BIO DETAILS
ABN 80 327 486 926
https://leswicks.tripod.com/lw.htm
Time Taken – New & Selected
(Puncher & Wattmann, 2022)
Belief (Flying Islands, 2019)
Getting By Not Fitting In (Island, 2016)
El Asombrado
(Rochford St, 2015 in Spanish & English)
Sea of Heartbeak (Unexpected Resilience) (Puncher & Wattmann, 2013)
Barking Wings (PressPress, 2012)
Shadows of the Read (Krok, 2011 in Ukrainian & English)
The Ambrosiacs (Island, 2009)
Stories of the Feet (Five Islands, 2004)
Appetites of Light (PressPress, 2002)
The Ways of Waves (SideWaLK, 2000)
Nitty Gritty (Five Islands Press, 1997)
Tickle (Island, 1993)
Cannibals (Rochford St Press, 1985)
The Vanguard Sleeps In (Glandular Press, 1981)
Time Taken – New
& Selected
If there is a unifying element to the collection beyond
the pistol shot of Wicks’ imagery and his cut-through language, it is a
fascination with and ability to detect and parse the ambiguities, paradoxes, bivalences, co-existent contraries Paul Scully Text
…the best collection of
portraits of Australians who are struggling in contemporary verse. Martin Langford Rochford Review
Les Wicks has been a major influence on me. Not just because of his own
wonderful and sustained poetry practise but because of the way he quietly goes
about supporting other poets and building up the poetry community. We need more
like him! Michele
Seminara UWAP
…clarity, strong imagery and a refusal to fall into the strident didacticism of some of his contemporaries. He remains politically engaged, but still equivocal… Micah Horton Hallett
…full of quirky observations & mordant wit Antonia Hildebrand
…a gift to unwrap slowly and
intermittently and repeatedly – to savour and respond to – to learn from – to
reflect on and to give thanks. Sarah
Tiffen
Belief
…Belief displays an accomplished elder
statesman of Australian poetry laying out with disarming agreeableness some of
the fundamental questions of the near future. Often playful, sometimes
circular, always self-aware in an optimistic rather than despairing way…Lucas Smith Plumwood
Mountain
…because his eye is withering and
direct, Wicks gives his subjects a dignity and specificity that many a
contemporary Australian novelist would envy. Adam Aitken. Communion
Wicks’ Belief is
a major contribution to Australian poetry, and an important commentary on
contemporary being. ¡strong and brave, gentle, angry
and broken. It tells the truth. Judith Nangala Crispin Verity La
Iconoclastic, irreverent, but always vigorous and compelling Margaret Bradstock
an elaborate mosaic where the tiles are words; paradoxes, satire and the
vernacular adorn the pages of this beautifully crafted book. Beatriz Copello Writing
NSW
a cascade of witty, erudite
and painful nips by a swarm of piranha fish.
Richard James Allen APJ
Getting By Not
Fitting In
self-aware,
debonair, generous, weary, even despondent, yet never despairing. Dominique
Hecq
possesses the same Wickensian
kaleidoscopic concision, wit and dexterity Carol Jenkins
While
such juxtaposition is disquieting, it is also deeply human: this is Wicks’
truest touch.
