Associate Professor Kate Fagan
Director,
Writing and Society Research Centre
Associate Professor Lecturer in Literary Studies,
Humanities (Arts)
Biography
Associate Professor Kate Fagan lectures in Literary Studies and Writing within the School of Humanities and Communication Arts, and is Director of the WSU Writing and Society Research Centre. Her new book Song in the Grass (2024) is published by Giramondo. She directs The Writing Zone, a mentoring program for emerging writers and arts-workers from Western Sydney, which she founded jointly with Dr Catriona Menzies-Pike; and she founded the WSU Poetry and Poetics Project within WSRC, which she co-directs with A/Prof. Ben Etherington. She is Chair of the Advisory Board of the Sydney Review of Books, and a former Editor-in-Chief of How2, the established U.S.-based journal of contemporary and modernist innovative poetry and poetics. Her current research interests include contemporary poetry and poetic theory; Australian poetry, literature and writing; experimental poetics and narratologies; critical theorisation of links between poetic form and ontology; writing and gender; and crossings between poetics and contemporary music. She was a co-convenor with Lyn Hejinian, Ann Vickery and Eric Falci of the 2016 'Active Aesthetics: Contemporary Australian Poetry' Conference at the University of California, Berkeley. She is also an internationally recognised poet and songwriter whose third collection of poetry First Light (Giramondo, 2012) was short-listed for both the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and The Age Book of the Year Award. Her album Diamond Wheel won the National Film and Sound Archive Award for Folk Recording.
This information has been contributed by Associate Professor Fagan.
Qualifications
- PhD University of Sydney
- BA Hons Cl1 University of Sydney
Professional Memberships
- Chair, Sydney Review of Books Advisory Board (2020 - 2024)
Awards
- National Film and Sound Archive Award for Folk Recording 2006-04-13
- AWGIE Award, Best Documentary (Soundtrack Composer) 2006-08-25
- Jean Gilmore and Thenie Baddams Award, Australian Federation of University Women (S.A.) 1998-06-30
- Thomas Henry Coulson Travelling Scholarship, University of Sydney 1998-06-30
- Jamieson Award, Australian Federation of University Women 1996-01-01
- University Medal for English Literature, University of Sydney 1995-12-01
- Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) 1996-03-31
Interests
- Poetry and poetics; Australian literature; poetic form and ontology; contemporary Aboriginal poetics; poetics and ecologies; literary and feminist theory
Organisational Unit (School / Division)
- Writing and Society Research Centre
- Humanities (Arts)
Contact
| Email: | K.Fagan@westernsydney.edu.au |
|---|---|
| Phone: | (02) 47360 396 |
| Mobile: | |
| Location: | EQ.G.25 Parramatta |
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Teaching
Previous Teaching Areas
- 100641 Approaches to Text, 2019
- 100714 Humanities Research - Theories and Practices, 2015
- 101011 Writing Poetry, 2019
- 101978 Modern Australian Poetry and Poetics, 2017
Publications
Books
- O'Brien, E., Fagan, K. and Jewell, M. (2023), 'Twice as Many Stars: New Writing from Western Sydney', : The Writing Zone 9780648998266.
- Abdi, I., Fagan, K., Jewell, M. and Menzies-Pike, C. (2021), 'The Wayward Sky: New Writing from Western Sydney', : The Writing Zone @ The Writing and Society Research Centre, Western Sydney University 9780648998211.
Chapters in Books
- Vickery, A. and Fagan, K. (2016), ''The whole reflected world shuddering' : active aesthetics and contemporary Australian poetry', Active Aesthetics: Contemporary Australian Poetry, Giramondo 9781931157148.
- Fagan, K. (2016), 'Strange borders, double vision : Oxota as a work of trans-iteration', Aerial 10: Lyn Hejinian, Edge Books 9781890311322.
- Fagan, K. (2013), '"Originals of revisable originals" : sampling and composting in the poetry of Peter Minter, Paul Hardacre and Kate Lilley', Poetry and the Trace, Puncher and Wattmann 9781922186331.
- Fagan, K. and Minter, P. (2010), 'Murdering Alphabets, Disorienting Romance: John Tranter and Postmodern Australian Poetics', The Salt Companion to John Tranter, Salt Publishing 9781876857769.
