Pip Griffin Archives - Page 2 of 2

Olive Muriel Pink by Colleen Keating, runner up and Highly Commended in SWW competition

colleen Olive Pink, Poetry Awards November 11, 2022November 11, 2022Anne Summers, National Writing Competition 2022, Pip Griffin, Poetry Book Award, Society of Women Writers NSW, SWW, The Secret Diaries

At the SWW Gala Luncheon on Wednesday I was thrilled to receive two highly commended awards.

The first for my book Olive Muriel Pink, awarded the Highly Commended in the Society of Women Writers Poetry Award 2022

The second is a Highly Commended Award for my poem in the National Womens Writers Competition for Poetry. Giving Women Writers a Voice

After so much research, reflection, writing, editing and critiquing with my poetry groups and later with the publisher Ginninderra Press to bring my epic poem Olive Muriel Pink to the world it has finally been given the Highly Commended Award in the Society of Women Writers Poetry Award: a prestigious award and no small feat as it was up against many deserving books Short Listed.

Congratulations to all who made the short list , and especially big congratulations to the winner, my poet friend Pip Griffin for her well deserved book, The Secret Diaries . Virginia and Katherine.

It is a long lonely journey to get a literary work to this point and everyone deserves the recognition that comes their way this day at this rewarding and affirming Gala Luncheon

A great turnout of many amazing fellow female writers for the Gala Luncheon with the key note address given by researcher and writer Anne Summers. A sobering address in which Anne gave us much of the detail of a recent research paper she has researched and written on Domestic Violence titled,

≠ Violence or Poverty;

The dire choice faced by nearly half a million women

JUDGES REPORT

The Society of Women Writers NSW Biennial Poetry Book Awards 2022

Highly Commended

Colleen Keating’s Olive Muriel Pink: her radical and Idealistic life.

A poetic journey transforms meticulous research into vivid images

and crisp, engaging writing, bring to light an extraordinary pioneering

Australian woman’s life and achievements in this substantial

biographical poem.

Colleen Keating’s biographical poem brings to fresh attention, and in a new form the life and work of an extraordinary Australian, an anthropologist, committed to working with and bringing to the awareness of colonial Australia, the deep knowledge and connection to the land of the Warlpiri & Arrernte peoples. During her life, Olive Oink worked to disturb the ‘Great Australian Silence’ about the Aboriginal people and Keating’s engaging work restates and re-envisage this important work for modern day Australians.

This biographical poem is a sustained accomplishment. It is a complete narrative, rich in detail and authenticity that captures not only the board and more nuanced details of Olive Pink’s life, but also the landscapes and people in which /with whom she moved. In addition, the poem is a skilful evocation of the times (including both world wars), of loss, of prejudice, of misogyny, of dedication to a cause /a belief. Always lucid in detail, at times the blank verse lines are like sketches and paintings that Pink loved – accurate, but sparse like the arid desert in which she moved – and imbued with the vivacity and splashes of colour that characterise Australia’s land/outback.

Thank you, Colleen, for the opportunity thread your poetry .It was a privilege. Best wishes with your work in the future.

Dr. Carmel Bendon

Dr. Carmel Bendon is a writer and presenter on “all things medieval, “ lives in sydney, Australia. She has a
phD in MedievalLiterature and lectures in English literature, Medieval Studies and Spiritual. She is ye author of Mysticism and Space , Grasping at Water and more recently The Mystics Who Came to Dinner.

Olive Muriel Pink from Obscurity to Centre Stage by Colleen Keating

colleen Olive Pink Botanic Garden August 31, 2022August 31, 2022From Obscurity to Central Stage, Ginninderra Press, Olive Muriel Pink, Pip Griffin, Stephen Matthews AOM

Olive Muriel Pink by Colleen Keating is going to be launched.
Finally after a covid cancellation last October she will be given
her rightful honour as part of an Olive Pink Festival weekend
with the theme:

Olive Pink from Obscurity to Centre Stage

Thank you to Stephen Matthews AOM of Ginninderra Press for his dedication to poetry
and believing in me as a poet.