David Thomas Henry Wright
Sea of Heartbeak (Unexpected Resilience)
...the mixture of prawn-on-the-barbie, stale beer and thongs suburban, with a sophisticated lyricism and openness to nature... harvesting poetic truffles; line after line seems to have arrived entire. John Watson, Southerly
... an odyssey buoyed by hope and reckless humour. Rebecca Kylie Law, Rochford St Review
…is determined to take the reader on a dive beneath. It took me on a voyage which I found bracing and stimulating at the same time as it did not turn away from the discomforting reality of the costs our lives inflict on our futures. Rae Desmond Jones
Les Wicks has a capacity to invest ordinary truisms with moral and metaphysical nuances…these are tip-of-the-iceberg poems – a surface you can see and admire, but with hidden depths that are both wonderful and disturbing. David Gilbey, ABC Radio
Wicks works his ideas through images rather
than argument. The poems are visceral; each shaped towards an emotional
experience. John Upton,
Mascara
…striking in its complexity & provides a subtlety far beyond its obvious humour. Banjo James
Barking
Wings
...cheeky, wry, slightly errant and wayward, sometimes perverse or wicked... Paul Cliff
...image
piled up on image, words and sounds crashing to together and, even when we can
see ‘blue sky’ for a few lines, we are always aware that another surprise is
only a line break away. Mark Roberts Rochford St Review
The Ambrosiacs
Wicks’ The Ambrosiacs visual and tonal senses, shown through a series of relentless escapes and endscapes, create a striking depiction of the poet’s perceptions and observations. Matthew Hall Cordite
…acutely observant, bitingly satirical and as unfailingly generous as ever. Ralph Wessman Famous Reporter
…an
inspired elegy to human suffering and loss, dark and morose at times yet
engaging and full of life. Julie Waugh, Five Bells
…intense, quite relentless, often dark and pessimistic. But this of course is not the whole story, for within these pages are striking moments of grace, awareness, acceptance, restitution… joanne burns
...the poetry is firmly anchored in the recognisably here and now of the material world, craftily exploiting tensions between the natural world and the depredations of short-sighted materialism and consumerism. Cliff Forshaw
Stories of
the Feet
We need a book like this once in a while to remind ourselves that poets document contemporary society in a way that social scientists never will. With Stories of the Feet, Les Wicks focuses his rearview mirror on us. Rob Walker, Cordite
Les is your tour guide to the real Australia, a land of Emus and Kangaroos indeed, also a land of dead bodies covered in sheets, or cold nights thumbing rides along deserted highways… Another fabulous book, from a great poet. Paul Gilbert, Above Ground Testing (Can)
Wicks’
penetrating gaze does indeed illuminate his Australian landscape; it is a gaze
that makes the reader realise just how much is missed in the rush and bustle of
everyday living. Glenda Guest, Artlook
This is a compact
collection of narrative poems which covers an immeasurable distance in places
and human nature. Ray Carmichael, Studio
…use of the
Australian landscape in different ways means that Wicks celebrates the
Australian landscape without being a landscape poet. Wicks moves nimbly through
difference in style, from the linguistically simple to the complex, with the
same ease that he shifts from the creation of settings to the use of identified
locations to explore the nature of the different characters who inhabit his
poems. Helen Young, Philament
…full of humour
and dignity in the face of sheer survival. jeltje, Five Bells
inclusive Oliver Dennis, Island
An honest and
insightful attempt to see beyond subterfuge… Ralph Wessman, Famous Reporter
Appetites of Light
Wicks lights the desires, ideas,
acceptance & epiphanies of his everyday Australian protagonists in a… rich,
impressionistic, resonant way. Christine Ferrari
…a fresh, strong, humanistic voice… Patricia Prime, Stylus
...summer through a sharply focused
lens, a sudden wit and quick shifts of tone and mood. ...he is chameleon,
restless, full of questions, refusing to be pinned down. Happily moving here
& there, amused, bemused, shaking his head in disbelief, belief, in love
with it all. Brook Emery
…a ‘passing show’ commentary on our
beach culture…Helen
Horton, Imago
encapsulates Australian beach
