Aussie bush poetry was my influence in my early years, then in my pre-teen & teen years, music ranged from folk (Bob Dylan etc.) country ( John Williamson etc.) pop (Zoot) rock (the guess who) and heavy rock (Led Zeplin) I have so many favorites but one that still get to me is 'Get Together' by The Youngbloods.
Would you say your childhood and teenage experience of poetry has had a distinct influence on how you write poetry now, and why?
I would say definitely Australian bush poetry for when I first started writing, but over the last approximately two years, the poetry I write is influenced by so many for now I write traditional rhyme, tanka, haiku, free verse, sonnets, but my first love is still the bush poem.
Who is another poet whose poetry you admire and why?
Mm!!..a difficult question as I admire so many, if we talk of a poet no longer alive I would have to say Francesco Petrarch (some class as the father of sonnets) his work can still resonate with today’s world, for someone who is alive I admire Glenny Palmer, her mastery & wordsmith of today’s Australian bush poetry is simply wonderful.
How would you summarise one of your poems in one paragraph?
From the heart and simple so anyone can understand and relate to.
How would you describe the appeal of this poem to readers?
I feel it touches people in the right spot, I’ve seen people teary eyed, giggle & just mesmerised by a lot of my poems and not just this one
Could you share a stanza or small section of this poem?
To all and sundry I hereby attest
when writing stories, I will pen my best
to literary heights I will aspire
and write like poets, those that I admire.
To stroll with Lawson under silver moon
and sit with Dennis in the early noon
ride with Morant along the Condamine
inspired by Parkes, my rhyme I will refine.
Then walk with Kendall, hear the bell birds song
stand with Ogilvie, view the rushing throng
watch Evans write his women of the west
read Boake, great poet and one of our best.
How would you describe the contribution this stanza or small section makes to the poem?
These first three stanzas are the ‘lead’ into my poem I have dedicated to the greats of Australian bush poetry, it’s how I feel about our iconic Aussie writers who paved the way for Australia’s own style of poetry.
Would you describe your poetry primarily as narrative, thematic, character portrait, or how would you describe your poetry?
95% of my poetry I would class as memoir poetry, the other 5% could be any of the suggestions above.
Do you read your poetry aloud to people? If so, how would you describe the size and response of your listening audiences?
I have read/performed my poetry many times, I have done this in front of half a dozen people at our Tropical Writers meetings to my biggest audience of about 2,500 people at ‘The Overflow Venue’ at Olympic park, Sydney at which I was called for an enchore.
Do you write groups of poems to form collections? If so, how were the poems connected in your most recent collection?
Yes I have, I’ve self published, in Australia, two books ‘My Small Book of Poems’ followed by ‘Rhymes of Times’ and just recently released my third, an American published 100 compilation of my poems from 2006 to 2009 titled ‘Out of Australia’ and now available at Amazon, Barnes Noble etc.
Author website: http://readeasypoetry.wordpress.com
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