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Lake Augusta or Bust
This is the third time my friend Viv and I have taken a few days in the Central Highlands, the high country in Tasmania. It must be at least three years since our last trip. This is Viv’s heart country. Her earliest memories are backgrounded by this sub- alpine landscape. From the age of three, she lived with her late parents at Bronte Park, a Hydro village, and later at Poatina. Her Dad was a bobby in Lancashire county, Northern England, before the family moved to Tasmania; it must have taken some adjustment, this sparse, cold place and living in an isolated village populated by mainly post war, immigrant dam…
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When is Art?
Harvesting bewilderment: from crap to conversation written by freelance curator, arts writer and educator Jane Deeth, was originally published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, Vol 2, 2001 – Issue 1, ‘the real millennium issue’, and has been available on-line since May, 2015. The article is about the exhibition When is Art? exhibited in Gallery A at the Northern Campus of the University of Tasmania in Launceston, when Jane was the Gallery Director. It was a directors pick, really: When I conceived this website something whispered – make sure there is a place for a gallery, an homage to past art practice, so I’m raking up the…
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Embracing the Biome – the More Than Human Poetry Project
This post is about catching up, as poetry has embraced me over the last decade, and I’ve been able to reach out and become more involved with the people that write on this Island. We do it a lot. The following project happened as Australia was staying safer and staving off the virus in 2021. There was more to come of course, and much had already impacted the world. Conceived by poet Kristen Lang after the publication of Earth Dwellers published by Giramondo, Embracing the Biome – the More Than Human Poetry Project personally produced a set of new work, and a reworking of older poems. All life forms are living in the time of the…
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Bridge of Words: prose & poetry exchange
Featuring Britta Stenberg, Swedish poet, novelist, playwright and artist. Britta Stenberg recently collaborated over four seasons, across the hemispheres, with Ulverstone poet and writer Thérèse Corfiatis. Their poetry book Bridge of Words was published in 2022. This week they met in person for the first time, as Britta and her husband Krister have arrived in Tasmania. It was my pleasure to meet them with Thérèse, and share some of their stories. Britta and Krister are from Rentjärn, a village, with a lake and mountains, in Swedish Lapland. The temperature there this week has ranged from -3 to 11 degrees, as early Spring approaches. This visit made me think about the…
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Stand-Up
The Cygnet Folk Festival 2023 mantra is Back in Full Swing. After such a rich day, I’m feeling it. Professional comedian Jenny Wynter had a Masterclass, Freeing the Funny from 11 – 3.30 today, so I bit the bullet and joined up, having become very interested in improv, after Cameron and Sonja Hindrum’s Literary Lounge at Junction Art Festival in Launceston. This day has been the most positive experience and culminated in a live performance in front of a great audience at the Carmel Hall in the centre of Cygnet proper. Oh man, it stretched you, alternating nerve wracking and exciting, with the tight supportive bunch we became. Everyone had…
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The Road to Cygnet
Driving the Midlands Highway is just a lurch between 40, 60, 80, 40, 80, 60, 110 kms in any combo. You get to see lots of graders, rollers, trucks, water spreaders, men and women of all shapes and sizes with lollipop signs, and instructions to obey. You can’t fight it really, so with no ETA to fret about, a gorgeous day and Cygnet in my sights it was a fabulous drive today with lots of thinking time and singing time and a meal at the pancake and crepe place at Oatlands. Well may you say, bring back the PWD, because nothing will bring back all my buried forebears along this…
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Becoming a Dowser
on a summer day at Mount Pleasant in the middle of a long paddock my father took instruction arm tops tucked close to the side forearms horizontal, extending rods a couple of sticks, twisting in the hands till the bark broke free, his head thrust back mouth wide laughing unexpected divination with no effort what-so-ever dowsed with that erection till the fluid flowed, his power smashed the paradigm -that hard work guarantees success for Dad, 1937 -2022 This poem was written years ago, when my father was at the height of his physical power, so strong and full of life. It’s not only the end of one year and the…
