http://www.goingdownswinging.org.au/

On Friday, 5th of December I’ll be up in Melbourne for the launch of the new and exciting, harvest magazine. 6pm to 9pm at the Order of Melbourne on Swanston Street. I'll be reading with superstar Geoff Lemon and major bud of mine, Paul Mitchell. http://harvestmagazine.wordpress.com/

And I’m fine with girly socks. I try to wear em like a man.

typewriter walks

2008-11-16T14:15:00.000-08:00

Big thanks to my friend, Leah, for letting me know about the results of the Bruce Dawe Poetry Prize. I came in with a High Commendation for my poem The Last Day, one inspired by Kevin Hart. Turns out that John Kinsella picked up the first prize and you can go and read it here...http://www.usq.edu.au/arts/community/poetryprize/2008.htm

In other news it looks like Static, commissioned by Going Down Swinging, is back on the road again: three spoken word performers, one musician – absolutely no interference.

A lion with the face of actor Harvey Kietel; a fist-fight with Paul Davies at the football; and what the Bible has to say about aliens. Come and buy the Universe a beer...

Alicia Sometimes, Sean M Whelan, Quinn Stacpoole and myself are performing in Bendigo on Friday, Nov 28th. 7.30 pm. Under the Grandstand at the Queen Elizabeth Oval, View St.

$8 supper, lucky door, books/cd’s available
BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL
More info: Tru Dowling 5441 1424
Or Sheree 5442 3634

And don’t forget the launch of GDS No. 27 at Northcote Social Club, 3rd December, 7.30pm. It’s a bonfire night of words & performance. http://www.goingdownswinging.org.au/

Now I’ll be up in Melbourne for the launch of the new and exciting, harvest magazine. Friday, 5th December 6pm to 9pm at the Order of Melbourne on Swanston Street. I'll be reading with superstar Geoff Lemon and major bud of mine, Paul Mitchell. http://harvestmagazine.wordpress.com/

Also please check out the blog of my newest friends, Bean. An artist from Dartmoor UK, she has travelled to Dartmoor AUS for a 10 week residency. Check out pics of her ‘typewriter walks’ and showreel here. http://www.dartmoor-residency.blogspot.com/ Go Bean!

Still waiting on photos for you from a couple of my recent plays… but I hear that a Mystery in a Blimp t-shirt is coming to me from the Benalla production. Merchandise!!!

The Best Australian Poems 2008

2008-11-09T13:48:00.002-08:00

I’ve just received my copies of The Best Australian Poems 2008 edited by Peter Rose. Can’t wait to get stuck into it. Poetry from Jaya Savige and Toby Davidson who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting recently. And from Sarah Holland-Batt and Fiona Wright… who I haven’t met, but the pleasure awaits. The book is launched on Nov 17 at 6.30 pm, Readings, Carlton.

Another launch (it must be the season)… is Four W with a launch in both Wagga Wagga and Sydney. I am so passionate these days about opportunities for regionally-based writers and Four W does a great job in selecting work from all around Australia while developing/supporting its local talent. Looking forward to reading pieces from Derek Motion, Belinda Campbell and Kelly Shaw.

http://www.csu.edu.au/faculty/arts/humss/booranga/events/index.html

Now it looks like none of you have decided to buy my house. Hmm… what if I said that koalas sit in the front tree and walk up and down the street? That’s serious wildlife… that’s value!

Aside from poetry and plays what I really dig is music. Gotta tell you about Kanye West’s latest one Love Lock Down, which is super cool as usual, and The Killers new album available in Australia Nov 22. Go to their site and hear the first single, Human. I’ve played it to death all ready. Plus I’ve been workin the cassette deck in my car lately… returned to Peter Gabriel’s So album… still good after all these years!

The Night Air

2008-10-23T01:09:00.000-07:00

Recently I’ve been introduced to John Jacobs and have been enjoying his late-night program on Radio National called The Night Air. It’s a wonderful, weird fusion of sound. Check it out. I love it. Here is a link to the stuff he captured and beautifully mixed up from TiNA 08 in Newcastle… featuring snippets from Michael Farrell, Astrid Lorange, Nick Keys and the funniest man on this earth with a guitar, Justin Heazlewood aka The Bedroom Philosopher.

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/nightair/stories/2008/2358094.htm#transcript

or check out The Night Air website

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/nightair/

More news coming soon about Sean Whelan’s launch on the 6th Nov at Bar Open in Melbourne, and the launch of the unstoppable Page Seventeen.

Oh and you gotta check out Justin’s link… that famous bedspread…

http://www.bedroomphilosopher.com/

OzCo news & buy my house

2008-10-15T15:03:00.001-07:00

Well the embargo is lifted and I can finally tell you that I’ve been awarded a Developing Writer's Grant from the Literature Board of the Australia Council. This means I am heading back to Port Arthur this year and writing a new play inspired by the stories of the Eaglehawk Neck Dog Chain. And I can’t begin to tell you what this means in terms of financial stability… it couldn’t have come at a better time!

Also check out my 'poem of the week' at the Australian Poetry Centre’s website… up until Monday.

http://www.australianpoetrycentre.org.au/?page_id=2

And if you want to buy my house, check it out here…

http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=105271790&f=10&p=10&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&cc=&c=23084802&s=vic&tm=1224107950

More news coming soon on Ballarat Grammar’s production of my Cable Car of Death and Benalla Tafe’s production of Mystery in a Blimp.

TiNA & Sean M Whelan

2008-10-06T02:42:00.000-07:00

What can I say about TiNA 08?

I read poetry to Tara Moss, went head to head with the Serial Pest and then finished up the day performing to over one hundred people at the late-night reading of my Ghost Poetry at the old Lock Up.

