Spirals is the third and final volume of WA-based poet John Kinsella’s collected poems and dates from 2014-2023, seeing John through his fifties and without an end in sight. Spirals is not a case of a poet growing older, steadier, and more sedate but rather brings an ongoing sense of development that is also recursive and spatial.
John is the author of over forty books. His many awards include the Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry, the Victorian Premier’s Award for Poetry, the John Bray Award for Poetry, the Judith Wright Calanthe Award for Poetry and the Western Australian Premier’s Award for Poetry (three times). He is a a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge University, and a former Professor of Literature and Environment at Curtin University, Western Australia. He lives on Ballardong Noongar land at Jam Tree Gully in the Western Australian Wheatbelt. In 2007 he received the Christopher Brennan Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry.
This conversation between John and Writing WA’s CEO Will Yeoman took place before a live audience at Mattie Furphy House, Swanbourne, on 18 April 2024. Special thanks to the Fellowship of Australian Writers (WA) for their permission to record the event and make it available to the public. (Picture Credit: Tracy Ryan)
John Kinsella Live at Mattie Furphy House