I don't easily describe myself as a poet. Labels of any sort are generally problematic to some degree. Scratchy. What's my problem with 'Poet'? In some mouths, it can sound like an insult. Perhaps I'm subconsciously adding 'Minor' or 'Failed' in front of 'Poet'. Certainly, there are many people, including members of the wider writing …
Author: Hilaire
I am a writer of poetry and prose. I was born and brought up in Melbourne but have lived in London most of my adult life.
doing the antipodean Shuffle
No, it's not a dodgy dance move. This was a special antipodean edition of the monthly poetry event The Shuffle, which took place last night at the Poetry Café. Co-hosted by Cath Drake and Gale Burns, the evening featured eight Australian and Kiwi poets, and I was very pleased to be one of those invited …
not a football in sight
Sunday afternoon. The previous night, England lost. It seemed a good idea to stretch our legs and get a breath of fresh air, and an even better idea to take advantage of the fact that in under 45 minutes we can walk to Tate Britain. Grey skies and a stiff breeze hurried us on, through …
Meanwhile, back in defence
Friday evening. Fifty or so people gather in a corporate art venue, the Bloomberg Space, for Errors Hit Orient. Nick and I are here because I saw a tweet from Studio Voltaire about the event, mentioning B.S. Johnson. We're not quite sure what to expect. The idea sounds a bit mad, but definitely unmissable. Someone …
talent times two
Another excellent and uplifting Loose Muse last Wednesday evening at the Poetry Café. The featured writer in the first half was Patricia Foster. A poet and educator, Patricia performed her poems with great charm and presence. Many of her poems draw on her Jamaican heritage and celebrate her close bond with her family. The Broomstick relates …
and the point of it is
Fun. Play. Inquisitiveness. Encountering the everyday at an odd angle. Provocation. Or no point at all, IT just IS. And the 'it'? Art. Specifically, the Martin Creed retrospective What's the point of it? at the Hayward Gallery, which we visited on Thursday evening. Although some of the work was familiar to me, there was a …
Melbourne scrapbook
Here are some snaps and snippets from my recent trip home. Home? To the city where I was born, where I grew up, that I made a conscious choice to leave many years ago. London is home now. Melbourne is family, a few friends, home-but-not-home. What's that line from a Gang of Four song? 'At …
difficult reading
A few thoughts on two recent reads that deal with difficult subject matter. I've just finished The Watch Tower by Elizabeth Harrower. Set in Sydney in the 1940s, it's a compelling psychological novel centring on a manipulative and abusive relationship. The novel begins as sisters Laura and Clare Vaizey are withdrawn from boarding school by …
bye bye LRB
Yesterday I cancelled my subscription to the London Review of Books. I'd been considering this for a while, ever since For Books' Sake raised the issue of the completely skewed gender imbalance in the LRB's pages, both in terms of the percentage of books by men reviewed compared to books by women (74% male authors …
Loose Muse feature
Wednesday night was blowing a gale in London, but the threatened tube strike had been suspended, and the day's lashing rain finally dried up. So, given the circumstances, there was a good turn out for Loose Muse at the Poetry Café, where I was billed as one of the two featured writers. Unfortunately, Sally Spedding, …
Hilaire 