culture….poems so bright you need Ray Bans. Smell the
briny & the blockout; feel the salt in your hair,
the sand in your socks… Mark
O’Flynn, Famous Reporter
…this is very clever poetry…Gloria B
Yates, Social Alternatives
Nitty Gritty
speaks out of the agora, not just from the top of Mt Parnassus Joanne Burns
varied,
nimble, humane, wry & well timed Jennifer
Maiden
wit & sparkle, the clever playfulness....warmth & compassion Tim Thorne FR
The portraits & voices of office workers, school boys & weary parents are hard & accurate. Carolyn Tetaz Cordite
Wizard of Wastelands Bev Braune ABR
....assembles an amazing cast of people in recognisable often dark places. With fine detail, their domestic & working lives are brilliantly portrayed. Anthony Lawrence
Others
In
Australia, dramatic narratives, in a variety of styles, still have a vitality
that at least matches, perhaps outshines what other English poetries can show…[“Two Ghosts…”] with its oral manner, builds up an eerie
tension… Christopher Pollnitz , Ulitarra
atmospheres of ratbaggery Sydney Morning Herald
grittiness the Age
personal & engaging, accessible &
immediate Warwick Wynne,
Australian Book Review
irony comes alive Pamela Brown
poetry in 3d leaving ‘grit under our fingernails.‘ Danny Gardner
Les' poetry has the romantic sneer of experience
entrenched.... duck ponds & screaming traffic Grant Caldwell
marvellous humour, deft satire & the comfort
of remembering Silvana Gardner, Imago
reveals contemporary issues with a biting irony Bruce Copping, Newcastle Herald
What was it like to live now? Read Wicks, Brown,
Bolton, Henry, Caldwell, Beach, Lysenko. Kevin Brophy
a harder voice Tom
Thompson, National Times
…induces a love/hate suspension about the city Inprint
…good poetry… pifmagazine (US)
One of the great Australian performance poets Steve Smart
Readings/presentations/performance
of works go into the many hundreds but include: several Sydney Festivals,
several Sydney Writers’ Festivals including 2013, 2011 to date member Harbour
City Poets. Tasmanian Poetry Festival, Qld Poetry Festival, Overload, Art
Gallery NSW, Harold Park Hotel, Kinselas,
Sydney/Macquarie/Charles Sturt Unis, Martin Place, Long Bay Gaol, Montsalvat, Parliament House (NSW), National Poetry Centre
(London), NSW Writers’ Centre, Byron Writers Festival, State Library NSW
Literary Weekend, CBC (Can), Colombia Television, Fiptr.com (Can), Radio
National, 2BL, 2NC, 2UE, 2GB, 2JJJ, 2RES, 2SER, Writers' Radio, Dan O’Connell, Australian
Made Poetry, Regional ABC (Riverina, Nth Coast & Broken Hill), Australian Poetry Festival, Castlemaine State
Festival, Newcastle Writers Festival, Noosa Long Weekend, Shoalhaven Poetry
Festival, Contemporary Australian Fiction Festival, Broken Hill Poetry
Festival.
Tours:- 2023 - International
Poetry Festival “Rhyming Nature” (e), Festival International de la Poesie
(Ca), Poetry Gala Int Mid Autumn Festival (e) CN
-
2022 5000
km Aus book tour, Genoa Int Poe Fest, Chengdu Int Poe Week (e), Int Fest of Poe &
Liquor (e)
-
2021
International Festival of Poetry and Liquor (e), Vessels of Love, Chengdu
International Poetry Week (e), International Festival of Poetry & Liquor
(e), Kerala Literature Festival (e)
- 2019
Newcastle Canberra Melbourne Perth & Chengdu Int Poetry Week
- 2018 Kerala Literature Festival, Chair
Poetry Evenings Kolkata
- 2016 Vilenica Int
Lit Fest, Kosovo Int. Poe. Fest., Bellingen R&W Fest.
- 2015 Festival de Poesia de Nicaragua & Istanbul International Poetry
Festival
- 2014 World Poetry Festival Delhi, Austin
International Poetry Festival,
Beyond Baroque (LA)
& Struga Poetry Evenings.
- 2013 International
Poetry Festival Medellin
- 2011 International Literary Festival, Lviv,
Ukraine, Noosa Long Weekend
-
2009 12000km book programme Adelaïde, Perth, Newcastle, West NSW &
Melbourne
- Festival
International de la Poesie 2006 Quebec
- South
Coast WC workshopping project 2005
- Book tour – Melb.,
Wagga, Tumbarumba, Broken Hill 2004
- Litlink Tour - SW
& Central West NSW 2000
- Poets on Wheels - Nth NSW 2000
Writer in Residence: - KSP Established WIR, FAWWA
Established W-I-R, Tasmania Writers’ Centre, Broken Hill, Booranga Writers
Centre. Commitment: professionalism, treat the audience with respect. Commitment:
professionalism, treat the audience with respect.
TUITION
\ WORKSHOPS
The Plan to be Published & Intense templates would rate amongst the
best known poetry workshops in Australia.
