Philip Hammial: Contents page

Philip Hammial (b.1937) grew up in and around Detroit, Michigan, spent three years in the US Navy and studied at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Graduating with honours in English Literature and Philosophy in 1963, he went on to travel the world for a total of ten years. In 1972 he arrived in Sydney; he is now an Australian citizen, married with one child, and has been living in the Blue Mountains since 1994. He has published 17 collections of poetry, and has represented Australia at four overseas poetry festivals. Hammial is also an artist. He has had 31 solo exhibitions and his work has been included in 66 group exhibitions. A member of the Woodford Bush Fire Brigade between 1995 and 2003, Hammial fought many of the fires that raged through the Blue Mountains during those years. An environmental and human rights activist, he has worked as a volunteer for the Wilderness Society and the Free Tibet Action Group.

Philip Hammial: Biographical note

Philip Hammial (b.1937) grew up in and around Detroit, Michigan, where he spent his teenage years getting into serious trouble, a juvenile delinquent with too much imagination for his own good. After three years in the engine rooms of US Navy ships he went to Olivet College in Olivet, Michigan, and then to Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where he ‘discovered’ poetry, art, philosophy and history. Graduating with honours in English Literature and Philosophy in 1963, he went on to travel the world for a total of ten years, visiting seventy-three countries & working in three — Denmark, England and Greece.

In 1972 he arrived in Sydney on. a tourist visa and nine months later was granted a resident visa. He is now an Australian citizen, married with one child, a daughter born in 1997, and has been living in the Blue Mountains since 1994. He has published seventeen collections of poetry, one of prose and was the editor (with Ulli Beier and Rudy Krausmann) of the seminal Outsider Art in Australia. As the director of The Australian Collection of Outsider Art, he has curated or helped to organize twenty-two exhibitions of Australian Outsider Art — in Australia, Germany, France, Belgium and the U.S. In 1979 he became the editor of Island Press. Possibly the oldest small press in Australia still publishing poetry, Island was founded in 1970 by Philip Roberts and has published forty-seven titles to date. Hammial is also an artist. He has had thirty-one solo exhibitions and his work has been included in sixty-six group exhibitions.

Two of his poetry collections were short-listed for the Kenneth Slessor Prize — Bread in 2001 and In the Year of Our Lord Slaughter’s Children in 2004. He has represented Australia at four overseas poetry festivals — Poetry Africa 2000 in Durban, South Africa; The Franco-Anglais Festival of Poetry, Paris, 2000; The World Festival of Poets, Tokyo, 2000 and the Festival International de la Poesie, Trois Rivieres, Quebec, 2004. In 2001 he had a one month writer-in-residency at the Fundacion Valparaiso in Mojacar, Spain.

A member of the Woodford Bush Fire Brigade between 1995 and 2003, Hammial fought many of the fires that raged through the Blue Mountains during those years. An environmental and human rights activist, he has worked as a volunteer for the Wilderness Society and the Free Tibet Action Group.

Philip Hammial: Poetry Cv

Published books:

Voodoo Realities, Island Press Co-operative, Woodford NSW, 2005
Swan Song, Picaro Press, Warners Bay NSW, 2005
In the Year of Our Lord Slaughter’s Children, Island Press Co-operative, Woodford, NSW, 2003
Auto One, Vagabond Press, Sydney, 2000
Bread, Black Pepper, Melbourne, 2000
Black Market (in The Wild Life), Penguin, Melbourne, 1996
Just Desserts, Island Press Co-operative, Woodford NSW, 1995
With One Skin Less, Hale & Iremonger, Sydney, 1994
Travel/ Writing (with Ania Walwicz), Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1989
Outsider Art in Australia (co-editor), Aspect, Sydney, 1989
Pell Mell, Black Lightning Press, Wentworth Falls NSW, 1988
Vehicles (with Anthony Mannix), Island Press, Sydney, 1985
Squeeze, Island Press, Sydney, 1965
Swarm, Island Press, Sydney, 1979
More Bath, Less Water, Red Press, Sydney, 1978
Hear Me Eating, Makar Press, Brisbane, 1977
Mastication Poems, The Saturday Centre, Sydney, 1977
Chemical Cart, Island Press, Sydney, 1977
Footfalls & Notes, The Saturday Centre, Sydney, 1976

