My poem about the incredible Mae Jemison is now in Teesta Review (Emilie Collyer as guest editor!) The theme was Legacy and what a legacy Jemison leaves and continues to leave. Great issue!
READ:
Australian Poetry Journal
Thrilled to have an essay in the latest edition of Australian Poetry Journal on the Poetics of Science (and two science inspired poems in there as well).
So many strong writers in this edition, have read the whole thing. Great poetic analysis in this edition also. APJ Volume 10 Number 2 out now...
Poem in What We Carry
Really excited about this incredible book on childbearing, edited by Ella Kurz, Simone King and Claire Delahunty. Thrilled to have a poem in this too!
What We Carry brings together the voices of more than 60 contemporary Australian poets to provide accounts of childbearing that are both lyrical and embodied. Featuring diverse voices and perspectives on experiences of infertility, conception, termination, loss, pregnancy, birth and the early postpartum period, this collection illuminates the endlessly different ways the potential to carry life is experienced. The poems invite you to share incredibly personal stories - some humourous, some sincere, some full of elation and love, others frustration or despair. They provide powerful insights into the potential for childbearing experiences to shape us, change the trajectories of our lives, and teach us about what it means to be human. For after all, all of us were carried, at the beginning.
Featuring Melinda Smith, Eileen Chong, Felicity Plunkett, Jeanine Leane, Miriam Wei Wei Lo, Charmaine Papertalk Green, Michelle Cahill, Eleanor Jackson, Esther Ottaway, Rose Lucas, Natalie Harkin, Quinn Eades, M.T.C Cronin, Mark Tredinnick and many more.
Manchester City of Literature’s Virtual Writer in Residence!
Thrilled to be Manchester City of Literature’s Virtual Writer in Residence and respresent Melbourne City of Literature and City of Melbourne. Love the idea of diving into a library collection! Starting soon.
Getting to work on the collection from The Portico Library with its beautiful dome and trams out front.
Poems in Outer Space, Inner Minds
Three of my poems that have been published before were published again in the anthology Outer Space, Inner Minds. Below is a poem called First Three Minutes of the Universe.
Apparition - a response to Mikala Dwyer's artwork
I was lucky enough to meet with Mikala Dwyer when she was commissioned to come up with a creative response to the space at University Square, Carlton. I responded with a poem (see below). We spoke about her wonderful artwork under a beautiful tree that houses one of her ‘possums’. She is an incredible artist and I’ve been so lucky to get to know her. The talk was recorded if you want to listen. Thanks to the City of Melbourne and especially their Public Works team.
From the City of Melbourne website:
Mikala Dwyer’s new temporary public art commission, Apparition, can be seen after dark at University Square, Carlton.
Activated after dark, Apparition responds to University Square as a space in flux, suspended between stages of landscape redevelopment for the Metro Tunnel project. This temporary public artwork was developed through a long-term engagement with the site, beginning with a two-week intensive that focused on the contested public realm.
Dwyer is interested in the sensibility and mythology of objects and spaces, including the irrational and the repressed. For Apparition, she was inspired by a population of possums that inhabits the mature elm trees at the heart of the square.
Dwyer worked with animator Gina Moore to create a giant holographic possum, which haunts the square’s northern plaza at night.
Mikala Dwyer, Apparition was commissioned by the City of Melbourne in collaboration with RMIT University.
Mikala Dwyer, Apparition, 2021 night-time digital projection onto holo-gauze screen. Photo by Darren Tanny Tan.
Poem in the The American Journal of Poetry
My poem on peaceful protest 'Heavy is the Murmur of An Angry People' published this month in The American Journal of Poetry.
Read on the The American Journal of Poetry website or see below…
Boyd Garret Residency
So happy to be given the Boyd Garret Residency thanks to City Of Melbourne starting next year. Room to write in a room in this magnificent building. Inspired to keep writing! Creative life is a roller coaster!
Listen to 'Dark Matter on Radio National'
This aired on Natasha Mitchell’s Science Friction on Radio National this week.
How do you solve a problem like Dark Matter? With poet Alicia Sometimes.
It's the cosmic glue that tethers us together in the universe, but how do you solve a problem like Dark Matter?
About 85% of all matter in the universe is invisible to us. So, what is it? How did it come to be? Why is it there?
Poet and science fan Alicia Sometimes dips a toe into the darkness.
Meet Australia's Dark Matter detectives.
Compositions in this program are by Andrew Watson and Alicia Sometimes.
Guests:
Alicia Sometimes
Poet, writer, podcaster, broadcaster
Astronomer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing
Chief Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics
Swinburne University
Lead scientist, Royal Institution of Australia
PhD candidate
Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing
Swinburne University
Astrophysicist
North Carolina State University
Author of The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) (Penguin 2020)
Research Fellow
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems
University of Western Australia
Further information:
ARC Centre for Excellence in Dark Matter Particle Physics
This image was produced by a simulation showing the evolution of dark matter in the universe. (Credit: Milennium-II Simulation)
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle
My poem 'Heisenberg's uncertainty principle' is in the latest edition of Consilience: Issue 2: Uncertainty.
From the editors about the journal: Consilience is an online journal that provides a platform for people to write poems about science, however that might be interpreted. As a new poetry journal, we aim to do things a little differently – we aim to publish all poetry that we receive that meets our guidelines, giving a platform to poets of all backgrounds, ages, and professions.
In order to address the barriers that payments can present to some audiences in submitting work, we want to keep Consilience free for all author submissions. We believe that poetry should be accessible to everyone who wants to engage with it.
It’s not just poetry that we love and support – the cover art for each issue of Consilience is also designed by an artist whose work explores the intersections of art and science.
