And if you don’t live in Adelaide you’re probably also envious of all of those who do. Tomorrow night wordfire features new work by Nicholas Jose, Cathoel Jorss, Rob Parry, Alice Sladdin, Daniel Watson and Rachel Hennessy. More HERE. Picture this: you’re sitting in one of Adelaide’s most atmospheric old pubs, the Crown & Sceptre, drinking Coopers and listening to diverse writings from novels, poems and anything else that these talented writers choose to share with you. I have many memories of wordfire  as audience-member and performer. If you don’t live in Adelaide, you should.

You may not meet Lee Marvin, but if you’re anywhere near Adelaide on Tuesday night, you should be in Anster Street.. $5 buys you admission, the chance to hear new writing being read by its author, a glass of wine and pleasant conversation with an intelligent group of people. At least that’s been my experience. If I could afford the fare, I’d be there myself…9 Anster St., Adelaide (off Waymouth at the King William end, near FAD nightclub)7.30 for a prompt 8 PM start   Price $55th Reading APRIL 29     o LEE MARVIN AND THE NO-NO MENRachel Hennessy   Cath Kenneally   Eva Sallis   Ken Bolton   Teri Hoskin 

Ahh, the memories! Exactly a year ago tonight we strutted our stuff in the Barossa Valley.11/04/07: What a pleasure and an honour it was to perform with Louise Nicholas, Judy Dally, Jude Aquilina and Bob Magor for Poets and Platters at Langmeil Winery tonight. 209 people paid $30 and enjoyed magnificent poetry (introduced by author & former Test-cricketer Ashley Mallett), award-winning premium Langmeil wines and a supper of locally-produced breads, grapes olives, ham and wurst, pâté and slices. Truly a celebration for the senses, the heart and the soul! Here in Himeji in spring, it seems so far away and long ago… 

I’ve just returned from a week’s holiday on the West Coast (of Honshu) to find that the third edition of the Australian/Asian poetry journal Mascara is now online. It includes three of mine – cello, Danny in detention and The koan before the satori. I share this high-quality publication with poets Thanh Thao, Diane Fahey, Papa Osumbal, Bonny Cassidy, Ian Irvine, Lorne Johnson, Maria Freij, Mark Tredinnick, Philip Hammial, Sam Byfield, Sue King-Smith, Arlene Ang, Vivienne Glance, Greg McLaren, Jill Chan, Lou Smith, Mario Licón Cabrera, Marcelle Freiman, Sherryl Clark, Terry McArthur and Andrew Slattery and reviewers/ essayists Michelle Cahill, Boey Kim Cheng, Peter Boyle and Paul Sharrad.Thanks to the editors for selecting and publishing my work.

Thankyou to Justin Lowe for publishing my poem The Teachings of the Buddha on his bluepepper website. While this is its first publication, I actually wrote this one when we journeyed to northern India and Bhutan soon after the terrible tsunami in 2004. While Lyn had gone off to visit a Buddhist convent I stayed in bed and woke late morning in a delirium induced by fever and the very high altitude. The only thing at hand to read was the Buddhist equivalent of the Gideon’s Bible, and the quote and strange experience are described in the poem as they happened. We wrote an account of our Bhutan travels for the South Australian Geographer journal as “Magical Land of the Thunder Dragon” and it was later also published on the Australian Reader website.