Big thanks to Newcastle poet, Chris Brown, who helped me out with a call-and-response poem at the start of the ‘haunting’. He was hiding in a nearby cell and delivered his lines like a long-time performer. We totally freaked em out! Good job bro (and thanks for letting me crash at your pad).

Then, later in the reading, we heard footsteps on the tin roof above our heads. It totally threw me and by then people thought it was part of the show… but I didn’t know what was going on. I found out later that people were climbing onto the roof because they couldn’t get in… they wanted to look down through the ceiling.

Needless to say… that kind of attention blew my mind!

The other thing that I’m stoked about is Sean M Whelan’s new book of poetry Tattooing the Surface of the Moon, published by Small Change Press and launched up at TiNA. Sean is a master, and poems like Dear Elliot and In The Places Where We Stood are two of my favourites. Stay tune for details of the Melbourne launch soon. It'll be an event you can confidently invite your friends, cousins, extended extendeds to, being sure that it won't suck. He knocks us dead everytime!

This from In the Places Where We Stood …

In a luck filled future, loss is highly collectible
and a valuable jewel in any trophy cabinet.
And in the places where once we stood,
nobody knew how to lose,
like we did.

Almost TINA

2008-09-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

The This Is Not Art Festival is almost here. I’ve been busy preparing for my late night reading at the Lock Up on Thursday night and also for my other panel sessions.

http://www.thisisnotart.org/

There are so many writers I’m looking forward to meeting, having only ever known them by name… including Ivy Alvarez… check out her blog here…

http://ivyai.blogspot.com/

Recently I’ve had some good news from Going Down Swinging. They've accepted one of my ghost poems for the next issue. Plus Peter Rose has selected 'Those Adamant Shapes' for inclusion in Black Inc’s Best Australian Poems 08. So I’m thrilled.

On the play front, Ballarat Grammar have just approached me asking if they can do Cable Car Of Death. I love the thought of 7s and 8s playing Ollie, Floyd and Kat… stuck on a cable car above the Swiss Alps, with nothing but Harry Houdini’s mobile phone number. I’ll post pics up when they come in. And also in Ballarat i have a reading coming up on 13th of October at the Craig Hotel, for the Ballarat Writers' Roving Readings night. Come and hear some ghost stories and poems if you're around.

Now hope to catch you somewhere… and don’t forget the Dream Technologist.

Dream Technologist

2008-09-10T01:44:00.000-07:00

If there is a dream you would like to have but the Sandman hasn't delivered yet, why not try the Dream Technologist? As advertised in The Age...

REQUIRES PARTICIPANTS:

Send a brief description of the dream you would like to have and your phone number to...

The Anonymous Voice

447 Church St Richmond 3121

I encourage you to try it. Word on the street is that the Dream Technologist is remarkably good.

Essential Pablo

2008-09-06T22:34:00.000-07:00

We performed the show Static for the second time last night over at Port Fairy. Afterwards I got to thump Alicia Sometimes in an arm wrestle and then she translated my Japanese tattoo for me beneath a street lamp outside.

Had no idea it meant that! What was I thinking!?

I have a few writing workshops lined up now at schools/mental health groups and then I’m off to the This Is Not Art Festival in Newcastle (hence the pic above). So I finally have time to do some prep…

http://www.thisisnotart.org/

Warning: to anyone hanging out with me up there… we’re getting tattoos! Oh, and I'll be sporting the Karate Kid headband again at some stage. It's tradition.

Finally, I’ve always been a Nerudiano, so I’ve been enjoying some ‘essential’ Pablo which I picked up at Collected Works the other day. But where are the questions? Not one of his questions in there. Grrr…

Craziness

2008-08-31T04:09:00.000-07:00

Well the craziness is over… for now.

Just home from the Melbourne Writers Festival 08. I performed at Fed Square with two of my favourite poets, Alicia Sometimes and Sean M Whelan... plus the cool-for-cats muso, Quinn Stacpoole. Big thanks to the literary journal, Going Down Swinging, who commissioned the show in the first place.

http://www.goingdownswinging.org.au/

Was the gig of a lifetime, and we totally rocked! People really seemed to dig it. But you should have seen us in the Green Room beforehand… soooo nervous. Sean was reciting to himself in the corner, I was plugged into my headphones and Alicia was going back and forth chatterboxing to both of us. Can’t tell you what an honour it was to be up on stage with them. Check out the write up on it (and the rest of the fest) from Angela Meyer.

www.literaryminded.blogspot.com

I also spoke the following night at the Festival Club about The Ghost Poetry Project. A big thanks to David Ryding and the Emerging Writers Festival for sponsoring the session. The ongoing support is deeply encouraging. David, you’re amazing!

So now I’m trying to process all this while looking forward to the next performance of STATIC this weekend at the Ex Libris Book Fair in Port Fairy.

http://www.exlibris.port-fairy.com/

Check out the article on me in the Warrnambool Standard… lamest article I’ve ever read but they have a shot of me in my favourite chair (looking way too serious).

http://warrnambool.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/poetry-in-motion-for-portland-artist/1254712.aspx

Also click on the link below for the what I’m doing at the This Is Not Art Festival in October… can’t wait to get up there for my late night ghost poetry reading…

http://www.thisisnotart.org/

Static MWF 08

2008-08-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

Going Down Swinging presents STATIC: white noise writ large

Three spoken word performers, one musician – absolutely no interference

A lion with the face of actor Harvey Kietel; a fist-fight with Paul Davies at the football; and what the Bible has to say about aliens. Come and buy the Universe a beer...

Featuring Melbourne poets Alicia Sometimes, Sean M Whelan and Nathan Curnow, backed by composer Quinn Stacpoole.

