Join us for an Exhibition, Reading and Book Launch
With Music by Alana Blackburn
Friday, 17 November 2017
6.00–7.30pm
Reader’s Companion
151 Beardy Street, Armidale
Between Art and Poetry is a recent collaboration between botanical poet John Charles Ryan and botanical artist David Mackay on the diversity and beauty of the natural environments and flora of the New England Tablelands. Held at Reader’s Companion in Armidale, the event will include a reading of poetry and an exhibition of art, as well as brief artist talks by John and David.
The aim of this project is to foster greater dialogue between the arts and sciences, specifically, improved communication and mutual understanding between the visual arts and poetry, on the one hand, and environmental science, on the other. The ultimate purpose of the collaboration is to raise public awareness of the diversity and fragile beauty of the natural environments that surround us.
In this light, the evening will conclude with the launch of two books, The Language of Plants and Plants in Contemporary Poetry, both published this year. The event is free and open to the public. Books by John Ryan and artwork by David Mackay will be available for purchase. Light refreshments provided.
Biographies
John Charles Ryan is a writer and research fellow in the School of Arts at UNE. Originally from the US, he lived in Perth for seven years before moving to Armidale in March. His botanical poetry books include Two with Nature (2012, Fremantle Press) and No Requiem for the Forest (2018, Hallowell Press).
David Mackay is a botanical artist, Macleay Fellow at the Linnean Society of NSW and doctoral candidate in the School of Environmental and Rural Sciences at UNE. For more about his work, see: https://davidmackay.com.au