Previous
host venues include State Library NSW, Dover Heights TAFE, Sydney Festival,
Long Bay Gaol, schools, NSW Writers' Centre, Booranga Writers Centre, CSU –
Bathurst & Wagga, ECU, SCU, Nth RiversWC, Broken
Hill Regional WC, Tas WC, SCWC, SAWC, Words out West, FAWWA, Australian Poetry, NWF & KSP.
Offers
workshops featuring a no frills, practical guide to getting published in the
context of a supportive group environment. This template has worked most
effectively. Workshops are usually followed up by an issue of Australian Poetry Collaboration http://meusepress.tripod.com/apc.htm. This publicises both the host & the writers
participating.
EDITED/ORGANISED
Includes: Guide to Sydney Crime, To End All Wars, Rovers series, Guide to Sydney Rivers, Ambassador 1 over the 8th (Ind), AU/UA: Contemporary Poetry of Ukraine and
Australia (Krok, 2011 UA), From this Broken Hill (Meuse, 2010), Guide to Sydney Beaches (Meuse, 2009). 2000 -2008 co-organiser Poets on
Wheels. 2002 Heritage Light including publishing a poem on the surface
of a river. 1998-2003 Written in Sand Project. 1999-2000 Hobo. 1993-2016
director of Island Press. 1992-1999 Artransit
Project. 1985 Musicians Union Band Guide. 1984-1997 to Sen
Industrial Officer Musicians Union & MEAA. 1990-93 Sec. NSWALP
Communications & Leisure Policy Committee. 1977-1981 Meuse Magazine,
supplements & anthologies. Part of Poets Union (NSW) original steering
committee, Jnt Sec./Treas. (1979-80), Fed Secretary
1983.
PRIZES
Won or judged numerous prizes in Australia &
elsewhere.
PUBLICATION/ BROADCAST IN
MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS ETC.
1 over
the 8th (In), &, Above Ground Testing (Ca), Absinthe Literary
Review (US), Access, Afternoon (US), the Age, Alcubi Journal (US), All Souls Poetry (CN), Animist, Antipodean SF, Antipodes
(US), Arena (Vic), Arena (Mac. Uni), Argotist, Ars
Poetica, Artlook, Artransit,
Artshub, Artsrush, Ascent
(Ca), Australian, Australian Latino Press, Australian Poetry Journal, Australian
Reader, Australian Schools English Competition, The Australian’s Review of
Books, Australia Times, Avant Garde Times (Can), Axon, Backstory, Backstory of
the poem (US), Bardflies, Bareknuckle, Barnwood (US),
Benzine (US), Between These Shores (UK), Big Bang, Big Bridge (US), Blast,
Blowback, Blue Bottle, Blue & Yellow
Dog (US), Blue Dog, Blue Giraffe, Blue Nib, Blue Pencil (US), Blue Pepper,
Bonfire (UK), Broadkill Review (US), Bukker Tillibul, Bumf, Burrow, Canberra
Times, Canto Planetario (MX), Catalyst (NZ), Centoria, Cha (HKSAR), Chaos Theory (US), Chengdu
International Poetry Week, Cherry Bleeds (US), China Business Daily (CN), Circulo de Poesia (MX), Compass, Coffee Connection (UK), Colours
(US), Communion (AU), Communion (US), Concelebratory
Shoehorn Review (US), Conspire (US), Contemporary Literary Review (IN), Contrapasso,
Coppertales, Cordite, Cottonmouth, Crack the Spine
(US), Crannog (IE), Crosslines, Crux, Divan, Dot Dot
Dash, Eclecticism, Ecopoetics (US), Elixir (YE), Elves,
Enchanting Verses (IN), Embody (US), Essential Poetry, Eureka St, Eye Socket
Journal (US), Eye to the Telescope 2 (US), Famous Reporter, Fekt (MK), Feministanbul (TR), festivaldepoesiademedellin.org (CO), Festival Internacional de Poesia de la Habana
(CU), $5 Freedom, Fifth International Fest of Poetry & Liquor (CN), Five
Bells, Five Fleas (US), foam:e, Forgetting is so Long, Four W, Free Xpression,
Fulcrum (US), Full of Crow (US), Funny Poets, Gangway(AT), Gargouille,
Gen Siir Festivali (TR), Going
Down Swinging, Gold Dust (UK), Grapple, Gravity (US), Great Works (UK), Grepoetry (US), Grey Sparrow (US), Gutter (UK), Hatbox,
