User:Poetryeye/PUA - Poets Union of Australia

Ten poets (Eric Beach, Robert Hughes, Pi0, Jas H. Duke (1940-1992), thalia, Cathie Johns, jeltje, Larry Buttrose, Donna Maegraith and Barry Macdonald) met in Melbourne on 27 August that year to form what was originally called the Poets Union.

Back in 1977 Eric Beach, one of the founders, wrote what can only be described as a manifesto. It was still being used some 18 months after its appearance as the purest statement of Poets Union principles.

"We want to provide access for women"

The rise of women writers in Australia is probably the most significant (and overdue) feature of those years. Susan Hampton & Kate Llewellyn in *“The Penguin Book of Australian Women Poets” ( Penguin, 1986) argued that the Poets Union played a substantive role in the process of breaking down the two great poetic myths.... the "male" in the "garret".

The role played by the union in gender representation can be noted in the quietly critical comment by a critic on that book “The collection reads, in fact, like a Poets' Union program in places…”.

Rules: "3(q) The Poets Union will place a positive and definite emphasis upon the equal status of women. As a matter of procedure, this emphasis should be asserted in order to counteract the negative bias which exists". This rule provision was not part of the original draft document but was inserted at the third NSW meeting in February 1978. The inclusion of this clause marked an important step in the emergence of women writers at a time when feminism was active, but many of the support mechanisms enjoyed by women writers today were not yet in place.

That this policy was no "motherhood" statement soon became clear with Tom Thompson (one of the founders of the Sydney branch) landing himself in a furious debate over a series of readings at Sydney University, which were offered to him to organise subject to a required list of readers, which effectively precluded equal gender representation.

A 50/50 gender split soon became the norm for Poets Union readings and, in fact, all readings.... a substantive and union-originated change with profound consequences for Australian writing.

In the mid 80s the union originated a report on affirmative action within the organisation & received a positive endorsement of its record within an industry not generally over-burdened with accolades of this kind.

Shifts of this nature seem inevitable in retrospect and would have no doubt occurred whether a "poets union" was formed or not. Nonetheless, history probably has a right to treat kindly those individuals & groups which embraced, and even accelerated, that momentum.

"Access for.... Australians to whom English is a second, third or fourth language, a chance for them to participate without having to contend with th problem of th ghetto mentality."

Again, we face the issue of whether the Union was a vehicle for change or just happened to be waiting at the bus stop when the right vehicle pulled up.

That this function was seen as crucial is largely beyond debate. The Melbourne branch particularly was noteworthy particularly in seizing this opportunity to embrace multiculturalism with the active participation of members like Pi O, Thalia and Ania Walwicz giving this area of union activism a vibrancy.

"...affiliate with th ACTU..."

This was actually attempted once by the Victorians in 1977-8 and saw them effectively laughed out of the building.

While never discussed without at least some tongues in cheek this went in some ways to the fundamental issue of what the Poets Union was actually about.

In a practical sense the question of some form of incorporation consumed an inordinate amount of the Union's time and resources. The practical legal problems of the union's constitution were first raised at the fourth NSW meeting and continued intermittently until a question of liability for debts incurred in the *”Directory of Australian Poets 1980” ( Poets Union, 1980) rudely brought home the realities to overworked & voluntary officers in all branches. Through this period from the mid to late 'eighties the debate continued with substantive differences over the very nature of the various branches emerging. They were discussing becoming an "incorporated association", which legally precluded them being a "union". They later changed their name to Melbourne Poets Union, a body which still thrives today. The South Australian branch, known as the South Australian Poets' Union, or S.A. Poets' Union, existed until 1987: "The S.A. Poets' Union was established to serve the needs of Friendly Street at first, but the organisation ceased in 1987". The organisation was wound up in November 1987.

NSW remained firmly ensconced in the "union" camp until the 'nineties when both new state legislation & union leadership changed the balance towards the Victorian model. NSW finally achieved the goal of incorporation on 28th April 1994.

Poets Union Inc thereby acquired a legal recognition & a raft of new obligations that the busy nihilists of the earlier years would have fled from in panic. It is somewhat poignant to note that, from an organisation that was once so driven by ideology & debate, the new PUI adopted a mission statement in December 1995 because it was required to do so by law.

The business of organising tours/events/outlets/publications left little time for the role of ginger group.

".... set up a reading circuit in closed institutions such as prisons, schools, libraries...."

The leading function of all branches was undoubtedly the readings. Reports to Federal Executive inevitably and predominantly consisted of listing new performance outlets in each city. For the first time poetry came to prisons (Melbourne 1978, Sydney 1979) & high schools (1979). The Poets Union had some role to play in the lobbying for the establishment of both the Victorian & NSW Writers' Centres. Some times & in some regions the Union was the only source of regular readings available. Even when there were other options, the union venue was a valuable addition.... a Sydney example was the Evening Star Hotel venue which started in 1988 and continued for some years. At the same time there were the Loft Readings & Writers in The Park. Despite the "competition", they saw a vital and relatively enduring venue added to the community.

