Last night the Wheeler Centre hosted the launch of Australian Poetry. The event’s evocative title, ‘A Thousand Sails’, was taken from a poem by Chinese-Australian poet Ouyang Yu, who used the image to describe the diversity of Australian poetry. Australian Poetry is the result of the merger between the Australian Poetry Centre and the NSW-based Poets Union.
Featuring poets Yvette Holt, Dagmar Leupold, Chris Wallace-Crabbe and Ouyang Yu, the evening was presided over by Australian Poetry’s national director, Paul Kooperman. Here’s an excerpt of his address: “Our goals for the organisation are to support and promote the existing Australian poetry community, build new audiences for poetry, provide access to poetry to people who might not ordinarily or easily have access and raise the profile of Australian poets and poetry regionally, nationally, online and overseas. Australian poetry (the organisation and art form) is always going to be many things to many people, an ocean of possibility, a platform for exploration and discovery, thousands of sails. We’re excited to join the journey.”