Premiere: The Age Melbourne Writers Festival – Friday 29 August –
BMW Edge Theatre, Federation Square
Double Bill: 8.30pm Tracie Morris 9.20pm STATIC
For tickets and information: http://www.mwf.com.au/

http://www.mwf.com.au/2008/content/mwf_2008_standard.asp?name=CurnowN

Plus see me the following day, Sat 30th Aug, in conversation with David Ryding about The Ghost Poetry Project or listen here to my recent interview with Sarah L'Estrange on ABC's The Book Show...

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow

God, everything will calm down and be back to normal soon...

MWF 08/Book Show

2008-08-13T23:08:00.000-07:00

Lots of news soon on my upcoming gigs at the Melbourne Writers Festival 08 ie. Static performance @ Fed Square with Sean M Whelan and Alicia Sometimes. 29th Aug

David Ryding is also in conversation with me at the MWF regarding The Ghost Poetry Project. Check out the link below to book tickets. Plus you can hear me on Radio National's Book Show this Monday 18/08.

http://www.mwf.com.au/2008/content/mwf_2008_standard.asp?name=CurnowN

A new ghost poem from my manuscript is up on the Famous Reporter site. Check it out if you like… Ralph Wessman does a great job over there. I'm a big fan!

http://www.walleahpress.com.au/b25/?page_id=673

Last of all... please check out some of the old posts for pics from the project. I've just figured out how to put them up. derr...

Writer Around the Murray Fest

2008-08-05T03:22:00.001-07:00

Back in my farmhouse writers residency after a fun weekend in Albury at the Write Around the Murray Fest...

I got to meet Hannie Rayson (man, she's lovely!) and caught up with the equally lovely Cate Kennedy who has always been an inspiration. I was even asked to perform a couple of poems at the Festival dinner too, so was a real thrill.

Following the Fest I held a workshop in the town of Griffith and went to James Fallon High today... all the time being looked after by my top host Derek Motion (and yes, he has dreadlocks!) Still trying to get him into Kanye West... might need a few more road trips! He played me the Wombats and I'm hooked.

Plus the Melbourne Writers Festival 08 program is now up... I'll be performing a show called Static at Fed Square with spoken worders Alicia Sometimes & Sean M Whelan. And then talking about The Ghost Poetry Project the following day... so why not book a ticket and come along?

http://www.mwf.com.au/2008/content/mwf_2008_standard.asp?name=CurnowN

Wagga Wagga

2008-07-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

I'm enjoying my time up here in Wagga. Got to talk to 80 school kids the other day about poetry, ghosts, and how we go about generating ideas...

One of the kids came up to me afterwards and said... will you write about us?" hmmm...

Now check out the posts below for links of what workshops/readings I'm doing up here and when. About to head down to the Write Around the Murray Fest" tomorrow. Should be fun.

Booranga

2008-07-17T19:32:00.000-07:00

Looking forward now to my residency at the Booranga Writers Centre which kicks off on the 28th of July until the 11th August. I’ve just done an interview with a journo from the Daily Advertiser in Wagga, which is good publicity for the reading and the workshops I’m running. Hope to meet lots of Waggarians. Or is it Waggarites?

http://www.csu.edu.au/faculty/arts/humss/booranga/index.html

And the Write around the Murray Festival will be fun in Albury. I’m doing a workshop on Performance Poetry at the Albury Library/Museum. See the link below…

http://www.writearoundthemurray.org.au/

My interview on ABC’s the Book Show must be coming up soon too. So tune in at 10am... you just might hear me yacking. They aired the interview with emerging writer Kate Mulvany the other day, so it won’t be long before I am on. I’ll post the link for you here soon…

Now before I fly out to Wagga I’ll be getting to the launch of the latest Blue Dog which is publishing my poem Anxiety. That will be at the Australian Poetry Centre at Glenfern, St Kilda on the 27th … so come along if you are in the area. It goes from 5:30 to 6:30pm.

Catch you later... I'm going for a bodyboard now in the rain cause I'm writing a poem about surfers/surfing. New writing territory for me. I'm lovin it.

Plus, Go Cadel!! Hold your nerve in those Alps.

welcome/the homecoming

2008-07-07T22:05:00.000-07:00

Well here it is.

Finally ditched the Telstra blog. Was doing my head in. Couldn't handle it any longer.

A friend of mine just bought me a hardcover copy of The Homecoming by Ray Bradbury, illustrated by Dave McKean. It’s a beautiful book about Halloween/a haunting. How come I didn’t know about this before? I’ve read it through once and will need to sit with it for a while now. There is a strangeness to the language which is not easy to swallow but altogether captivating, the reason I will keep coming back to it.

Short stories are built (among other things) upon language use and the art of revelation. It’s as simple and as difficult as that. If you’ve got those two working for you then you’re on your way I reckon. Singing My Sister Down by Margo Lanagan comes to mind here… one of my all time favourites.

I’ve had a few short stories published but plays and poems have been my strength to date. I can see the time coming though when I get back there… tempted by prose amid a desert of sales!

Some lines from The Homecoming…

Silently she stood stiff as a great loaf of nile bread…

Their laughter was a cave of winds…

Uncle Einar, last of all, kettledrummed the air as he descended, laughing at some half-remembered death, perhaps his own, until he lay in the longest box of all…

Home from Port Arthur

2007-08-24T02:21:00.000-07:00

Just home from my night at Port Arthur.

Well what a crazy week. It was kicked off with my night in the Parsonage, a vacant building with nothing but a locked piano and steep staircase; two things I did not want to hear from in the middle of the night. As it was I remained awake listening to every little noise outside my door. It was a wet and windy night and the house certainly let me know it. But I managed to tough it out and am quite proud of the fact that I have endured the night in full at each of the ten sites.