And thank you to Pip Griffin for her careful edit of Olive Muriel Pink
and her affirmation and encouragement through the lonely journey of the long solo write.

Her friendship is much appreciated.

Society of Women Writers NSW and Poetry by Colleen Keating

colleen General December 30, 2021July 12, 2022Beverley George, Christmas, NSW Society of Womens Writers, Pip Griffin

The Society of Women Writers enjoyed a festive dayl face to face
(for the first time for months as the meetings have been held by zoom)
A fun workshop on humour in our writing.
Two great speakers including poet and close friend Pip Griffin giving the authors talk as she told us of the three latest publications which I have spoken of before in more detail.

and then 5 poets
including me enterained the group.

Below is the well known poet and Haikuist, Beverley George and I dressed ready ready for our performance
which was a poem about a catch up of two friends reminiscing about by gone days. It was written by Beverley a few years back and won a FAW award. We generated plenty of laughter what we needed today.

Below is a collage of our Christmas celebration. from the Society’s website.

Two of my poems read as part of the performance.

taking wings

if ever there were a summer day so perfect

so romantic under its mild autumn sun

constantly making love to the trees and flowers

that it made you wish to tear at your shackles

rip off your yoke

feel exposed to its sharp pinion

and to give yourself over to brash colour

without an iota of worry

a day that made you pack a sandwich

and with a bottle of water to set out

to walk quiet ways catching the song

of tiny birds brimming in wild blackberry brambles

and for a moment feel your heart sing

with even a quaver of gratitude

well today is just that kind of day

from Fire on Water by Colleen Keating pg.107

Scriptorium

Maybe it is the light

that illuminates jars

of coloured minerals, powders.

Maybe the smell of curing skin,

or sharp tang of vinegar.

It could be the plaited basket

of moss and flower, blue woad dye

or sharp smell of ink

pestled down from bald-oak.

Maybe the sight of scrolls

rolled into alcoves

or shelved parchments,

or the elaborate books of saints

behind the monk Volmar,

enshrined on the cumdach.

Perhaps it’s the copy of Ptolemy’s Astronomy,

or the manuscripts

Volmar points out,

from all over the Christian and Arab world.

Maybe just crossing the threshold

when Hildegard steps through the door,

inhales the air

and feels immediately at home

in a world that sharpens curiosity.

Hildegard knows,

she has found her calling.

She wants to be a maker of books.

from Hildegard of Bingen: A poetic journey

Just for fun this is a photo of Beverley and me . It was taken at our performance of the same poem at the retreat a few years back.

Society of Women Writers, Christmas meeting

colleen General December 10, 2021December 10, 2021Margaret Caro, Pip Griffin, Society of Women Writers, The Climb Back, The Secret Diaries

At our recent Society of Women Writers meeting, at the State Library of NSW fellow writer,poet and friend, Pip Griffin inspired our gathering with her 3 recently published books. Climbing Back by Pip Griffin and published by Ginninderra Press was a highlight .

Pip told us the story of its development, and read four short evocative poems of grief, and renewal
Her work very much reminding me of Emily Dickenson’s sensibility.

Her award-winning book Margaret Caro, the exraordinary life of a pioneering dentist was
displayed as available and Pip read a poem from it to whet our appetite to read more.

Thirdly her poetic book Secret Diaries :an imagined correspondence between Virginia Woofe and the New Zealnad short story writer Katherine Mansfield. As I wrote for the back cover ,

“Every life is braided with luminous moments” John O’Donohue

For those intrigued over the decades about Virginia and Katherine, Pip Griffin turns to their writings, essays, short stories, diaries and personal letters to detail a sense of what constitutes their intertwining ‘luminous moments’ Pip gives us a window into this intimate and tragic friendship, and with poetic writing full of erotic intrigue captures a sense of provocative possibilities leaving us still with the mystery of their communion to contemplate. Pip’s poetry at its best.

Colleen Keating

As Pip spoke from the podium I felt very happy. for . . . . .

we are back. A resplendent Society of Women Writers meeting. A welcome-back and farewell to our year with an enthusiastic group .

