Les Wicks
Encyclopedia
Les Wicks is an Australian poet
, publisher and editor
. He has a long list of achievements in writing, publishing and broadcasting. This includes the publication of eight books of poetry.
in NSW. From the 1980s he worked as a union industrial advocate for a number of Unions after obtaining a graduate diploma in Industrial Law (University of Sydney).
His fifth book of poems, The Ways of Waves (Sidewalk, 2000) celebrates the Australian summer. Number six, Appetites of Light (PressPress, 2002), is exploration of the qualities of light, while the seventh takes readers to "peopled landscapes"... Stories of the Feet (Five Islands, 2004). The Ambrosiacs (Island,2009) concerns “endings”- an elegy - from ecology under stress to the loss of close friends. Wicks explores a sequence of endpoints: spiritual exploration, suburbia, rural escapes and travel...all with his typical raw honesty, humour and rage. A startling, and ultimately affirming picture of generations and lives. joanne burns writes of "the Ambrosiacs" "…intense, quite relentless, often dark and pessimistic. But this of course is not the whole story, for within these pages are striking moments of grace, awareness, acceptance, restitution…". Much of the work in later books features what Wicks describes as "this waterwall, a cascade". Through building layers of proposition, assertion, voice & imagery a broader picture is created.
Shadows of the Read was published in 2011 (Krok) featuring work in both English & Ukrainian.
Stylistically, he spans both a vernacular performance poetry
and more linguistically dense, often dark explorations. He is hard hitting and humorous.
Other projects include publishing and editing poetry outreach like Artransit which put poetry and art into Sydney & Newcastle (NSW) buses and Heritage Light which saw a poem published on the surface of the Parramatta River. E-books have explored Sydney beaches & Broken Hill through words & photography. In association with Krok Publishing the firts anthology of contemproary Ukrainian & Australain poets in English & Ukrainian was published - /UA: Contemporary Poetry of Ukraine and Australia. He runs a workshop program across Australia called Plan to Be Published.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, publisher and editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
. He has a long list of achievements in writing, publishing and broadcasting. This includes the publication of eight books of poetry.
Life
Wicks grew up in western suburbs Sydney. Les played in the band Iron Mouth. The Vietnam war savagely divided his family and taught him early activism. By 17 he had his first poem accepted & was school organiser for the secondary school students' strike. He did a history degree over some years at (Macquarie University) as well as a variety of unskilled and semi-skilled jobs while living in Sydney and London. In the late 70s he embarked on his first publishing exercise – Meuse publications (with Bill Farrow) which was a high water mark in Australian poetry publishing with its cutting edge mix of text and graphics. He helped set up the Poets UnionPoets Union
The Poets Union is a not-for-profit organisation representing Australian poets, founded in Melbourne in 1977, it is now Sydney based. Its aim is to advocate the role of poetry as a major art form in Australia. Every second year it presents the Australian Poetry Festival and the Union organises...
in NSW. From the 1980s he worked as a union industrial advocate for a number of Unions after obtaining a graduate diploma in Industrial Law (University of Sydney).
Literary career
He has been a guest at most of Australia's literary festivals, toured widely and been published in over 250 different newspapers, anthologies and magazines across fifteen countries in nine languages. During September/October 2006, Les Wicks was a guest of the Festival International de la Poesie in Quebec, Canada. 2011 he was the 1st australain guest at the International Literary Festival, Lviv, Ukraine .His fifth book of poems, The Ways of Waves (Sidewalk, 2000) celebrates the Australian summer. Number six, Appetites of Light (PressPress, 2002), is exploration of the qualities of light, while the seventh takes readers to "peopled landscapes"... Stories of the Feet (Five Islands, 2004). The Ambrosiacs (Island,2009) concerns “endings”- an elegy - from ecology under stress to the loss of close friends. Wicks explores a sequence of endpoints: spiritual exploration, suburbia, rural escapes and travel...all with his typical raw honesty, humour and rage. A startling, and ultimately affirming picture of generations and lives. joanne burns writes of "the Ambrosiacs" "…intense, quite relentless, often dark and pessimistic. But this of course is not the whole story, for within these pages are striking moments of grace, awareness, acceptance, restitution…". Much of the work in later books features what Wicks describes as "this waterwall, a cascade". Through building layers of proposition, assertion, voice & imagery a broader picture is created.
Shadows of the Read was published in 2011 (Krok) featuring work in both English & Ukrainian.
Stylistically, he spans both a vernacular performance poetry
Performance poetry
Performance poetry is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a performance before an audience. During the 1980s, the term came into popular usage to describe poetry written or composed for performance rather than print distribution.-History:...
and more linguistically dense, often dark explorations. He is hard hitting and humorous.
Other projects include publishing and editing poetry outreach like Artransit which put poetry and art into Sydney & Newcastle (NSW) buses and Heritage Light which saw a poem published on the surface of the Parramatta River. E-books have explored Sydney beaches & Broken Hill through words & photography. In association with Krok Publishing the firts anthology of contemproary Ukrainian & Australain poets in English & Ukrainian was published - /UA: Contemporary Poetry of Ukraine and Australia. He runs a workshop program across Australia called Plan to Be Published.
