c-side

Well, here it is, the first step of a new look c-side - well same look really but with a few more bits and pieces and hopefully regular updates.

Some pictures from my recent trip to China.

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The 2008 Australian Poetry Festival State of Play gets underway tonight with a cocktail party followed by a weekend of poetry seminars, discussions and readings, as well as a few book launches.

You can get all the information you need at the Poets Union website.

The critic and academic Peter Pierce has written ‘this is — unflamboyantly — one of the richest periods in the meandering, controversial story of Australian poetry.’

As a title, State of Play: Australian Poetry Now! is a reflection of that opinion. As a festival, it has been designed as an exploration of that idea. The central festival panel is the most obvious expression of this intent. Parallel panels have been sponsored in Melbourne and Perth and a similar one has already been successfully conducted at the Sydney Writers Festival. The papers from these panels, and from other festival events, will be published in a special double edition of Five Bells which will appear early in 2009. We hope this will be a serious contribution to thinking about Australian poetry.

- Brook Emery, 2008 Festival Director

The Oriental Society, the oldest society in Australia promoting Asian Studies, is hosting a seminar by James Stuart, discussing the creative processes and historical research behind online poem-worldThe Homeless Gods.

Speaker: James Stuart
Presentation Title: The Homeless Gods: exploring ancient Mesopotamia
Date: Monday 17th December 2007
Time: 5.30pm to 6.30pm
Venue: Quadrangle Building Room S421,The University of Sydney (access via entry lobby D).

This will be the last OSA seminar for 2007. All are welcome to this free event.

After the presentation a Christmas dinner party will be held at the Spicy Sichuan restaurant in Glebe. Again all are welcome. For more details on the event, visit the OSA website.

There are two excellent poetry readings coming up in Sydney in the coming weeks.

First, on Friday 26 October we have the long-awaited return of the Loft Readings, featuring “A Triptych of Australian Poetry Talent”, namely Samuel Wagan Watson, Judith Beveridge and Stuart Cook.

Second, on Sunday 28 October we have the Brett Whitely Readings, featuring the lovely (not to mentioned talented) Jane Gibian alongside Petra White from Melbourne.

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In the city of New Eridu, deep in the lands of The Homeless Gods, three more locations are unlocked for you to visit: THE ZIGGURAT, APSU MARSHES and GATES OF ANZU.

The Gates of Anzu are the portal to the fortified city at the heart of New Eridu, carved with the image of the lion-headed eagle Anzu - who once stole the Tablets of Destiny.

Within the fortified city lies The Ziggurat. This towering structure is home to the rulers of the city. But it is only a shadow of its predecessor, the grand ziggurat at Ur.

Meanwhile, on the fringes of the city, in the alien environment of the Apsu Marshes (named after the ancient father of the gods Apsu - He of the sweet, fresh waters beneath the earth), two lovers live out the last days of their relationship.

Visit The Homeless Gods: www.thehomelessgods.net

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