South Perth POETRY PARK LAUNCH:  (quoted from the invitation)

Mayor & Councillors of the City of South Perth warmly invite you to the opening of the  South Perth Poetry Park at 5.30pm, Thursday 15th May 2008 at Neil McDougall Park, South Perth.

The Poetry Park will be opened by the Hon. Sheila McHale MLA, Minister for Disability Services, Tourism, Culture & the Arts.

Light refreshments will be served.  RSVP essential on 9474 0800 or library@southperth.wa.gov.au

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The Poetry Park, I'm told was instigated by Ken Spillman ~ a wonderful initiative. For your information I've copied the press release which appears on this page:



http://nac.gov.sg/new/new02a.asp?id=348



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Singapore Poets Invited to Launch Poetry Park in Australia 08 May

2008



A Poetry Park will be launched at the Neil McDougall Park in South

Perth, Australia to celebrate the outstanding work and achievements

of Western Australia's poets. The opening also marks the launch of

Over There: Poems from Singapore & Australia, an anthology of

Singaporean and Australian poets, edited by Alvin Pang and John

Kinsella.



The event to be held on Thursday, 15 May 2008 will be officiated by

the Honourable Sheila McHale MLA, Australian Minister for Disability

Services, Tourism, Culture & the Arts.



The Singapore contingent for the launch led by Lee Suan Hiang, Chief

Executive Officer, National Arts Council, will comprise Meritorious

Service Medal recipient, Professor Edwin Thumboo, distinguished poet and literary scholar, Professor Kirpal Singh, as well as acclaimed

Singapore poets, Alvin Pang and Ng Yi-Sheng, and publisher Ethos

Books for Over There, Fong Hoe Fang.



Says Lee, "Singapore's participation in such a major launch offers a

great opportunity for us to promote Singaporean literature and our

writers in Australia in a big way. Considering the large Australian

market for literature in English, it's indeed a milestone for us and

we look forward to more collaborative functions and programmes

between both countries in the future."



First of its kind in Australia, the innovative project was conceived

and coordinated by one of Western Australia's most prolific writers,

Ken Spillman. Says Spillman, "Western Australian writers have long

thought of themselves as isolated. That may be true in relation to

our east coast, but we are realising that proximity to the vibrant

artistic culture of Singapore is much more interesting than

connections with Sydney and Melbourne."



Spillman also feels that the attendance of prominent Singapore poets

at the launch will give the project an international dimension and

will strengthen ties between the literatures of Western Australia

and Singapore. "Alvin Pang's work with John Kinsella, one of

Australia's most celebrated poets, points the way forward. It's

clear that Singapore literature has entered an exciting phase, and

that we can learn a great deal from each other. We can inspire each

other, too - that's the greatest aspect of it all," he adds.



Over There is published under the NAC 50Fifty Co-publishing

Initiative for publishers. Says Fong, "We are very excited about the

level of collaboration and quality work that is coming out of our

engagement with the Australian literary world. We hope this will be

the genesis of what promises to be a brave new world of literary

bridges and sharing that will enhance relationships with our

neighbours far south."



About NAC 50Fifty Co-publishing Initiative



The 50Fifty Co-publishing Initiative is a step towards developing a

greater pool of Singapore literature and an investment in the

development of Singapore's literary publishing industry. The

initiative identifies works that are well-written, distinctive and

with a potential to generate domestic and international interest.

Books published under the initiative include The Lies That Build a

Marriage by Suchen Christine Lim (Monsoon Books), One Earth by Isa

Kamari (Original title in Malay - Satu Bumi) (Ethos Books), as well

as Over There: Poems from Singapore and Australia, edited by Alvin

Pang and John Kinsella (Ethos Books).



About the Poetry Park Project



The first phase of the Poetry Park project involves the installation

of panels displaying the work of 12 of WA's most highly-acclaimed

poets, as well as a "Poets Walk of Honour" featuring plaques bearing

the names of poetry winners of the WA Premier's Book Award. Poets

represented on the panels are John Kinsella, Philip Salom, Fay

Zwicky, Andrew Lansdown, Tracy Ryan, Rod Moran, Dennis Haskell,

Andrew Taylor, Alec Choate, Miriam Lo, Barbara Temperton and Roland

Leach.



Subsequent developments of the park include poetry readings as part

of the community events, poetry festivals and the incorporation of

poetry into public art. The Poetry Park project is funded by the

City of South Perth with the assistance of a Lotterywest grant and

has the support of the State Library of Western Australia, WritingWA

and the South Perth Historical Society.

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