The day actually began with a workshop: Writing with Humour. convened by Carolyn Eldridge– Alfonzetti A great workshop as it was a gentle way to begin again, humour is important to every genre and we got a lot of laughter as we got prompts to remember funny stories.

Our poetry reading were fun with some wonderful performances and finally playwright Donna Abela shared her writing journey at the Royal Commission on Institutional Abuse of children – while it is shocking it also shows how writing can transform this into powerful advocacy for children.

The Climb Back Poems for Ted by Pip Griffin

colleen General October 19, 2021October 19, 2021Ginninderra Press, Mark Mahemoff, Paul Kane, Pip, Pip Griffin, Ted, The Climb Back, www.ginninderrapress.com.au

‘

Congratulations to my friend Pip Griffin. Her new poetry collection The Climb Back Poems for Ted is up on the Ginninderra Press web site. A worthy read . . . .’these passionate poems open out and touch us with a consoling grief’

and as I wrote,

‘For those of us who know life is a gift and are called to the hard work of hope, The Climb Back is invaluable.’

Highly recommended

There is a fierce tenderness in these poems of happy remembrance and devastating sorrow. With so much love expressed so beautifully in the first half of the book, we instinctively fear what is to come, as if all that light cast shadows across our path. Though the death of a loved partner – also a poet – is deeply personal, these passionate poems open out and touch us with a consoling grief.’ – Paul Kane

‘”Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass, stains the white radiance of eternity.” Percy Bysshe Shelley. From the first poem that speaks of the ‘delicate prints of oystercatchers’ to the comfort of a ragged dressing gown, the protective love of the kahu-feather cloak and the ‘butcher-bird that perches very close’, Pip, as a poet and wordsmith transports us into an experience that shines multicoloured with the beauty of a stained-glass window. Each poem is a facet that adds to the mosaic, each poem a gentle play of light, illuminating page by page. For those of us who know life is a gift and are called to the hard work of hope, The Climb Back is invaluable.’ – Colleen Keating
‘Poignant, sensual, spiritual, sorrowful, and funny, Pip Griffin’s latest poetry collection The Climb Back encompasses a life richly lived. What is not to admire about a poet who can write lines as diverse as ‘the shags open their sodden wings like flashers’ raincoats’ and ‘cherry trees in blossom line the streets like flower girls at a wedding’. This book is a hymn to New Zealand, Pip’s homeland, and a celebration of its landscape, wildlife and the Maori language. But even above this, it is a memorial to Ted, her friend, lover and fellow poet. If he were still here, I’d be clinking my glass with his, to celebrate her achievement.’ – Mark Mahemoff
978 1 76109 191 9, 92pp

Versions

Olive Muriel Pink: her radical & idealistic Life by Colleen Keating

colleen Olive Pink Botanic Garden, Poetry August 26, 2021A Poetic Journey, alice springs, Ginninderra Press, Olive Muriel Pink:her radical & idealistic life, Pip Griffin, Professor Lyndall Ryan, verse novel

PRESS RELEASE: Olive Muriel Pink: her radical and idealistic life

Some good news. My new book has arrived. Olive Muriel Pink: her radical & Idealistic life. An Australian women’s story that after you have read it you will want your friends to do the same. Thank you to Ginninderra Press & the many that have supported me on this long but wonderful journey.

” It is a triumph for reconciliation and will surely enter the
the annals of Australian literature.’
– Emeritus Professor Lyndall Ryan AM FAHA

Colleen Keating brings Olive Muriel Pink’s significant, neglected history
to life with distinctive, beautiful imagery. – Pip Griffin, poet.

Available to buy www.ginninderrapress.com.au

Hildegard of Bingen: A poetic journey by Colleen Keating wins two prestigious awards

colleen General, Poetry February 14, 2021February 21, 2021ani lin, Ani Lin The journy of a Chinese Buddhist nun, Extraordinary life of a pioneering dentist, Ginninderra Press, Hildegard of Bingen A Poetic Journey, Jan Conway, Margaret Bradstock, Margaret Caro, Pip Griffin, Stephen Matthews AOM, SWW Biennial Book Awards

Hildegard of Bingen: A poetic journey has won two awards at the Society of Women Writers NSW Biennial Book Awards at The State Library NSW on Wednesday 10th February 2020.

