Ken Bolton (born 1949) is an Australian poet. He was born in Sydney and studied fine arts at the University of Sydney, where he also tutored. In the late 70s he edited the poetry magazine Magic Sam and began the small press Sea Cruise Books with Anna Couani. His first book of poems, Four Poems, was published in 1977. In 1982 he moved to Adelaide to work at the Experimental Art Foundation.
He has since edited the literary magazine Otis Rush and collaborated with poet John Jenkins on a number of books of poetry. His Selected Poems was published by Penguin in 1992 and in 2005 Wakefield Press published his monograph on the contemporary sculptor Michelle Nikou.
His collection (At The Flash & At The Baci, 2006) has been described as "prov to us that Ken Bolton is a prime example of a poet breaking new ground in Australian poetry."
His 2019 book, Salute, was shortlisted for the 2022 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature John Bray Poetry Award.
Bibliography
 | This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2022) |
Poetry
- Collections and chapbooks
- Four Poems. Sydney: Sea Cruise Books. 1977.
- Blonde & French. (Island, 1978) ISBN 0-909771-18-9
- Talking to You: Poems 1978-1981. (Rigmarole, 1983) ISBN 0-909229-25-2
- Blazing Shoes. (Open Dammit, 1984) ISBN 0-9591159-0-0
- Airborne dogs, With John Jenkins. (Brunswick Hills, 1988) ISBN 0-9590929-3-5
- The Ferrara Poems, With John Jenkins. (Experimental Art Foundation, 1989) ISBN 0-949836-21-4
- Two poems. (Experimental Art Foundation, 1990) ISBN 0-949836-26-5
- Selected Poems. (Penguin, 1992) ISBN 0-14-058688-1
- Untimely Meditations & Other Poems. (Wakefield Press, Adelaide, 1997) ISBN 1-86254-432-8
- At The Flash & At The Baci. (Wakefield Press, Adelaide, 2006) ISBN 1-86254-692-4
- The Circus. (Wakefield Press, Adelaide, 2006)
- A Whistled Bit of Bop. (Vagabond Press, Sydney, 2010) ISBN 978-0-98051-135-2
- Sly Mongoose. (Puncher & Wattmann, Sydney, 2011) ISBN 978-1-921450-30-3
- Selected Poems, 1975—2010. (Shearsman Press, Bristol, UK, 2012) ISBN 978-1-84861-209-9
- Threefer. (Puncher & Wattmann, Sydney, 2013) ISBN 978-1-9221-8646-1
- London journal London poem or "Pendant"(Vagabond Press, Sydney, 2015) ISBN 978-1-92218-161-9
- Lonnie's Lament. (Wakefield Press, Adelaide, 2017) ISBN 978-1-74305-472-7
- Species of Spaces. (Shearsman Press, Bristol, UK, 2017) ISBN 978-1-84861-576-2
- Starting at Basheer's. (Vagabond Press, Sydney, 2018) ISBN 978-1-92218-188-6
- Salute. (Puncher & Wattmann, Sydney, 2019) ISBN 978-1-92578-040-6
Non fiction
- Michelle Nikou. (Wakefield, 2005) ISBN 1-86254-676-2
- Art Writing: Art in Adelaide in the 1990s and 2000s. (CACSA, 2009) ISBN 978-1-875751-34-1
Critical studies and reviews of Bolton's work
- Salute
- Beesley, Luke (January–February 2021). "It Must Have Been Moonglow". Australian Book Review. 428: 53–54.
Notes
- Limited edition of 300 copies.
References
- ^ "Ken Bolton Contents Page". Australian Literature Resources. Archived from the original on 7 February 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
- Minter, Peter; Ken Bolton (29 April 2005). "Ken Bolton in conversation with Peter Minter". Jacket Magazine. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
- Johnson, Heather Taylor (14 January 2007). "Heather Taylor Johnson reviews Ken Bolton". Cordite Poetry Review. Retrieved 13 July 2008.
- "2022 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
External links
- Ken Bolton Contents Page at Australian Literature Resources (poems etc.)
- 3 poems at Big Bridge
- 2 poems at Sport Magazine
- Interview at Jacket Magazine
- The duck at the top of the stairs long poem
- "Interview" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2010. (194 KB)
- "The Circus extract" (PDF).(429 KB)
- The Dark Horsey Form Guide, Archive and Punter's Companion - Critical writing by Ken Bolton
- Ken Bolton Author Notes at Jacket Magazine