Poets to perform in Armidale

May 22, 2007

Two nationally recognised and respected poets who have enduring connections with the University of New England – Peter Skrzynecki and Julian Croft – will be performing their published works in Armidale this Thursday, May 24.

Peter Skrzynecki (pictured here) is a graduate of UNE (BA, 1975 and MLitt, 1986). Julian Croft was a member of UNE's academic staff from 1970 till 2001, and is now an Emeritus Professor in UNE's School of English, Communication and Theatre.

For 20 years, Peter Skrzynecki was a primary school teacher with the NSW Department of School Education. His first teaching appointment was to a small school at Jeogla, near Wollomombi Falls, in 1967. He describes his return to Armidale as something of a "homecoming", and wants to make the most of his visit by delivering a series of poems in Armidale about Armidale to the Armidale people. He says the area has a special place in his past life as a teacher and burgeoning writer. He is now an Associate Professor at the University of Western Sydney.

He has eight books of poetry to his name, with a ninth – OLD/NEW WORLD – set to be published in August by the University of Queensland Press. His third publication, Immigrant Chronicle, is studied for the Higher School Certificate English examinations. UNE is flying him up from Sydney to be the guest lecturer at its Regional Day for HSC English students and teachers on Friday 25 May.

Julian Croft, author of the recently published and highly praised Ocean Island, is a well-known and respected Armidale identity. He will be performing excerpts from Ocean Island – a collection of poems that make poignant yet unsentimental connections between bodies and landscapes, the past and the present.

His poems, as well as those of Peter Skrzynecki, deal with the influence of memory and place in shaping the self and society. Their performance on Thursday will be from 7 till 8.30 pm at The Armidale Club.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at May 22, 2007 03:27 PM