A few weeks ago, 3CR presenter Koraly Dimitriadis invited me to participate in an interview with Paul Kooperman, the ex-Director of the embattled Australian Poetry on Spoken Word. Hearing Paul speak so passionately about the politics, pleasure and pitfalls of the organisation filled me both with sadness and with hope. Here was someone who wanted to celebrate, and promote Australian poetry in all it’s forms and fractures. Someone who still seemed to care so deeply about an organisation which he could so easily feel so bitter and jaded about, given the circumstances of his departure.* I went into the interview not really knowing much about the creation of Australian Poetry, the grant-body-encouraged amalgamation of the NSW Poet’s Union and the Victoria based Australian Poetry Centre, but Paul’s eloquence and openness soon fixed that particular hurdle. The first half of this interview aired last Thursday morning on 3CR’s Spoken Word. The second half, including some poetry performed by myself and by Koraly, can be heard this morning (Thursday May 31st) 855 on your am dial 9-9.30am.
*Well, tune in for the full story. This is a plug, after all!
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