How can poetry act upon the world? Hear John Kinsella hold up a bulldozer with a poem, and take a tour through his life as a reader, poet and activist as he and Lisa Gorton delve into the people and poets who influenced him. They discuss the challenges and responsibilities of being a poet, reflecting on the growing threats to our ecosystems and long-postponed colonial reckonings. In this context, what can poetry do, and what are the possibilities and limitations of a future Australian poet laureate?

Lisa Gorton writes poetry, fiction and essays. Her awards include the Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal, the Prime Minister's Prize for Fiction, the NSW Premier's People's Choice Award for Fiction, the Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry, and the Wesley Michel Wright Poetry Prize. Lisa studied at the universities of Melbourne and Oxford, with a Masters in Renaissance Literature and a Doctorate on John Donne's poetry and prose. She has contributed poems to Izabela Pluta's artist's book Figures of Slippage and Oscillation (Perimeter Press) and to exhibitions such as This is a Poem at Buxton Contemporary Art Museum. Lisa's fifth and most recent poetry collection is the limited-edition chapbook Mirror Landscape (Life Before Man, 2024), written with the support of a Creative Australia BR Whiting residency in Rome.

John Kinsella is the author of over forty books. His many awards include the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry, the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Poetry, the John Bray Poetry Award, the Judith Wright Calanthe Award for Poetry and the Western Australian Premier’s Book Award for Poetry (three times). His latest books are the three volumes of his collected poems, The Ascension of Sheep (UWAP, 2022), Harsh Hakea (UWAP, 2023) and Spirals (UWAP, 2024), and the story collection Beam of Light (Transit Lounge, 2024). He is a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge University, and Emeritus Professor of Literature and Environment at Curtin University, Western Australia. He lives on Ballardong Noongar land at ‘Jam Tree Gully’ in the Western Australian Wheatbelt. In 2007 he received the Christopher Brennan Award for lifetime achievement in poetry and in 2024 he was inducted into the Western Australian Writers Hall of Fame.

Readings

'Paradise Lost' by John Milton, excerpt read by John Kinsella

'Bulldozer' read by its author, John Kinsella

'Indexing' read by its author, John Kinsella

Further reading:

An essay by Sarah Holland-Batt about an Australian Poet Laureate

John Kinsella’s thoughts about the same.