Success in this principle was widely noted. Andrew Brock noted that Union had in fact “organised poetry readings in factories prisons and psychiatric institutions”. . Melbourne continued to stand out in the field of performance poetry. It was noted that weekly readings in Sydney at the Royal Standard Hotel were initiated by the branch there in 1978

The rewording conferences “started in 1987 and similarly played an important role in developing a dialogue amongst writers about their art form, their audience & themselves.

These operations (along with successive newsletters) were the very core of the Union’s life. Organising it was also boring and hard work. A high burnout rate, low participation & serial, short term, commitments characterise the process of maintaining the output. Without the exoskeleton of that Union infrastructure there is a doubt so much literary output over the years could have found voice.

“We want to have branches in small towns….”

Over time smaller branches were running in Adelaide, Warrnambool, Bendigo, Wollongong (founded 1979), Newcastle & Brisbane.

The Poets On Wheels poetry tours of country NSW was and remains today the largest, most ambitious touring project of the genre in Australia. First suggested by the Union in November 1984 & emplaced ten years later it was a major initiative in poetry dissemination.

"....to overcome th barriers set up between kulture & the working class...."

Most of the preceding Union targets lead directly to this macro goal. Despite noting the wins one has to say that, as a whole, Australia has not seen any significant change in the acceptance & readership of Australian poetry.

The grand dream... once encapsulated by Billy Marshall-Stoneking as “wanting a poem in the top 40” has not materialised despite all the struggles both collective & individual.

“…& receive a fee…”

The very genesis of the union was centred around a cultural event in Melbourne at which poet-payment hadn't dawned on the organisers. True to form, the Sydney branch (or "cell" as it was sometimes described) was picketing the Adrian Rawlins organised Sydney Festival Writers’ component in 1978 & payment was sought in a Sydney university dispute shortly thereafter. Minimum reading rates were put into theory, if not into place. Positions have been adopted on alleged misappropriation of funds on a major magazine, “Books & Writing” policy on smaller magazines, poetry publishing in metropolitan dailies, Montsalvat, Literature Board policy & Bicentennial celebrations.

Perhaps the finest hour in this area was when the Sydney branch revived itself to make a splendid noise over the dropping of Sacha Soldatow from a Sydney Festival event in 1983 on homophobic or (the Festival argued) obscenity grounds.

The Union did serve a function to drive home the need for proper treatment of the poet on & off the page. Perhaps these sporadic forays really had little long-term impact... but they were reportedly a lot of fun.

"...working together..."

Despite what Llewellyn & Hampton (ibid.) say, the "garret" mentality never was (& never really could be) overcome. Up until the quieter 90s the great clashes of wills & egos stand out like seismic events on any graphs of the time.

The mid 80's saw a degree of acrimony amongst branches, fuelled by the debate over who would pay the outstanding Directory bill. Long time stalwart Bill Nissen had found himself de facto responsible.

Nature abhors a vacuum so, following a period of quiet, a final bloody stoush arose 1989 over the attempt to sell NSW & Federal archives to the Australian Defence Forces Academy. Passed at an initial meeting, there was considerable pressure for a recission motion consequent upon the Union's long-standing anti-nuclear & anti-war position. In the light of both Austlit's & the Academy's now established bona fides in the literary world, the battle seems somewhat puerile. But those emotions were real enough then and saw the resignation of several long term supporters. The sale went ahead after a narrow postal ballot result.

The NSW branch (later renamed Poets Union Inc) reflected the ebb & flow elsewhere as it floundered somewhat in 1980, virtually disappeared in 1982,climbed back then sank to 92 members in 1992 *Brian Purcell"The Rise and Rise of the Poets Union"

At the time of PUI’s cessation there were over 400 members in NSW - as high as it ever reached.

Finale

They came together (in their limited way) around a series of egalitarian, activist principles for a number of both selfless & selfish motives. In 2011 government funding bodies forced an amalgamation of the PUI with the Australian Poetry Centre forming Australian Poetry leaving the Melbourne Poets Union as the sole surviving entity with that name. It each year operates a major prize, publishes chapbooks/anthologies and organises regular readings.

TABLE 1 FOUNDING MEMBERS / STEERING COMMITTEES VICTORIA Eric Beach, Robert Hughes, Pi O NSW Sal Brereton, bill farrow, Alan Jefferies, John Jenkins, Keith Shadwick, Tom Thompson, Les Wicks STH AUSTRALIA Larry Buttrose, Donna Maegraith, Span Hanna QUEENSLAND Chloe Rae, Madonna Staunton WOLLONGONG Rae Desmond Jones, Clair O'Connor, Colin Symes BENDIGO Anne Jones

TABLE 2 FEDERAL SECRETARIES Robert Hughes Bill Nissen Kate Llewellyn Jenny Boult Les Wicks Martin Langford

Key figures in the continuing Melbourne Poets Union and its previous role as a branch include: Barbara Giles, Joyce Lee, Connie Barber, Kevin Brophy, Jennifer Strauss, Michael Dugan, Rosemary Nissen-Wade, Bill Nissen, Charles D’Anastasi, Lyndon Walker, Steve Smart, Hamish Danks Brown, Wendy Fleming and Charles Rimington.