Brian Purcell
Brian Purcell is a poet/painter from Bellingen. His new books of poetry Filmworks and the anthology 100 Poets are both published by Flying Islands Press.
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Brian Purcell
Brian Purcell is a poet/painter/editor in Bellingen on the mid-north coast of NSW. In 1984-85 he met poets like Kit Kelen through his inclusion in Poetry Australia’s young writers’ issue, New Pressings. He became involved in community literature, as secretary then president of the Poets Union Inc, while publishing in magazines like Meanjin and Southerly, and in anthologies like Australian Love Poems (Inkerman and Blunt).
Brian was the singer/lyricist for the alternative Sydney band Distant Locust (1985-95) with whom he toured Europe in 1991, releasing ‘Chemical Wedding Feast’ (Contempo International) and touring Italy and Germany. His book-length publication, ‘Lovely Infestation’, was released in 1995 by the label We Make μ-sick, containing lyrics and collages associated with Distant Locust. That same year saw the band’s last CD release, ‘Fearful Pleasure’.
In 2008 he moved to Bellingen and founded and coordinated the Bellingen Readers and Writers Festival. In 2021 he had a show of paintings, ‘The Day on Fire’, at the Shop Gallery in Glebe NSW, followed by ‘Estuary’ in 2023. ‘The Leaving’ (2022) was his first book of poetry with Flying Islands. ‘Filmworks’ and the anthology ‘100 Poets’ (co-edited with Kit Kelen) were published in January 2025, also by Flying Islands.
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100 Poets