Heartland, Heritage Light, Hermes, Hobo, Holland 1945, Homebrew, Hotchpotch, Idiom
23, Image, Imago, the Implosion (US), Indigo Rising (UK), Inklings, Inprint, Inquirer (PH), InsomAniac,
Int Fest of Poetry & Liquor (CN), Int Human Rights Arts Festival (US), Island,
Ixion (UK), Jacaranda, Jack (US), Jacket, Juked (US), Kangaroo,
Ken*again (US), Kerala literary festival, Killing the Angel (US), Kurungabaa, La Voce dei Poeti (IT), Landscapes, Leaves, Les Reves des Notre Ours
(US), Linq, Lite Lit 1, live Encounters (ID), Locus
Non Consequensia, loop (US), Lifted Brow, Lip service
Journal (US), Liquid Imagination (US), Lite Lit One, Live Encounters (ID), Livrespico del Arte (US), Lone Star Magazine (US), Lost
&Found Quarterly (US), Lothlorien (UK), m.a.g. (US), Makar, Make
Your Mark, Mandible (US), Mannequin House (US), Manseerah
(UE), Mary, Mascara, Mattoid, Meanjin,
Meatloaf (US), Meniscus, Meuse, Melaleuca, Melic Review (US), Meniscus, Micropress Yates, Midwest Coast Review (US), Misfits
Miscellany (US), Moria (US), Moveable Type, Narrator, Nepean Review, New
England Review, Newcastle Herald, Newswrite, Nod
(CA), Northern Perspectives, nthposition (UK),
Numbat, Offset, onepoem.org (UA), Other Terrain, Otoliths, Over the Bridge,
Overland, Overlandexpress, Oxygen, OZpoet, P76, Page 17,
Panic Attack (CA), Pash Capsule, Passing Show, Peepshow (UK), Peoples Daily (CN), Periodica El
Sol (CO), Perspective (US), Petrichor Review (US), Picton Grange ¼ Review, Pifmagazine (US),
Perfect Diary, Petrichor Review (US), Pixel Papers, Plumwood
Mountain, Poem & Dish, Poem Box (US), Poem Niederngasse
(CH), Poemes pour la Paix (FR), Poesia, Poetas Siglo (ES), Poetry at
Sangam (IN), Poetry Book Club of Australia, Poetry Downunder, Poetryespresso, PoetryMagazine.com (US), Poetry Matters,
Poetry Monash, Poetry Pacific (CA), Poetry Salzburg (AT), Poetry Sydney, Polestar,
Politics & Prose in DC (US), Pool, Positive Words, Post Colonial Text (FR),
Predator of the Marvellous, Pressed, Pretty Owl (US), Private (It),
Prospect, psychic meatloaf (US), Quadrant,
Queen Anne’s Revenge (US), Quill & Ink (Ind), Real 8 View (US), Reality X (US), Red Room,
Redoubt, Regime, Remixt (US), Retreats From Oblivion
(US), Revue Brèves Littéraire
(CA), Right Hand Pointing (US), Right Now, Rip Rap (US), Ripples, Riverrun,
Road of Shadows (US), Rochford Review, Rust & Moth (US), Salt Lick
Quarterly, Scarp, SCOPP, Shades & Reflections (US), Shampoo (US), Short
& Twisted, Sidewalk, Siirden (SK), Silenced Press
(US), Six Seasons Review (BD), Sketch, Slipstream (US), Small Packages,
Smorgasbord (US), Snorkel (NZ), Social Alternatives, Softblow
(SG), Something Else, Southerly,
Southern Ocean Review (NZ), Spindrift, Springfield Gazette, Squidink, Stand (UK
), Stone Path Review (US), Stylus, Sugar Mule (US), Survision (IE), Swyntax, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Mosaic, Takahe (NZ),
Tam Tam (IT), Tamba, Tarot (NZ), Tears in the Fence
(UK), Text, Tharunka, The Disappearing, The Last Real
Poetry, The Mozzie, The Stone Hobo (US), The Tablet, The Write Angle, Theory of
Everything, Thirst, Thunkbook (TW), Thylazine, Tincture, Tinfish
(US), Toasted Cheese (US), Tweed, Typehouse (US), Uluslararasi (TR), Unfurl, Union Recorder, Unusual Work,
Vehicle, VTV (VE), Vernacular, verb-ate-him, Verbal Art (IN), Verge, Verity La,
Verse Land, Verso, Verge, Voice (US), Vsesvit Review
of World Literature(UA), Wandering Dog (UK), Westerly, Whistling Shade (US),
Wild(US), Windmills, Winning Writers (US), Wonder Book, Woorilla, Word is Out,
Word Salad (US), World Poetry (CN), World Poetry Tree (UAE), Writ, Write Angle,
Written in Sand, Your Friendly Fascist, yuryzavadsky
(UA).
