AUSTRALIAN POET : PAM BROWN in conversation with Gregory O'Brien

DATE AND TIME: Friday 20 September at 6pm VENUE:  International Institute of Modern Letters, Kelburn Campus, Victoria University Since her first collection appeared in 1971, Pam Brown has been a mover and shaker in the quivering pyramid of Australian verse.  Born in Seymour, Victoria, in 1948, she was one of the most accomplished poets loosely (and inadequately) labelled the 'Generation of '68' — a wave of young writers fuelled by a heady mix of urban culture, international modernism and dissatisfaction with the 'outbackery' of much Australian poetry, past and present. Among her glorious swarm of books —17 poetry collections as well as countless pamphlets, collaborations and other titles — are Cocabola's Funny Picture Book, Automatic Sad, Cafe Sport, Dear Deliria and Authentic Local. Her latest book, Home by Dark, appeared from Shearsman in the UK earlier this year. For seven years she was co-editor of the on-line journal Jacket, and remains Associate Editor of Jacket2. She continues to explore poetry's various avenues, on the page and in digital and other contexts. Recent and ongoing concerns can be sampled on Pam's website. As her contemporary Laurie Duggan has noted: 'Pam Brown's poems buzz with wit; she is the sharpest and yet the most gracious of us all. For her the dance of the intellect is more than a figure of speech. She is the Mina Loy for the twenty-first century.'   Just as appositely, Ken Bolton describes her as 'a longstanding member of that disorganised band, the leg-pulling opposition in Australian poetry'. In this session, introduced by Gregory O'Brien, she will read from her poetry and discuss, amongst a great many other things, how humour and invention could coexist so productively with the 'left wing politics and feminism' that preoccupied her during the 1970s and 80s. Since then, there has been no let up. As committed and tireless as ever, Pam Brown currently lives in Sydney, dividing her attention, as always, between the culture and its very necessary other, the counter-culture. Admission free, but seats limited. All welcome. For more information email: modernletters@vuw.ac.nz or visit the IIML website.