ron pretty

Vale Ron Pretty AM


On 30 June, friend, poet, publisher and tireless advocate for poetry Ron Pretty AM passed away at home after a long illness.

Ron had battled with deteriorating health for many years and in the last month he had contracted pneumonia which he was unable to shake. Ron is survived by his partner Jane, their two daughters Alana and Saroja and six grandchildren. 

A few highlights of his distinguished career of over 50 years:

  • helped establish the South Coast Writers’ Centre (this year celebrating its 25th year). 
  • From 1987 to 2007, he was the founding director of Five Islands Press, a leading publisher of contemporary Australian poetry. During his tenure, the Press published 230 books (that’s about one a month) by Australian poets, many of which have subsequently been shortlisted for or won prizes. 
  • Between 2000 and 2007, Ron ran the Poetry Australia Foundation – a foundation directed at promoting Australian poets and poetry. He is now a life member of its successor, the Australian Poetry Inc.
  • Ron Pretty’s services to literature, and Australian poetry in particular, were acknowledged by the NSW Premier’s Special Prize in 2001 and an Order of Australia (AM) in 2002. 
  • In 2012, the Australia Council for the Arts also awarded Ron a residency at the Whiting Studio in Rome. 

Last year (28 August, 2022) I joined with Ron at the launch of his last collection of poetry (his eighth book of poetry) 101 Poems published by Pitt Street Poetry. The text of our speech is here.

101 Poems is available through Pitt Street Poetry, along with his wonderful Creating Poetry – now in its 3rd edition. A celebration of Ron’s poetry is at Radio 3CR – Spoken Word program and is now available as a podcast.

And here’s one of many favourite poems:

Wind

Such an evening: trees immobile, the sky
reaching citrus to the indigo escarpment,
finches playing at the bird bath, the world
holding its breath: nothing as perfect as this
can long endure. The lake is a sheet of steel,
there's a distant call of football at its play.

Night is also calling. Candles will be lit,
voices will hush a moment before resuming
their living squall. Out of southern darkness
comes the wind. Trees shiver, the candle
is soon snuffed out. Only in earth perfection
endures, for as long as cicadas and bones.

Will you light a candle for me, my love
in a corner where the wind never blows.

And for music, here’s one of Ron’s favourite composers Phillip Glass played here by Icelandic piano super-star Vikingur Olafson – Opening from Glassworks (Youtube)

Ron Pretty — 101 poems

Wollongong poet, publisher and Australian poetry legend Ron Pretty has published a collection of his work over 50 years of writing.

Poetry shifts so quickly it can be hard to keep up. Sometimes I imagine it as a wave, its front rising up full of new exciting voices; voices that have been ignored or silenced; sassy angry voices talking back to the blandness of popular culture and late stage capitalism; urgent voices insisting we act on environmental destruction now.  

Consider this year’s winner of the Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry, Andy Jackson’s Human Looking. To quote the judges:

“Jackson’s book is an extraordinary poetic exploration of his own disability – Marfan’s syndrome, which is disfiguring and distorts the shape of his face and body. His poems are blistering in their power, wonderfully subtle, objective and with no self-pity. “

Similarly, this year I listened to readings from a new anthology Admissions from Red Room Poetry, poems written from the lived experience of mental illness. My warmest memory of that night is as one of the poets came to the critical point in the poem he was struck dumb, overcome with emotion. And we, a room of 80 fans and friends, held our breath as the poet found his composure and courage to keep reading. Powerful words indeed.

So what to make of a collection of someone who’s been writing poetry for over 50 years, has published eight full collections and six chapbooks of poetry? To continue the surf metaphor, this poetry is from the green water out beyond the breakers, it’s deep and cool and collected and exhilarating in its own way. Yes, there are experiments in form, in voice and subject but it also points to the evolution of a writer over time. 

Recently, I voiced Ron’s words for a program on Radio 3CR in which two of his poetry colleagues — Kevin Brophy and Alex Skovron — read from 101 poems. It’s a terrific program put together by Tina Ginannoukos from the Spoken Word team at 3CR and gives you an introduction to Ron Pretty’s work (a longer extended version is also available). 

After listening to this, you’re going to want to immediately order a copy from Ron’s publisher Pitt Street Poetry. 

3CR spoken-word program: The work of Ron Pretty, December 22, 2022.

And for music this afternoon (where it’s raining on newly mown summer grass) here’s American composer Caroline Shaw with the Attacca quartet playing Orange (Youtube)