If this spiel is sounding familiar it’s probably because I finished the week doing interviews with ABC radio all over the country. News of my adventures hit the right channels and I was inundated. Most of the interviews took place in my car on the side of the road, juggling my mobile phone as the trucks went by. Some of these interviews went smoother than others, but I am doing my best to sound sharp, articulate and just interesting I guess.

The Bush Telegraph, Radio National, is now producing a show on the project which is really exciting. Stay tune for details on that.

Other news is that one my ghost poems recently won the ‘open poetry’ category of the Bauhinia Literary Awards. So a big ‘yay’ on that one! It’s encouraging to know the work is being received well already.

Now if you would like to hear me read I am performing as part of National Poetry Week at the Bush Inn Hotel, Geelong, Sept 8, 2-5pm. Alongside Diane Fahey, Katherine Gallagher and Susan Russell.

I am in Port Fairy the following day (Sept 9) reading at the Ex Libris Book Fair: Victoria Hotel Dining Room, 12.30-2.30 with Paul Mitchell and James Griffin among others.

But keep in touch because I have a lot more to tell you, news on upcoming plays with Melb Writers theatre, Defector Art and Short and Sweet.

www.melborn.melbwriters.org.au

http://www.defectorart.com

http://assets.theartscentre.net.au/shortandsweet/

Port Arthur

2007-08-16T02:21:00.000-07:00

Here it is people.
I don’t want to do it but I have to do it.

Nine months into it, nine haunted sites down, and with 72 poems written, it has all finally lead to this: a night at Australia’s no. 1 haunted location, Port Arthur.

It’s been one hell of a great adventure but let me share a few things I have discovered along the way.

1. It is possible to feel incredibly lucky/privileged and sick with nerves at the same time. (Something I learnt one night amid the moonlit ruins of Norfolk Island.)

2. You are allowed to pass through an airport metal detector while eating a chicken salad. (as long as your fork is plastic!)

3. A hearse can get pretty uncomfortable.

4. Good ideas/poems come from sheer hard work. Even when you are sure you are out of good ideas/poems.

But let’s talk about Port Arthur. Of course we all know it was a hell-on-earth convict settlement back in the 1800s, a place of unimaginable cruelty. Now it is a hive for tourists and ghost hunters, with ghost tours being conducted every night. Reports of paranormal activity are legion, and people are scared witless as they are taken through buildings such as the Commandant’s Cottage, Jetty Cottage and Tower Cottage.

I am staying the night in one of Port Arthur’s most ‘haunted’ : the Parsonage.

Weird activity associated with this building includes, moaning noises, bright lights, the smell of rotting flesh, knocking noises, footsteps, ghostly figures ie. a little girl and the ‘lady in blue’.

All right… starting to scare myself now! But read more about what I’m in for at the links below. And wish me luck!

http://vt.essortment.com/ghostsportarth_rnas.htm

http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/history/Transcripts/s1114833.htm

http://www.paranormalaustralia.com/tours/revportarthur.html

Norfolk/Passionate Tongues

2007-07-29T02:20:00.000-07:00

Just home from Norfolk Island where I got to spend the night in the pier store, its most ‘haunted’ building.

Built by convicts, it is said that a grey figure appeared one night, walked down the front stairs, out onto the pier and disappeared into the ocean. The witness of this was so alarmed that he went straight to the authorities and reported it. Since then there have been other accounts of strange noises and sightings.

Now converted into a museum, I was allowed to sleep upstairs among the relics of the Bounty. My buddy for the night was one of the original cannons salvaged from the ship that Fletcher Christian and the other mutineers burnt at Pitcairn Island.

Check out the gallery for pics of ruins, pines and the cemetery of this incredible place. Thanks to Brian Hubble, Maev Hitch and others who introduced me to the local history and Norfolk language (a cross between Tahitian and Old English.)

My final ghost-poetry stay is coming up at Australia’s most haunted location: Port Arthur. So keep in touch.

And why not come and see me perform at Passionate Tongues in Melb, 6th August, 8pm. $5. (Noise Bar, 291 Albert St, Brunswick) I am featuring with Kevin Brophy, Paul Mitchell and James Waller. Fine poetry by some of Melbourne’s best.

Norfolk Island (Ghost Poetry)

2007-07-20T02:19:00.000-07:00

My ninth stay on the ghost poetry project is the picturesque Norfolk Island. With 1800 residents, a third of whom are direct descendants of Fletcher Christian from Pitcairn Island, it sits two and half hours from the Queensland Coast, a jewel in the Pacific, a living museum.

Yet Norfolk Island was once an isolated penal colony, perhaps the most brutal every established. Many place names on the island give a hint to its gruesome past: Bloody Bridge, Ghost Corner, Gallows Gate and Cemetery Bay. Some claim it has more ghosts per square kilometre than any other region of Australia.

It looks like I will be staying the night at the Kingston Pier Store. The pier and storehouse were built by convicts, and is said to be haunted by the ghost of one that drowned (presumable during its construction). Check out the links below for more info on the island. Aren’t I lucky to go to all of these cool places? The only downside is the terror!

http://www.forpeaceofmind.com.au/Vol3/historic.cfm

http://www.gonorfolkisland.com/norfolkhistory.html

Also
Judith Rodriguez will be launching a new book of poems, Mr Wittgenstein’s Lion, written by that other sensei of mine, Kevin Brophy. Sunday 29th July, 5 for 5.30pm, Glenfern (417 Inkerman St, East St Kilda, Melbourne). So pop that into your diary. We are all looking forward to it.