Anthologies: A Poet’s
Journey into Spin, A Poetry in S Dreaming (IT), All From the Hand that
Hesitates for a Long Time Before It Disappears (DE), Anthology of the
Illawarra, Antipodes, Ashbery Mode, Between These Shores (UK), Beyond Borders
(In), Contemporary Australian Poetry, Australian Love Poems, Australian Poetry
Anthology, Australian Poets for Peace, AU/UA Contemporary Poetry of Ukraine & Australia
(UA & AU), Best Asian Poetry, Best Australian Poems, Billabong (PL), Can I
tell you a Secret?, Cao Tang (CN), Canto Planetariio
(MX), Capitals (IN), Caring for Country, Chair Poetry Series, Close to Home, Coming Out of Isolation (KE),
Contemporary Tangential Surrealist Poetry (IE), Covidioms
(IE), Dan Anthology 2017, Desde Hong Kong, Earth
Against Heaven , Embody, Encounter (PL), Extraterrestrial Life (RO), Falling
Angels, Feministabul
Anthology (TR), First Australian Haiku Anthology, Foliate Oak (US), Freshwater,
from this Broken Hill, Genc Siir Festivali
(TR), Golden Wings (IN), Great American Poetry Show Vol2 (US), Guide to Sydney
Beaches, Guide to Sydney Crime, Guide to Sydney Rivers, Hidden Hands, I Can’t
Breathe (KE), Il Respiro dell'Arte (IT), In Your
Hands, La Voce dei
Poeti (IT),Light
on Don Bank, Love in the Time of Covid (NZ), Lviv International Literature
Festival Almanac (UA), Madness (NP), Manseerah (AE),
Messages from the Embers, Metabolism, Mood Lightning, Moving Out Moving On, Musings During a Time
of Pandemic (KE), Notes for Translators (CH), Ocarina Anthology (IN), One
Minute To Midnight, Open Boat - Barbed Wire, Other Voices International Project
(US), Notes for the Translator, Poemes Pour la Paix
(FR),Poems in Perspex, Poetry & Place, Poetry from 5 Continents (MK),
Poetry in Multicultural Oceania (NZ), Poetry in Resistance (CO), Poetry in S
Dreaming (IT), Poets Choice (several years), Poets in the Forest, Presence – Live Poets 30 years at Don Bank., Revista de Poesia Prometeo (CO), Rhyming
Nature (IN), Sand in our Souls – the Beach in Australian Culture & History,
Semaphore Dancing (PITP, 2009), Singing in the Dark (IN), Social Images
1891-1991,Spirit of Self Expression, Sunlines,
Ten Years Live, Teratoid, The Argument from Desire, The Attitude of
Cups, The Greenhouse, The Selected Your Friendly
Fascist, The Stars Like Sand, Thylazine, To End All
Wars , Tree Stone
Sky Stream (CN), Turnstiles Review (US), 25 Australian Poets (Ca), UN Dialogue
Among Civilisations Through Poetry, Unexpected Visitor, Universal Oneness (IN),
Vessels of Love, Vilenica Almanac (SI), Version (RU),
War & Peace, Wombats of Bundanon – 20 Australian
Poets (CN), Work by Australian Poets, World English Poetry (BD), World Poetry (CN), World Poetry Tree (AE),
Writing Parramatta, Writing the Pacific (FJ), Writing to the Wire.
Last update November 2023
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