SWW Poetry Book Award 2020
SWW Non-fiction Book Award 2020

In the acceptance speech Colleen Keating said:

This is for Hildegard. This is for women. This is for those who have been silent, lost, or suppressed down the ages of 2000 years and more, of women who are being rediscovered to bring a balance back into the voice of history.

This is for our environment and our earth. Hildegard called earth our Mother and reminds us to care for her as we would our mother. Our air, our rivers our soil, our forests must be nurtured for they nourish us as a mother does.

This is for our well being. Hildegard reminds us that nature and music are natural spirit given healers. Hildegard has returned 900 years aftern her death and it is no accident she is speaking to people in this 21st century at this time all over the world. We need her wisdom more than ever.

Thank to all for this awards. Thanks to the shortlisted poets and especially Pip as runner-up. Jan Conway, President of the SWW and the committee.

Special thanks to Stephen Matthews AOM and Ginninderra Press for affirming my work and beliveing in Hildegard and publishing my verse novel.it

My friend and supporter, acclaimed poet, Pip Griffin renowned for her verse novel – the journey of a Chinese Buddhist nun ani lin, was runner-up and highly commended for the SWW Poetry Book Award for her evocative poetic journey:

Margaret Caro
the extraordinary life of a pioneering dentist
New Zealand 1848-1938

as the judge, highly acclaimed poet Margaret Bradstock wrote,

“Both Hildegard of Bingen and Margaret Caro are sustained narrative collections of poems celebrating the lives of strong, single-minded and deeply religious heroines, one an anchorite, visionary and ultimately abbess during the Middle Ages, the other a New Zealand dentist at the turn of the nineteenth century.
Through judicious poetic description the writers Colleen Keating and Pip Griffith respectively, are able to enliven their stories and engage the interest of the reader. Over several hundred pages of verse, this is no mean feat. Griffin records her protagonist’s account in first-person stanzas, as a kind of poetic ventriloquy, allowing us entry to her thoughts and feelings, italicised conversation and quotations counterpointing this perspective. By contrast, Keating as poet tells Hildegard’s story, but interpolates the anchorites’s spoken words and unspoken musings in italics.”

Congratulations Pip .

5 Write Answers: Women’s Ink by Colleen Keating

colleen General November 13, 2020November 13, 20205 Write answers, Desert Patterns, Mood Indigo, NSW Society of Womens Writers, Pip Griffin, Society of Women Writers

To read my poetry out loud and listen carefully for meaning and rhythm.

When I am stuck, I record it and play it back to myself. I know there are modern methods to do this on our iPhones these days, but I still have an old portable tape recorder on the shelf above my desk which I read into and listen back, checking out the lyrical bent.

I get so much insight from this process.

Colleen Keating is an award winning Sydney-based poet. She has four books of poetry including her latest poetry book Hildegard of Bingen: A poetic journey, awarded the Silver Nautilus Award 2019 Better Books for a Better World USA.

www.colleenkeatingpoet.com.au

Further dotting and mentions I am proud of in Women’s Ink from the Society of Women Writers in recent months.

Desert Patterns

Colleen Keating

Ginninderra Press, South Australia

When we listen, this land sings to us, holds us, nurtures us. This land is the common ground that we share. This small blue planet is the common world of our existence.
Desert Patterns is a collection of poetry that touches the membrane between two worlds with the breath of wildness and our inland journeys. In its striking imagery, we have a revelation of the significance of the land and of the burden of our Australian history.