Voices of experience

2007-07-16T02:18:00.000-07:00

Don’t know if you caught the A2 liftout of Melbourne’s Saturday Age but you would have seen Judith Rodriguez and myself splashed across the centre page. Larry Schwartz wrote an article on mentorships and tracked us down through the Australian Society of Authors. (which all writers should consider joining… I really must renew my membership!!) Jill Dymond you’re the best.

http://www.asauthors.org

So check out the article (you'll have to copy and paste the address below.) Larry talked to other mentor/mentees including Lex Lasry, Renee Geyer and Liesel Jones. He even gives a mention to my current 'ghost poetry' project.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/general/voices-of-experience/2007/07/12/1183833684235.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2

Q Station (survival)

2007-06-23T02:17:00.000-07:00

Just home from my sleepover at the Quarantine Station, Sydney.

Situated on North Head, this stretch of land holds three unmarked graveyards and a host of ‘haunted’ buildings. Used for over a century to quarantine emigrants and convicts it has housed over 15,000 people and was used following World War I when servicemen returned home with Spanish influenza.

The history of this place is beyond belief. But let me tell you about my adventures the other night.
I rocked up at the Q Station and did an induction and day tour. Then I dumped my stuff in one of the vacant buildings on ‘healthy ground’, my accom for the night, and prepared for a cold and blustery ghost tour. It turns out that there were only two of us booked in, so we got to do things that others normally wouldn’t.

We sat in the dark in the third-class dining hall for approx 15 mins listening for footsteps on the verandah, anything out of place. We did the same at the Isolation building, the Hospital and the Shower Block. All of these buildings come with a long history of reported sightings, so it was nerve-wracking to say the least, especially with the wind battering upon the windows.

The most harrowing part of the night was when I led our small crew down one side of the shower block. (Check out the pic in the gallery, then imagine that in the dark). 60-70 cast iron cubicles, corners everywhere, and before we entered our guide said… “this is where I saw my first ghost”.
So after a cold and spooky night wandering around haunted buildings and unmarked graves, hearing about death, suicide and disease, I was sent off to my vacant house to go to sleep. The glorious views of Sydney and Manly were little comfort, but I survived and am back to post this blog for ya. (check out the other pic in the gallery, the hospital from the wharf).

I really must get busy writing about it now. Next month is Norfolk Island followed by the biggie, Port Arthur in August. Stay tune

The Quarantine Station

2007-06-13T02:16:00.000-07:00

Following Elvira the Haunted Hearse last month comes a night for me at the Quarantine Station in Sydney. Operating as, you guessed it, a Quarantine Station for over a century, its buildings housed all the sickies of the colony… people with smallpox, cholera, bubonic plague etc. All those king-hitter diseases. So perhaps its not so strange to expect a few ghosts to be wandering around the grounds.

Ghost tours operate regularly but overnight stays have been unavailable for a few years now. Except for me that is!! I get to stay there next week all by myself.

Check out this link for info on ghosts commonly reported by visitors. Ghosts such as The Chinaman, The Matron, and the little girl with plaits who is still looking for her mother.

http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/dec_media_041117_ghostsquarantine

If you would like to read some personal accounts from those who have done the Q Station ghost tour, click here…
http://www.paranormalaustralia.com/tours/revqstation.html
Now I have two more ghost-poetry stops to go. Stay tune for news on Norfolk Island and then the grand-finale/mother-of-them-all, a night in the Parsonage at Port Arthur.

that's right... your trusty ghost-poet going all the way, for you, for himself, for poetry or simply for death and glory. (god knows why i am doing this!!!)

Ghost Tape??

2007-06-05T02:15:00.000-07:00

A postscript to my night in Elvira The Haunted Hearse.

Click on the link below. It will take you to the Destiny tours site where you can hear a strange sound I recorded. It is still freaking me out. It sounds like a forced, two-syllable whisper. It was such a quiet night and nothing happened for me at all. I was even reluctant to listen back to the tape, certain nothing would be on it. So when I heard this I nearly fell off my chair. (oh and please ignore the photos.)

Have a listen and let me know what you think… it is short and takes nothing to download.
http://www.destinytours.com.au/nathan.htm

BTW just heard that my poetry was recently commended in the Josephine Ulrick Poetry Prize, and Cable Car of Death won the Crash Test Drama Final, which means you’ll see it at the Short and Sweet Play Festival this December. yay!!

To purchase my first book No Other Life But This ISBN 0734036337 you can order through Five Islands Press. Call Ron on 03 8344 8713 or try Readings or Collected Works.

My night in Elvira the Haunted Hearse

2007-05-23T02:14:00.000-07:00

Hello ghost poetry fans…

Just home from my weekend in Sydney with Allan, the Hearse Whisperer. What a host this guy is!! I had a great time along with eight others cruising Kings Cross, watching every head turn as we drove past in Elvira, the haunted Cadillac. This tour is billed as a “Weird Sydney Ghost and History Tour”, and weird it is!! I’ve done a lot of ghost tours by now and I can safely say that I’ve never been on anything quite like this. Book yourself in by calling 02 9943 0167.

Now for the news you’ve been wanting to hear…. what happened!! Following the tour we took some photos of ourselves and Elvira. Note: the photo in the gallery. There is a shot of Allan and myself and a grey ball of light directly between our outstretched hands. Apparently two psychics have examined this photo and believe it to be the ghost of Tom Lance. But check it out. You judge for yourself.

Following this I bunked down in the back. I am only the second person to have braved the night in this vehicle, the first being a lady in 2005. I pressed record on my audio tape, revved up my handycam for a while and then waited. There really is very little to explore when you’re stuck in a hearse. You basically lie there and hang around, you might take a look over the front to the steering wheel then take a look out the the back, but that’s about it. After that you just lie back down and hang around again.

The night seemed to pass without much of a hitch. Allan had said that the energy might take a while to build up so at around 4am I did another spot of recording. It was very still/quiet outside, not even a breeze at that stage. And while nothing seemed to be happening, I gotta say, it really is a heavy trip being in the same place and lying in the same direction as thousands of dead bodies.
Now I am yet to listen to my audio or watch my video footage but will keep you posted as to what I find. I stumbled out onto the lawn in the morning hoping never to visit a hearse again… not for a while at least … and definitely not while I’m alive.

Check out a couple of pics of Elvira in the photo gallery. And thanks again Allan.

Elvira the Haunted Hearse

2007-05-07T02:13:00.000-07:00

Seventh stop in my Ghost Poetry Project is a stay in Elvira, The Haunted Hearse.
Owned and operated by Allan, the hearse whisperer, this 1967 Cadillac was originally used by a funeral home in Pennsylvania and has transported thousands of people to their graves.

Now used as a tour vehicle in Sydney and Canberra it attracts all sorts of passengers from believers to skeptics, psychics and the odd adventurer who wants to sleep in it.

One of the resident ghosts that people are said to encounter is Tom Lance. He may or may not be the one responsible for locking the doors on occasion, for the hot & cold spots in the car, for the drafts of wind or the sudden nausea that sweeps over some passengers. Some people have also reported being poked, stroked and prodded.

So wish me luck as I bunk down in the back. Promises to be the ride of my life.
And check out the link if you’re interested in reading a report of the last person to sleep in it back in 2005

http://www.destinytours.com.au/judy.htm

Richmond/Woorilla

2007-04-16T02:12:00.000-07:00

Hello
Just home from the so-called 'haunted' Richmond Bridge. It’s such a beautiful little town. It claims to have the oldest everything: Australia’s oldest prison, bridge, Catholic church… even the first recorded shark attack happened there apparently.

Feel totally exhausted today but I have put a couple of pics in the gallery for you to check out.
The reading at Castlemaine went really well. Just a small crowd but it was a good chance to try out a few of my new ghost-poems and nice to see my friends Francesca and Ross.

I also read the poem which picked up the 2007 Woorilla Poetry Prize. Feel really encouraged by that… it was exciting news. Still pinching myself.

Richmond Bridge/Castlemaine Reading

2007-04-09T22:59:00.000-07:00

My sixth stop on the Ghost Poetry project is Richmond Bridge in Tasmania. Spanning the Coal river it is the oldest bridge in Australia, built by convicts who were worked hard by their cruel overseer, George Grover. In March 1832 two convicts surprised Grover from the fog, bashed him with manacled fists and dumped his body over the side. Now when a thick fog sets in they say Grover can be seen climbing back up the pylons.

The second ghost of Richmond Bridge is a friendly ghost-dog and the third is an elderly man who wears a straw boater and walks with a cane. I am staying in the Richmond Arms hotel this coming Friday the 13th in a room which is also said to be haunted. I plan to cross the bridge at midnight, 2 am and 4am. Wish me a foggy night.

Now if you want to hear some Ghost Poetry come to Castlemaine this Sunday 15th. The Castlemaine Readings are becoming legendary and I will be featuring with my friend Francesca Haig. This is my first chance to unleash Ghost Poetry on a live audience, so if you’re in town or need a day-trip up from Melbourne come and say hello. 3pm at The Albion Hotel (on the left as you drive into town from the Calder). There will be music, fine wine and good coffee.

at the old Lunatic Asylum

2007-03-19T22:58:00.000-07:00

I am home from Fremantle Arts Centre. Big thanks to the staff there and Jim Cathcart who really went out of his way to support the Ghost Poetry project. Thanks mate. You’re a star.

Things were much as I expected. There were corridors, stairwells and creaky floorboards. I spent the night in the Painting Studio on the first floor where another sighting took place only two months ago. A life-model was posing for artists but started to become agitated. The teacher asked him if he was all right and he said there was a figure of a woman up the back, at the far window, looking at him. Her arms were folded and she apparently said : I know that you can see me.

There have been many reports of this woman, who was admitted to the lunatic asylum following the abduction of her child. She eventually committed suicide by throwing herself from the Painting Studio window. So with that little gem on my mind, I shut the door, snuggled down and waited for the morning to arrive. I did a couple of tours through the building over the course of the evening… and all proved extremely freaky.

Next month I am spending Friday the 13th in Richmond, Tasmania, apparently the most haunted town in Tassie. Special attention will be given to the three ghosts of Richmond Bridge. More details soon.

Fremantle Arts Centre

2007-03-07T22:57:00.000-08:00

Stop number five (out of ten) on the Ghost Poetry project is Fremantle Arts Centre.
Built out of local limestone by convicts, Fremantle Arts Centre is a glorious example of gothic architecture and was originally a lunatic asylum. It is said that the building is home to three or ten ghosts… depending on what you read. Some say it is the most haunted place in the Southern Hemisphere and others say it is only the most haunted building in WA. (The Fremantle Prison must surely be a close second if that’s the case.)

Anyway… check out this link for a pic and some more history on the building.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremantle_Arts_Centre

I will be sleeping on the floor in some corridor at the bottom of some stairwell waiting to meet an apparition who is still searching for her baby. It is believed that when she gave birth her child was taken off her and she subsequently committed suicide by throwing herself from the first floor window.

Hope that’s scary enough for you. I’ll be back soon to tell you how I went.

Home from Monte Cristo

2007-02-12T22:56:00.000-08:00

I am home from Monte Cristo after a short but intense stay with Reg and Olive and the ten ghosts that live with them in their splendid Junee mansion. If you're passing through Junee go and stop in. Reg and Olive are perfect hosts, and if you're there for a B&B they treat you like one of the family.
If you're there for a ghost tour you get the works. Reg, decked out all in black, candles flickering in the hallway behind him, opens up the front doors and invites you in. You fill each room, jammed together amongst glorious antiques and beneath the gaze of spooky portraits. (the candlelight makes for perfect atmosphere).

