A Life in Poetry: Brook Emery and Ron Pretty in Conversation

In a life devoted to poetry, Ron Pretty has been a teacher, a publisher, and an editor while producing 8 books and 6 chapbooks of his own.  In this fifteen minute video he discusses with his friend and award-winning poet Brook Emery, some of the experiences and motivations that have shaped his work, and reads a selection of his poetry to illustrate those influences.

Ron Pretty has been publishing his poetry for more than 40 years, the most recent being The Left hand mirror and What the afternoon knows. He was editor of the literary/arts magazine scarp, published by the University of Wollongong, from 1984 to 1999. From 1983 to 1999 he was Head of Writing in the Faculty of Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong. While in Wollongong, he helped establish the South Coast Writers’ Centre. Until retiring in 2007, he was the director of Five Islands Press, a leading publisher of contemporary Australian poetry for which he published 230 books by Australian poets. Between 2000 and 2007, he ran the Poetry Australia Foundation. He won the NSW Premier’s Special Prize for services to literature in 2001 and received an AM for services to Australian literature in 2002.

The Poetry Sydney program at the Brett Whiteley Studio will recommence under advisement of Studio Management.  The Brett Whiteley Studio has reopened to limited numbers of visitors.  Thursday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm.  No bookings or tickets required.  Strict physical distancing and hygiene measures to protect the health of all visitors and staff and minimise the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus).  Visitors will be asked to provide their name and contact details on arrival to support contact tracing.

Brett Whiteley Studio
2 Raper Street, Surry Hills
Sydney, NSW Australia

10:00am – 4:00pm Friday – Sunday
Free admission made possible by J.P. Morgan