Anthologies:

The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Poetry
The New Oxford Book of Australian Verse
The New Australian Poetry
The Best of the Ear in a Wheatfield, 1973-1976
Poet’s Choice, 1976-1979
The Best Australian Poetry 2003
Said the Rat! 2004

Magazine and Newspaper publications:

Australia: Aspect, Ars Poetica, Centoria, Compass, Contempa, Cordite, Dharma, Ear in a Wheatfield, Etymspheres, Famous Reporter, Five Bells, Fling, H/ EAR, Heart, Helix, Homebrew, Hobo, Imago, Jossour, LiNQ, Magic Sam, Makar, Mattoid, Meanjin, Meuse, Micropress Oz, NewEngland Review, Otis
Rush, Overland, P-76, papertiger (CD Rom), Phoenix Review, Ploughman’s Lunch, Poetry Australia, Poetry Monash, Post Migration, Razor, Redoubt, Scarp, SideWaLK, Siglo, Small Packages, Southern Review, Southerly, Spindrift, Surfer’s Paradise, Syllable, The Age, The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The New England Review, The Saturday Centre of Prose & Poetry, Westerly, Ulitarra, Your Friendly Fascist.

Czechoslovakia: Prague Literary Review.

Egypt: Jossour.

France: SUD.

Japan: Kyoto Journal.

New Zealand: Poetry NZ.

South Africa: Carapace, Green Dragon.

United States: Amaranth, American Weave, Artful Dodge, Co-Lingua, Down Here, M.O.O.N. Magazine, Nexus, NRG, Snowy Egret, The Antioch Review, The Minnesota Review, The North American Review, The Wooden Head Review, The Wormwood Review, Trace.

Web anthologies & magazines:

University of Wollongong Poetry Anthology, Cordite, Above Ground Testing (Canada), Muse Apprentice (US), Rhizomes (US).

Public Projects:

Heritage Light Project, Parramatta NSW, 2003.

Festivals:

Adelaide Festival, 1979; Tasmanian Poetry Festival, Launceston, 1996; The Fourth Mostly Acoustic Improvisation Festival, University of Sydney, 1996; The Sydney Writers’ Festival, 1998; Poetry Africa 2000, Durban, SA; The Franco-Anglais Festival of Poetry, Paris, 2000; The World Festival of Poets 2000, Tokyo, Festival International de la Poesie, Trois Rivieres, Canada, 2004.

Prizes:

Rothman’s Foundation Poetry Prize, 1988; short-listed for a NSW Premier’s Award (the Kenneth Slessor Prize) 2001; short-listed for the Kenneth Slessor Prize, 2004.

Fellowships:

Senior Writer’s Fellowship, Australia Council, 1996; Established
Writer’s Fellowship, Australia Council, 2004.

Seminars:

Rencontres 1, University of Valencienne, France, 2000; Sydney Poetry Seminar 2004.

Residencies:

The Katherine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre, Greenmount, WA, 1999; Fundacion Valparaiso, Mojacar, Spain, 2001.

Video:

One Skin Less, poetry reading & sculpture exhibition with Colin Offord & the Great Bowing Company, 1994.

Poetry Workshops:

Penrith High School (Penrith NSW); St. Aloysius College (Milsons Point, NSW); Oz Artspace (Katoomba NSW).

CDs:

Bow, Spiral Sound, with Colin Offord, Spiral Sound, 1997; Swimming with Angels, with Colin Offord, Zoku-EMI, 1999; The Saldo, with Colin Offord, Spiral Sound, 2001.

Colin Offord has used Hammial’s text for repertoire in over one hundred performances, at such venues as the Brisbane Biennale of Music, Womadelaide Festival, Casula Power House, Art Gallery of NSW, The Basement(Sydney), Brett Whitely Studio (Sydney), The Loft (London) and the Brugge Music Festival (Belgium).

Aku Kadogo used Hammial’s text in her production, Frenzy, premiered at the Sydney Dance Company, 1998.

Sally Sharp used his text in her production, Village, premiered at the 1996 Brisbane Festival.