I found each room seemed to have its own personality, along with its own distinct temperature. It's said people often faint on tour, feel nauseous, see apparitions or feel a poking or prodding by an unseen force, among other things.

My night was no exception. The lady standing next to me, although i didn't know it at the time, was experiencing a lot of the above sensations. (She was terrified and called up the mansion the following morning to tell me all about it.)

As i was the only paying guest staying over for the evening i climbed the stairs, closed my guest room door and tried to get some sleep. It wasn't easy.

Now to write some poems about it for the new book. Ghost Poetry is proving to be one hell of a year. I will post some photos of Monte Cristo in the gallery soon.

I will also post some info on Fremantle Arts Centre where i am staying next month... it was once a lunatic asylum.

Australia's most haunted house

2007-01-31T22:55:00.000-08:00

All right, my fourth stop out of ten on this whole Ghost Poetry adventure is Monte Cristo Homestead in Junee, just North of Wagga Wagga.

Reportedly Australia’s most haunted house, this is my classic ‘Scooby Doo’ scary mansion stay. Built by the Crawleys (that’s right! a spooky name in itself) the homestead was not a very happy place. There was the tragic death of an infant that fell (or was pushed) down the stairwell. There was the man kept chained to the wall like an animal for forty years, and in 1961 there was the terrible murder of the caretaker who was shot by a local teenager.

Check out the website below for more tragic stories and for all of the weird activity associated with this place. The current owners, Reg & Olive, run tours and B&Bs if you’re looking to pass through.

Also check out their link to the stuntman Lawrence Legend. This is their son who grew up in the house and now lives next door. Being a death-defying stuntman he once jumped over the Monte Cristo on his motorbike.

http://www.montecristo.com.au/

wish me luck now... I will be packing lots of Scooby Snacks. And stay tune.. I will have news on my next six haunted visits. there are good ones still on the cards.

Home from Picton

2007-01-17T22:53:00.000-08:00

Home from spending a couple of days at Picton. Met up with Liz Vincent who was a terrific host. I did two of her tours, along with around 40 others each night. But the highlight of the tours was of course Picton Tunnel. A disused railway tunnel since 1919 this foreboding structure was used for weapons storage during WW2 and as a mushroom farm for 20 years. But in 1916 it trapped Emily Bollard who was walking through to visit her brother on the other side. Struck by the train from Thirlmere her body was carried all the way out to the road. Others claim her body had to be collected piece by piece.

Standing in the middle of the tunnel with 40 other strangers can be a pretty nervewracking experience. I’ve never felt so much nervous energy, just waiting in the dark for something to happen. At times it was like a slumber party: all excited about being together.

Each entrance was 300 feet away, we were smack bang in the middle of it. There was no escaping whatever was about to happen.

Then we all began to see flashes of light. Small pin-prick bursts, like raw electricity, as if a fuse was blowing. I saw a blue one, then red. It’s hard to say what they were… I’m finding the only way to explain these experiences is through inadequate similes. Ah, the challenge of poetry.

Some people by then were sitting down on the dirt floor. We were all gathered across the full width of the tunnel. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, four orange lights appeared to be moving towards us and everyone dove for the walls. It seemed a truck or a train was coming for us, about to mow us all down. Everybody screamed and hit their torches and I found a youg teenage girl virtually on my feet, cowering up against the wall. Of course whatever it was had disappeared as quickly as it had come.

I walked out of there totally amazed at what had occurred and was dying to visit again. As it happens the following night threw most of that into question and I came away from Picton more confused than ever.

What I am sure of though was that I saw two bursts of light… one blue, one red, which were very strange.
Oh, and a big thankyou to Ali Jane Smith for putting me up in Wollongong... check out her site in my links section. She has a book out titled Gala.
Will post pics of Picton Tunnel soon... and stay tune for details on my next ghost visit.

Picton

2007-01-08T22:50:00.000-08:00

Hi
I am heading off to the town of Picton this week... next stop on my Ghost Poetry Project.
For those who came late, I have been funded by the Australia Council to stay at ten haunted sites around the country and write a new collection of poetry based on my experiences.

Picton is my third stop so far. It is one hour from Sydney and said to be the most haunted town in Australia. It boasts over 20 haunted sites. These include the picton tunnel, the cemetery and various hotels/cottages which I will be visiting. I am also staying in room 11 at a local inn which is said to have a glowing crucifix inexplicably appear upon the wall.

For more info on haunted Picton check out these links:

www.lizvincenttours.com.au

http://www.paranormalaustralia.com/hauntings/picton.html

I will let you know how the visit goes, but if you've visited Picton in the past feel free to post comments on your impressions.

OAG

2006-12-21T22:49:00.000-08:00

Just home from my overnight stay at Old Adelaide Gaol. Turns out I was the only one booked in to stay the night. So lucky me, I got to stay alone in a cold oven of a cell in the Remand Wing… just one other person acting as Caretaker… but he was on the other side of the gaol in the dorm building.

I booked in at 5pm and my ghost tour got underway at 7.30pm. Jeff and I had the whole place to ourselves, so as the place sank deeper into darkness he told me the many spooky stories of the place. Jeff is part of a team of paranormal investigators PFI (paranormal field investigators)… check out their site if you like… it’s not a bad one.

www.paranormalfieldinvestigators.org

The night wore on… Yard 1, 2, 3 ,4, the Hanging Tower, the graves of the executed, the tunnel, the New Building (built in 1879). By this stage it was 11.30pm and Jeff and I had been at it a while. We were standing on the staircase in the western wing of the New Building… completely in the dark. I wasn’t freaked out… nor was he. He’d been recounting stuff for a while and in quite a matter-of-fact way.