Journal Articles
- Fagan, K. and Bilbrough, M. (2023), ''To encounter the unexpected' : Kate Fagan in conversation with Miro Bilbrough', Cordite Poetry Review, vol 15 February 2023 .
- Fagan, K. (2021), 'Poetry writing workshops as 'true, impossible archives' (or, teaching as collaborative research)', Australian Humanities Review, vol 68 , pp 19 - 29.
- Fagan, K. (2018), 'Light improvisations : on Zanzibar Light by Philip Mead', Cordite Poetry Review, vol 86 .
- Fagan, K. and Hejinian, L. (2017), ''A fable for now' : Kate Fagan interviews Lyn Hejinian', Cordite Poetry Review, vol 83, no Mathematics .
- Fagan, K. and Flannery, T. (2017), 'In conversation with Professor Tim Flannery', Global Media Journal: Australian Edition, vol 11, no 2 .
- Fagan, K. (2016), 'Such human-scale signatures', Southerly: the Magazine of the Australian English Association, vol 24/10/2016 .
- Fagan, K. (2016), 'Into the interior', Southerly: the Magazine of the Australian English Association, vol 06/10/2016 .
- Fagan, K. (2016), 'Written to music', Southerly: the Magazine of the Australian English Association, vol 16/10/2016 .
- Fagan, K. (2016), 'Night on our faces', Southerly: the Magazine of the Australian English Association, vol 03/11/16 .
- Fagan, K. (2015), 'Thinking with things : object habitats and relational aesthetics in the poetry of Astrid Lorange and Pam Brown', Journal of Poetics Research, vol 1, no 2 .
- Fagan, K. (2015), '"In a sense" : sonic phenomena, temporal scale and ecological encounter in Martin Harrison's "White-tailed deer"', Plumwood Mountain: An Australian Journal of Ecopoetry and Ecopoetics, vol 2, no 2 .
- Fagan, K. (2012), 'A fluke? [N]ever! : reading Chris Edwards', Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, vol 12, no 1 .
- Fagan, K. (2009), ''Originals of Revisable Originals': Sampling and Composting in the Poetry of Peter Minter, Paul Hardacre and Kate Lilley', Angelaki, vol 14, no 2 , pp 67 - 75.
- Fagan, K., Kinsella, J. and Minter, P. (2009), 'Ecopoetics and Pedagogies', Angelaki, vol 14, no 2 , pp 1 - 5.
Exhibitions
- 2020, ''Death Among Them' and 'Revelation''
Other Publications
- 2024, 'Immigrants', Published Work
- 2021, ''Authentic Nature' and 'Excerpts from Song in the Grass'', Published Work
- 2021, 'The Writing Zone Website and Digital Archive', Recorded Work
- 2021, 'Unmaking the Sandpaper Stair', Published Work
- 2021, 'Joni Mitchell's 'Blue' at 50 and songs for asylum seekers (on The Music Show with Andrew Ford)', Recorded Work
- 2020, 'From 'Book of Hours for Narrative Lovers'', Published Work
- 2020, 'Death Among Them', Published Work
- 2019, 'Heaven to Earth: Border House for taegum and sanjo gayageum', Published Work
- 2019, '[Extract] From The Midnight Charter', Published Work
- 2018, 'The Music of 1968: Part 1 (Music Show with Andrew Ford, ABC Radio National, 12 May 2018)', Recorded Work
- 2018, '2 Poems: My breath is a swallow and Trampoline as Jellyfish', Published Work
- 2018, 'The Music of 1968: Part 2 (Music Show with Andrew Ford, ABC Radio National, 13 May 2018)', Recorded Work
- 2017, 'Heroes: Kate Fagan on Joni Mitchell (on The Music Show with Andrew Ford)', Recorded Work
- 2017, 'Future Green', Published Work
- 2017, 'Effie Wakes at Midnight', Published Work
- 2017, 'Pinecones', Published Work
- 2016, 'Four Poems in 'Active Aesthetics: Contemporary Australian Poetry'', Published Work
- 2016, 'Song in the Grass', Published Work
- 2016, 'Heart Sayings', Published Work
- 2015, 'Frank, Billie, Edith, Ewan and Bob (on The Music Show with Andrew Ford)', Recorded Work
- 2015, 'Shadow the Spring', Published Work
- 2014, 'Dog in the Trees', Published Work
- 2014, 'Thinking with Things', Published Work