‘Colleen’s poetic journey invokes the deep spirituality of our landscape.
She immerses us in “a multitude of gorgeous images” as we stand in Tunnel Creek remembering Jandamarra, marvel with Monet at Kakadu’s “blazing-blue lilies” and dream with cicadas:

“is it a place the gods keep/to seduce the lost like me?”
Every step of the way, Desert Patterns will entrance you.’ – Pip Griffin

page6image30250688

Mood indigo

Pip Griffin and Colleen Keating, shared poetry collection

Picaro Press an imprint of Ginninderra Press 2020

In days of uncertainty mood Indigo with its 24 succinct and lyrical poems gives the reader time to retreat to a pocket-sized poetry book with an inner covenant of peace.

page6image30255056

Mood Indigo by Pip Griffin and Colleen Keating

colleen Poetry July 2, 2020July 2, 2020Brenda Eldridge, Ginninderra Press, Leura gardens by Pip Griffin, Mood Indigo, my Tao poem, Pip Griffin, Society of Women Writers

.. You are the music while the music lasts. T.S. Eliot

Mood Indigo, This is a collaboration of poetry by Pip Griffin and Colleen Keating,

A Picaro Poets chapbook, it is published under the umbrella of Ginninderra Press. It is composed of 24 succinct and lyrical poems which are perfect for the reader wanting to retreat into a pocket-sized poetry book with an inner covenant of peace.

Colleen and Pip’s poetry, an eclectic collection of lyrical poetry

transports the reader

to Alice Springs
The land’s a vast Kngwarreye
black, brown, green, ochre, painted on infinity.

to Lake Ainsworth
ducks’ wave-rippling wakes
break the spell

pleads for an end to war
what if we all bow low
to quench our parched throats
and what if we drink
from the same waterhole

and finds renewed hope
in the return of a single red wattle bird
I thought you had deserted us
but your presence
this spring morning
gives me hope.

Chapbook. $5 Order your copy online from www.ginninderrapress.com.au

Thanks to Brenda Eldridge Series editor: from Gininnderra Press.
and John Griffin for cover image

Leura Gardens

While travelling by train to this place we visited so often

a reservoir of tears presses against my ribs

i do not want this pain to fill

the hollow of your absence

images of our time together explode behind my eyes

‘The Lark Ascending’ plays to my inner ear

cherry trees in blossom line the streets

like flower girls at a wedding

the gardens flaunt their colours

i wear the striped jumper we bought here

under the spent wisteria at the Waldorf Gardens Resort

a jazz group plays ‘Mood Indigo’.

my Tao poem

when you find the Tao
others will find you
they will hear the still silence
in your voice
see the peacefulness
shine from your eyes
sense the path in your movement
feel the all is well hope in your being recognise you
by laughter and tears danced in your soul and they will be near you
to find their way home

Colleen Keating

You are the music while the music lasts. T.S. Eliot

Pip and I enjoying Christmas celebration luncheon
at the Society of Women Writers, December 2019

At the SWW Gala Luncheon on Wednesday I was thrilled to receive two highly commended awards.

The first for my book Olive Muriel Pink, awarded the Highly Commended in the Society of Women Writers Poetry Award 2022

The second is a Highly Commended Award for my poem in the National Womens Writers Competition for Poetry. Giving Women Writers a Voice

Congratulations to all who made the short list , and especially big congratulations to the winner, my poet friend Pip Griffin for her well deserved book, The Secret Diaries . Virginia and Katherine.

It is a long lonely journey to get a literary work to this point and everyone deserves the recognition that comes their way this day at this rewarding and affirming Gala Luncheon

A great turnout of many amazing fellow female writers for the Gala Luncheon with the key note address given by researcher and writer Anne Summers. A sobering address in which Anne gave us much of the detail of a recent research paper she has researched and written on Domestic Violence titled,

≠ Violence or Poverty;

The dire choice faced by nearly half a million women

Olive Muriel Pink by Colleen Keating is going to be launched. Finally after a covid cancellation last October she will be given her rightful honour as part of an Olive Pink Festival weekend with the theme:

Olive Pink from Obscurity to Centre Stage

Versions

Paperback

**** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****

Desert Patterns

Mood indigo

Olive Muriel Pink by Colleen Keating is going to be launched.
Finally after a covid cancellation last October she will be given
her rightful honour as part of an Olive Pink Festival weekend
with the theme: