Nathan Curnow an Australian writer and performer who has been working it hard for a number of years now. With a new volume of poetry coming out next week, it is a good time to have a look at what he has done and where he has been.
After gaining qualifications in Community Development, Nathan worked in drug and dlcohol and crisis housing in Melbourne, but quickly experienced burn-out. He had been pursuing writing for a couple of years and so decided to quit his job and study creative writing. A stretch at Swinburne TAFE was followed by the hothouse environment of the University of Melbourne, which fast-tracked his development. After completing a post grad diploma in creative writing, he moved to Portland on the far south west coast of Victoria.
He says that while some think of Nathan as a Melbourne poet, the majority of his writing has occurred in the regional wilds of Victoria.
“The irony is that as soon as I moved out of the city the small opportunities and breakthroughs began to come my way, which meant some serious travel! I spent the next six years crashing on friend’s couches, in hotel rooms or in my car on the side of the road, all to perform, read, write and generally make a go of it,” he says.
In 2007 things got crazier when he set off to write about his stays at 10 haunted sites around the country. The adventure was featured widely in print and radio, and sparked the interest of a number of festivals where he was invited to appear. The Ghost Poetry Project (Puncher and Wattmann) has been featured widely on ABC radio and is available from Nathan’s website.
In 2010 he co-edited Going Down Swinging No. 30, a literary journal that has given many emerging writers a great kick-start. He has also collaborated with a range of gifted people over the years, including artist Dr Carmel Wallace, composer Anthony Lyons, musicians Wulfbyrne Brown, Joel Roberts and Michael Wallace, plus film students (Raphaela Lee, Clare O’Donnell and Laura James) from RMIT.
Nathan’s latest poetry collection was The Right Wrong Notes by Flying Islands Books. His new book The Apocalypse Awards which will be launched at the Art Gallery of Ballarat on Saturday 23 April, represents an exciting change in direction of his poetic voice. Inspired by the absurdity of the modern world, the poems chart our collective obsession with the end times, the horror and humour of our folly.
Nathan currently teaches at Federation University.
Published by Australian Scholarly Publishing
Featuring illustrations by Lily Mae Martin
Cover image ‘Dolor (For Whom The Bell Tolls)’ by Stephen Ives
When & Where: Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat – launch April 23