So fifteen minutes in, we hear a knocking. Like someone tapping the end of a wooden cane onto a ballroom floor.

It was to the left of the staircase on the second landing… locked off by an iron cage gate. We checked the wind level outside, but there was barely a gentle breeze. We revisited to the spot twice more and the sound came back, louder, within a minute of each arrival. And by then we could hear a softer noise in between the knocking.

Now… I don’t know what it was, neither does Jeff, but when you’re standing in (arguably) South Australia’s most haunted building at 11.30pm, and are interrupted by a strange noise… and when you read later that most ghost sightings have been said to occur on the landing to the left of the staircase… it kinda trips you out.

Jeff then took me back to the supper room and showed me footage he’s taken over the last few years. Much of it in the gaol. The best one was a cell door opening and closing by itself in the Remand Wing. MY wing for the evening!!!!!

After this we said goodnight and went our separate ways. I spent most of the night after that waiting for my cell door to open on me.

Okay… so there you go... Old Adelaide Gaol… pretty damn freaky.
My next stop in January is the most haunted town in Australia, Picton NSW. In the meantime I’ll be writing this up for my next book of poetry... Ghost Poetry... oh and check out the OAG phots in the gallery, they'll give you some small idea... the first shots there are of past plays of mine.

wishing you all a Merry Xmas and Happy New Year.

Old Adelaide Gaol

2006-12-06T22:48:00.000-08:00

Well... i've been working hard on my canberra poems and think i have a little collection close enough to complete. Now I have a stay in Old Adelaide Gaol coming up. There are many spooky stories associated with this place... but you can read all about it at the sites below...
ie. the story of Squizzy Taylor's necklace, Liz Woolcock, the only woman to be hanged at OAG or the terrible thing that occurred at Sundown Station.

www.adelaidegaol.org.au/

http://www.paranormalaustralia.com/tours/unicorn.html

Also check out Divan 6 if you are looking for some new poetry online. Some top Australian voices there. I have a poem titled... Young Ballerinas.

www.bhtafe.edu.au/divan

Room 214

2006-11-27T22:48:00.000-08:00

Okay
So what went down at the Hotel Kurrajong in room 214?

Firstly a bit of background. Ben Chifley, as Prime Minister, never lived at The Lodge, he worked twelve hours days and returned each night to the Hotel Kurrajong, to his room at the top of the stairs at the end of the hall.

On June 13, 1951, he skipped the Golden Jubilee Ball and went back to room 214 where he suffered the massive heart attack that killed him. Since then there have been many stories in regards to the appearance of an apparition.

So I booked myself in and stayed a night, setting up the video camera to capture anything that might occur. I talked with staff over the course of my stay and heard tales of people being tripped up on the stairs, of a cleaner that refuses to enter the room after being tapped on the back and of a figure appearing at the window, pointing towards Parliament House.

I cannot corroborate these stories, but have yet to view the video footage of my stay. I can tell you that the movie, The Shining, was at the forefront of my mind. I had turned the handle like Danny and entered the room despite the warnings. But for the rest of the story you will have to wait until my book of Ghost Poetry is published.

What I can confirm is that Canberra is some weird kinda town. I was just happy to get out of there and back to Melbourne. Everything looks like an office, the cafe's, schools and playgrounds... or a photocopier inisde an office.

Next month I am staying in a cell next to the Hanging Tower at Old Adelaide gaol... will post info on that soon. It is arguably up there among the top three haunted sites in Australia.
Now… if you feel ripped off because you wanted more goss, then take a stand and leave a comment. Or perhaps you have a spooky story to share.

Canberra and the Cable Car

2006-11-21T22:47:00.000-08:00

Am just home from my first Ghost Poetry stay. I flew back in to Melbourne from Canberra and went to Crash Test Drama where my short play CABLE CAR OF DEATH was being read.
News is we won the night. Gareth Ellis picked up Best Actor and Best Director, Suzie Stapleton won a prize, and CABLE CAR won both the judges and audience vote, which means we’re in the final next year.

So I’m feeling chuffed with myself and the whole crew. Seems audiences want ‘zany’ comedy at the mo, so for now that’s what I’ll do (although I’ll be working on poetry for a while … so the next one might have to wait).

Other news is that i was recently shortlisted for the Wannabee Poetry Prize. One of 30 from 630... but was pipped at the post. Losing is made easier however when I lose in good company... with Kevin Brophy and Gita Mammen among the list.

Stay tune for the post on my night at the Kurrajong Hotel in Canberra. I stayed in Ben Chifely’s room where he suffered his fatal heart attack. I’m head-down now working hard on the poems , but promise to have a spiel for you soon.

Ghost Poetry is on!

2006-10-31T22:44:00.000-08:00

Big News. Ghost Poetry is on!

Just scored some love from the Australia Council to undertake a poetry project over the next 12 months. Wow! It’s going to be one helluva year.

The goal is to sleep at ten so-called haunted sites all over the country: hotels, community halls, courthouses, homesteads, gaols and arts centres. I have recently approached a famous theatre in Melbourne but they wouldn’t have a bar of it. Bummer.

Needless to mention I’m feeling very supported at the moment in my writing career, but also excited and scared. It promises to be an intense and very personal exploration.... and to express it through poetry.. to test poetry perhaps... will be intriguing.

So stay tune to the blog to read up on all my visits, and in twelve months I should have a full ms of Ghost Poetry. My first visit kicks off mid-November. I'm staying in the room that an Australian Prime Minister died in.

BTW I’ve been doing lots of research but it seems like everybody knows at least one haunted house. Drop me a line if you like, would love to hear suggestions of places or just your spooky stories.