VENIE HOLMGREN

Log of interview 14th of May 2007 in Bega

To listen to the whole interview contact me. For copyright and aesthetic reasons the raw recordings are not available on-line.

TRACK ONE

1:00

Welcome, thanks and bumbling intro by Tim

1:00

1:25

School, left age 14, a late starter in poetry (age 50 vide infra)

1:35

2:19

The Sun Collection; her love of performance poetry

2:23

2:48

Beginning poetry age 50

2:49

3:47

Forestry movement and her poetry

3:48

3:59

4:00

4:45

Writers against Nuclear War; Dorothy Green tells her to go and get published

4:45

5:06

5:30

6:08

Reads title poem

6:48

8:10

Graham reads Xanthorrhoea

8:35

9:32

Graham reads back cover blurb on The Sun Collection

10:02

10:22

10:23

10:47

Story of the poem Xantho, Heather Meek; SE Forests campaign

10:48

12:15

on being a poet: she just wanted to share her work (1140)

12:15

13:20

13:24

14:07

Woke with a full poem in her head

14:10

14:20

Q: Agnostic? A: Yes.

14:58

16:48

Reads Skin

16:50

Q: where did you get your social conscience? Her father practising Judaism, the family life

17:40

Leaving school at 14...mother sick, no money

18:16

18:46

TRACK  TWO

0:58

War and Peace 2002

0:58

1:40

An English Sonnet

2:15

3:05

A new collection of poems submitted

3:07

4:59

Reads from this The Plum Tree

5:05

6:43

Leaving the bush; no regrets, never looked back

6:43

7:29

7:30

9:27

9:30

10:02

Graham talks about the collection War and Peace

10:04

10:30

11:18

13:48

Venie reads Arrest poem

(remarks about tape noises)

14:15

15:04

Graham introduces the forthcoming travel memoir

15:05

15:17

(talking about some old cars)

TRACK THREE

0:59

1:00

1:42

Poetry and politics

2:20

Day of the Pardalote; about Picaro press

3:15

A highly political collection; includes long holocaust poem

3:37

4:10

4:30

5:00

6:11

The communist party; people today are brainwashed; speak your own truth

6:12

Q Are you mostly a political poet then?

6:46

Breathing is political (quote Sue Norman)

7.00

Opted not to discuss her children for this program

7:33

8:33

Venie speaks about performing poetry

8:34

9:50

A US tour; Georgetown University reading.

9:53

11:00

Among the Sepias, about the book

11:00

About the cover photos of her mother at 16, and herself.

11:59

12:57

Graham reads Prologue to Among the Sepias

13:00

13:30

Venie reads first Sepia

13:42

14:04

Another Sepia

14:08

14:40

Another Sepia

14:41

14:57

About the book again

15:28

15:58

16:25

17:14

Q: about photography,,she is not doing it these days

17:15

17:46

17:48

18:29

Bookshops that stock her

18:30

18:58

More on Day of the Pardalote, chat with Graham about the bird.

18:59

20:09

Venie reads Day of the Pardalote

20:45

22:27

Venie reads Blue on Blue