Archives: Pig Poets

Richard von Sturmer, New Zealand, (b. 1957), poetry includes: Palaeolithic Excavations in the Lower Dordogne and a Tonga poems series excerpt. Sturmer is a poet, artist, poet, playwright, film-maker, and musician and has fronted several New Zealand punk/art bands. In 2003 he co-founded the Auckland Zen Centre.

Maria Takolander, Australia, (b. 1973), poetry includes: The Ashes and Unborn. Takolander is a poet, short fiction writer and educator and currently an Associate Professor in Literary Studies and Professional and Creative Writing at Deakin University in Geelong, Victoria.

John Ernest Tranter, Australia, (b. 1943), poetry includes: Notes from the Late Tang. Tranter is a poet, a literary critic, editor and publisher. Tranter took his BA in 1970 and has worked mainly in publishing, teaching and radio production. He is a company director of Australian Literary Management, a leading literary agency.

Brian Turner, New Zealand, (b. 1944), poetry includes: Pig and A Good Keen Man. Turner is a poet, essayist, biographer and editor, as well as a critic, playwright, environmentalist commentator and television writer. He was appointed as the fourth Te Mata Estate New Zealand Poet Laureate in 2003.

Hone Tūwhare, New Zealand, (1922-2008), poetry includes: My Pork & Puha Anthem. Hone was Te Mata Poet Laureate in 1999 and received two honorary doctorates in literature. He was named one of New Zealand’s ten greatest living artists in 2003 and awarded one of the three inaugural Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement.

Ann Vaughan-Williams, New Zealand/England, (b. 1941), poetry includes: Breast-feeding. Vaughan-Williams is a poet, social worker and educator. She was an editor of the Long Poem Magazine for five years and has co-edited anthologies for Merton Poets.

Ania Walwicz, Poland/Australia, (b. 1951), poetry includes: All Writing Is Pigshit. Walwicz is a poet and play-wright. She was born in Swidnica, Poland and emigrated to Australia in 1963 and was educated at Melbourne’s Victorian College of Arts and the University of Melbourne. Walwicz currently teaches Creative Writing in RMIT’s Professional Writing and Editing program.

Ouyang Yu, China/Australia, (b. 1955), poetry includes: The Pig Incident and The Confessions of a Pig. Yu is a poet, critic, translator, editor and novelist. In 1996, he co-founded Australia’s first Chinese-language literary journal Otherland [Yuanxiang], which he has continued to run as editor.

Fay Zwicky (born: Julia Fay Rosefield), Australia, (1933-2017), poetry includes: Gall Tripartite and Paperbacks. Zwicky was a poet, short story author, reviewer, anthology editor, essayist and an accomplished concert pianist. She was also a lecturer in American and Comparative Literature at the University of Western Australia from 1972 until her retirement in 1987.