Awards
- Nominated - 1980 Pushcart Press: Best of the Little Presses (US)
- Shortlisted - 2011 War Poetry Competition, Newcastle Poetry Prize 1999
- Highly Commended - 2007 Broken Hill Poetry Competition, 2005 Vera Newsom Poetry Award, 1998 Poetry Book Club of Australia
- Winner - 1997 Lake Pedder Competition, 1984 University of Sydney Union Literary Competition
- Judge: 2011, 2008 chair NSW Premier’s (Kenneth Slessor) Poetry Prize, 2001 judge Slessor & chair Community Affairs Commission Prize.The Blake Poetry PrizeThe Blake Poetry PrizeThe Blake Poetry Prize is an Australian poetry prize, presented annually by The Blake Society and the New South Wales Writers' Centre. Established in 2008 the Prize offers a $5,000 prize for a new poem that best explores the religious or spiritual...
2010, 2010 Tom Collins Poetry Prize, 2001, 2001 Leichhardt Performance Poetry,1995-1999 Sports/Olympic Poetry Competition
Selected bibliography
- The Vanguard Sleeps In (Glandular, 19811981 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Jane Greer launched Plains Poetry Journal, an advance guard of the New Formalism movement....
) - Cannibals (Rochford St, 19851985 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The term "New Formalism" was first used in the article "The Yuppie Poet" in the May 1985 issue of the AWP Newsletter in an attack on the poetry movement...
) - Tickle (Island Press (Australia)Island Press (Australia)Island Press is an Australian publisher of poetry and other interests.Island Press was founded in 1970 by Canadian poet, musician and Sydney University lecturer Philip Roberts. He lived on Scotland Island at that time, hence the name. In 1973 Philip moved to Bundeena...
, 19931993 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 20 — Maya Angelou reads "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton* T. S...
) - Nitty Gritty (Five Islands, 19971997 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*January 20 — Miller Williams of Arkansas reads his poem, "Of History and Hope," at President Clinton's inauguration....
) - The Ways of Waves (Sidewalk, 20002000 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Griffin Poetry Prize is established, with one award given each year for the best work by a Canadian poet and one award given for best work in the English language internationally.* February —...
) - Appetites of Light (Presspress, 20022002 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* After Ghazi al-Gosaibi, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Britain, publishes a poem praising a suicide bomber who had killed himself and two Israelis after blowing himself up in a supermarket; the...
) - Stories of the Feet (Five Islands, 20042004 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* April 1 — Foetry.com Web site is launched for the announced purpose of "Exposing fraudulent contests. Tracking the sycophants...
) - The Ambrosiacs (Island Press (Australia)Island Press (Australia)Island Press is an Australian publisher of poetry and other interests.Island Press was founded in 1970 by Canadian poet, musician and Sydney University lecturer Philip Roberts. He lived on Scotland Island at that time, hence the name. In 1973 Philip moved to Bundeena...
, 20092009 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 5 – The Turkish government announces it will posthumously restore the citizenship it had stripped from influential poet Nazim Hikmet, a Marxist who died in 1963 as an exile in the Soviet...
)
As editor/co-editor or organised
- 2011 "AU/UA: Contemporary Poetry of Ukraine and Australia" (Krok, 2011)
- 2010 "from this Broken Hill" Meuse PressMeuse PressMeuse Press http://meusepress.tripod.com/Meuse.htm is an Australian Press publishing a range of “poetry outreach” projects in a number of media ranging from a literary magazine to poetry published on the surface of a river. Founded by Bill Farrow & Les Wicks...
- 2009 "Guide to Sydney Beaches" Meuse PressMeuse PressMeuse Press http://meusepress.tripod.com/Meuse.htm is an Australian Press publishing a range of “poetry outreach” projects in a number of media ranging from a literary magazine to poetry published on the surface of a river. Founded by Bill Farrow & Les Wicks...
- 2000-2008 co-organiser Poets on Wheels.
- 2002 Heritage Light including publishing a poem on the surface of a river.
- 1998-2003 Written in Sand Project Meuse PressMeuse PressMeuse Press http://meusepress.tripod.com/Meuse.htm is an Australian Press publishing a range of “poetry outreach” projects in a number of media ranging from a literary magazine to poetry published on the surface of a river. Founded by Bill Farrow & Les Wicks...
. - 1999-2000 editor of Hobo.
- 1993 to date director of Island Press.
- 1992-1999 Artransit Project Meuse PressMeuse PressMeuse Press http://meusepress.tripod.com/Meuse.htm is an Australian Press publishing a range of “poetry outreach” projects in a number of media ranging from a literary magazine to poetry published on the surface of a river. Founded by Bill Farrow & Les Wicks...
. - 1985 Musicians Union Band Guide. 1978.
- 1984-1997 to Senior Industrial Officer Musicians Union & Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance.
- 1990-93 Sec. NSW ALP Communications & Leisure Policy Committee. –
- 1977-1981 Meuse PressMeuse PressMeuse Press http://meusepress.tripod.com/Meuse.htm is an Australian Press publishing a range of “poetry outreach” projects in a number of media ranging from a literary magazine to poetry published on the surface of a river. Founded by Bill Farrow & Les Wicks...
Magazine, supplements & anthologies. - Part of Poets UnionPoets UnionThe Poets Union is a not-for-profit organisation representing Australian poets, founded in Melbourne in 1977, it is now Sydney based. Its aim is to advocate the role of poetry as a major art form in Australia. Every second year it presents the Australian Poetry Festival and the Union organises...
(NSW) original steering committee, Jnt Sec./Treas. (1979–80), Federal Secretary 1983.