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Heide
The third volume in π.O.’s epic trilogy, after 24 Hours and Fitzroy: The Biography, and the first to be published by a trade publisher for national distribution.
HEIDE is an epic poem about history, painting, painters, patrons – the people who made modern art happen in Australia, and those who opposed it. There is a particular focus on the artists gathered around Sunday and John Reed at Heide in Melbourne, including Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker and Joy Hester. But the many portraits which compose the work give it an ever-expanding range, evoking the larger artistic milieu, while stressing the culture’s social and economic underpinnings, from the governing role played by the wealthy and the powerful, to the struggles of the working class, the difficulties faced by women artists, the immigrant impact on the development of modernism, and the denigration of Indigenous art. But even more than the subject matter, it is the poet’s own extraordinary technique, his use of historical and scientific facts, quotations, proverbs, numbers, definitions and the visual form of the poem, which generates both the book’s encyclopaedic reach, and its Anarchist perspective. The effect is one of exuberance and lightness, so that for all its awareness of the costs involved, HEIDE is also emphatic in asserting the centrality of art to human experience. ‘Long live Art! Long live Poetry! Long live the Revolution!’
HEIDE is an epic poem about history, painting, painters, patrons – the people who made modern art happen in Australia, and those who opposed it. There is a particular focus on the artists gathered around Sunday and John Reed at Heide in Melbourne, including Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker and Joy Hester. But the many portraits which compose the work give it an ever-expanding range, evoking the larger artistic milieu, while stressing the culture’s social and economic underpinnings, from the governing role played by the wealthy and the powerful, to the struggles of the working class, the difficulties faced by women artists, the immigrant impact on the development of modernism, and the denigration of Indigenous art. But even more than the subject matter, it is the poet’s own extraordinary technique, his use of historical and scientific facts, quotations, proverbs, numbers, definitions and the visual form of the poem, which generates both the book’s encyclopaedic reach, and its Anarchist perspective. The effect is one of exuberance and lightness, so that for all its awareness of the costs involved, HEIDE is also emphatic in asserting the centrality of art to human experience. ‘Long live Art! Long live Poetry! Long live the Revolution!’
560 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2019
About the author
П.O.
5 books6 followersП. O. (or Pi O, born 1951) is an Australian, working class, anarchist, poet of Greek origin.[1]
Born in Katerini, Greece, П. O. came to Australia with his family around 1954. After time in Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre, the family moved to the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy.
П. O. was inspired to start writing poetry in 1970 when he heard Johnny Cash reciting (religious) poetry while tuning his guitar. П. O. thought he could do as well or better. His work ranges from standup-type rants to 'conceptual' page poetry and concrete poetry, with a heavy emphasis on wordplay and capturing the vitality of everyday speech. Thematically, he commonly portrays the issues of non-Anglo-Celtic working class life.[2]
He has had numerous books published since his first, Fitzroy Brothel in 1974, more notably the epic verse novel 24hrs. From 1978 to 1983, he was involved in producing the radical poetry magazine 925. He is a fixture of Melbourne's performance poetry scene and has edited an anthology of performance poetry (Off the Record) for Penguin. His most recent book is Big Numbers: New and Selected Poems (2008).
Born in Katerini, Greece, П. O. came to Australia with his family around 1954. After time in Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre, the family moved to the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy.
П. O. was inspired to start writing poetry in 1970 when he heard Johnny Cash reciting (religious) poetry while tuning his guitar. П. O. thought he could do as well or better. His work ranges from standup-type rants to 'conceptual' page poetry and concrete poetry, with a heavy emphasis on wordplay and capturing the vitality of everyday speech. Thematically, he commonly portrays the issues of non-Anglo-Celtic working class life.[2]
He has had numerous books published since his first, Fitzroy Brothel in 1974, more notably the epic verse novel 24hrs. From 1978 to 1983, he was involved in producing the radical poetry magazine 925. He is a fixture of Melbourne's performance poetry scene and has edited an anthology of performance poetry (Off the Record) for Penguin. His most recent book is Big Numbers: New and Selected Poems (2008).
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August 10, 2020
This book absolutely exceeded my expectations. It is poetry, biography and history and it captures well the places and people at the heart of modernist Melbourne. I feel like I grow within pio’s poetry. He is a true poetic master. He gives new life to anything he guides his voice to.
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