Writing & Society Research Centre seminar

Unruliness and a love of the vernacular are qualities often associated with the art and literature of both Australia and New Zealand. O'Brien will discuss 'the necessary awkwardness which is a part of all genuine artistic creation', as it is played out in creative productions from both sides of the Tasman.

With lines of poetry and the lines of an artist's drawing as a starting point, he will begin with the work of Noel McKenna – a painter with whom O'Brien has collaborated on many occasions over the past 30 years. While a curator at City Gallery Wellington 1997-2009, O'Brien also worked with Laurence Aberhart, Rosalie Gascoigne, Fiona Hall, Ralph Hotere and Euan Macleod.

His illustrated talk will incorporate works by those artists while also sampling his own poetry and that of other contemporary New Zealand writers. Gregory O'Brien is a poet, essayist, artist, anthologist and curator.

His recent publications include monographs on Euan Macleod (Piper Press 2010) and Pat Hanly (2012). His poems and drawings are most recently collected in Beauties of the Octagonal Pool (Auckland University Press 2012). His other books include the poetry collection News of the Swimmer Reaches the Shore (2007), and After Bathing at Baxter's: Essays and Notebooks (2002). He was the winner of the 2012 Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achivement in Non Fiction.