Between 2011 and 2014, poet and artist Gregory O’Brien found himself following the migratory routes of whales and seabirds across vast tracts of the South Pacific Ocean. Join Gregory as he discusses The Whale Years; his homage to the cultural heart and health of an ocean in memorable, musical, moving lines.
Gregory O’Brien is a Wellington-based writer and painter whose recent collection of poems, Whale Years, traces his recent travels in the Pacific region. As well as writing poetry, essays and non-fiction books, O’Brien was curator at City Gallery Wellington between 1997 and 2009. During this time he wrote or co-wrote books about artists including Colin McCahon, Ralph Hotere, Fiona Hall, Rosalie Gascoigne and Noel McKenna. In 2012 O’Brien was awarded a Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement.
Bronwyn Lea is the author of four books of poems: Flight Animals, The Wooden Cat and Other Poems, The Other Way Out, and most recently The Deep North: A Selection of Poems. Her poems are also widely published in anthologies. Bronwyn reviews poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for a number of literary pages, and she is a Politics and Society columnist at The Conversation. She lives in Brisbane and teaches literature and writing at the University of Queensland.