- 2014, 'A Selection of Poem Recordings for Lyrikline Website Project', Recorded Work
- 2014, 'Hope Stone: Cento for Felix Minter', Published Work
- 2013, 'Inner Nature', Recorded Work
- 2013, 'This Big Big Love, Time to Come Rambling Home', Recorded Work
- 2013, 'First Light: Ten Centos', Recorded Work
- 2012, 'Poems by Kate Fagan', Published Work
- 2012, 'First Light', Published Work
- 2011, '"Spoken in One Strange Word: Opening Night"', Recorded Work
- 2011, 'Chrome Arrow in "The Best Australian Poems 2011", edited by John Tranter', Published Work
- 2011, 'Poem in "Spoken in One Strange Word", anthology of the 2011 Queensland Poetry Festival', Published Work
- 2011, 'Dadabase: Cento for Michael Farrell; A Little Song; Concrete Poem; Letter IV: On Reality; Letter XI: Agape (Reprise)', Published Work
- 2011, '"Poetry Unbound"', Recorded Work
- 2011, 'This Old Road, This Big Big Love', Recorded Work
- 2010, '"Authentic Nature," poem in Overland', Published Work
- 2010, 'Poems to Share', Recorded Work
- 2010, '3 Centos: Blackbox Manifold, Vol. 4', Published Work
- 2010, 'The Correspondence :Ekleksographia online journal', Published Work
- 2010, 'Through a Glass Lightly: Cento for Beginners; Love of the Loveless: Cento for Tom Lee', Published Work
- 2010, ''Workman, Honeyeater': published in 'Poems to Share' educational kit developed by The Red Room Company', Published Work
- 2010, '"The Octet Rule"', Published Work
- 2010, 'Bush Slam: Episode 4', Recorded Work
- 2010, 'Poem in Best Australian Poems 2010', Published Work
- 2009, 'Selection of poems in "Best Australian Poems 2009", ed. R. Adamson.', Published Work
- 2009, 'Selection of poetry and prose in "Bush Slam: Poems from the ABC TV Series", ed. E. Harding.', Published Work
- 2009, '"Milk And Honey Land" by The Fagans', Recorded Work
- 2007, 'Approaches to Evaluation of Affordable Housing Initiatives in Australia. National Research Venture 3: Housing Affordability for Lower Income Australians, Research Paper No. 7', Report
- 2004, 'A Practical Framework for Expanding Affordable Housing Services in Australia: Learning from Experience', Report
Previous Projects
| Title: | The Parramatta Laureate |
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| Funder: |
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| Western Researchers: | Kate Fagan and James Jiang |
| Years: | 2023-08-03 - 2023-12-31 |
| ID: | P00028811 |
Supervision
Associate Professor Fagan is available to be a principal supervisor for doctoral projects
Current Supervision
| Thesis Title: | Cultural Work: Writing about Albums as Cultural Artefacts. |
|---|---|
| Field of Research: | |
| Thesis Title: | The Great Sydney Poem: Australian Poetic Cartographics in the Age of the Anthropo(s)cene |
| Field of Research: | |
| Thesis Title: | Newos Kanmn: Towards a Poetics of Prehistoric Fiction |
| Field of Research: |
Previous Supervision
| Thesis Title: | "Hold on, Hold on to Your Old Ways": Nostalgia in Indie Folk |
|---|---|
| Field of Research: | Music |
| Thesis Title: | Ambivalent Affects as Narrative Methodologies in Contemporary North American (Auto) Fictions: Studies on the Novels of Ben Lerner, Teju Cole and Sheila Heti. |
| Field of Research: | Literature |
| Thesis Title: | American Hybrids: Jorie Graham, Anne Carson and Jane Hirschfield |
| Field of Research: | |
| Thesis Title: | An Asian-Pacific Hybrid Blues Voice: ASyncretic Sonic Grit Journey from Ancient Chinese and Korean Musical Forms to 20th & 21st Century Rural Blues and Gospel Music |
| Field of Research: | Music |
| Thesis Title: | Blocks of Liquid Theme: Barbara Guest Paints Out |
| Field of Research: | Other Creative Arts |
| Thesis Title: | Images of the Future: The Conception of Flowing Water in Poetic Representations |
| Field of Research: | |
| Thesis Title: | In Search of Lost Objects |
| Field of Research: | |
| Thesis Title: | Mapping the Arab-Australian Diaspora in Literature |
| Field of Research: | |
| Thesis Title: | Seculum, An Epic Trilogy in Verse by Peter Dale Scott: "The Poem as Structure for a New Dawn" |
| Field of Research: | Religious Studies; Literature |
| Thesis Title: | The Ecological Anti-Epic: Unsettling Environmental Myth Conceptions Through Contemporary Longform Ecopoetics |
| Field of Research: | |
| Thesis Title: | Walking Seven Walks: Solitaries, spirit-mediums and matrilineal influence in Lisa Robertson's poetics of soft architecture |
| Field of Research: | |
| Thesis Title: | Walking for Food: Regaining Permapoesis |
| Field of Research: | Studies In Human Society; Language And Literature, N.e.c.; Earth Sciences; Creative Arts |
| Thesis Title: | Echoes and Polyphones: The Choral Poetics of Dan Beachy-Quick and Passage: New Poems |
| Field of Research: | Other Creative Arts |
| Thesis Title: | Luke Davies and the Electrified Lyric: Praise and Lament in Australian Postmodern Romantic Poetry |
| Field of Research: | Literature; Creative Arts, N.e.c. |
| Thesis Title: | The Heavenly Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge: Classification, Categorisation and Poetics |
| Field of Research: | Society And Culture, N.e.c. |
| Thesis Title: | Bringing Asian Australian fiction in from without: displacement, assimilation and reinterpreting diaspora in Asian Australian contemporary writing |
| Field of Research: | |
| Thesis Title: | The Fire Inside |
| Field of Research: | |
| Thesis Title: | Troubling the Lyric: Weet-Bix and Honey & Freely Bizarre: Hera Lindsay Bird's Poetry, Gurlesque Performativity and the Post-Ironic Lyric. |
| Field of Research: | Literature |
| Thesis Title: | "Never Towing a Line": Les Murray, Autism and Australian Literature |
| Field of Research: | |
| Thesis Title: | Twentieth-Century Feminist Literary Comedy in the Novels of Jean Rhys, Muriel Spark and Angela Carter. |
| Field of Research: | |
| Thesis Title: | Walking for Food: Regaining Permapoesis |
| Field of Research: | Studies In Human Society; Language And Literature, N.e.c.; Earth Sciences; Creative Arts |
| Thesis Title: | "Hold on, Hold on to Your Old Ways": Nostalgia in Indie Folk |
| Field of Research: | Other Creative Arts; Music |
| Thesis Title: | Blocks of Liquid Theme: Barbara Guest Paints Out |
| Field of Research: | Other Creative Arts |
| Thesis Title: | Seculum, An Epic Trilogy in Verse by Peter Dale Scott: ?The Poem as Structure for a New Dawn? |
| Field of Research: | Religious Studies; Literature; Creative Arts |
| Thesis Title: | Ambivalent Affects as Narrative Methodologies in Contemporary North American (Auto) fictions: Studies on the novels of Ben Lerner, Teju Cole and Sheila Heti |
| Field of Research: | Literature; Language And Literature |
| Thesis Title: | An Asian-Pacific Hybrid Blues Voice: ASyncretic Sonic Grit Journey from Ancient Chinese and Korean Musical Forms to 20th & 21st Century Rural Blues and Gospel Music |
| Field of Research: | Other Creative Arts; Music |
| Thesis Title: | Echoes and Polyphones: The Choral Poetics of Dan Beachy-Quick and Passage: New Poems |
| Field of Research: | Other Creative Arts |
| Thesis Title: | A Case Study of Feminist Comedy in Muriel Spark's Robinson |
| Field of Research: | Language And Literature, N.e.c. |
| Thesis Title: | Troubling the Lyric: Weet-Bix and Honey & Freely Bizarre: Hera Lindsay Bird's Poetry, Gurlesque Performativity and the Post-Ironic Lyric |
| Field of Research: | Literature |
Media
| Title: | The Writing Zone |
|---|---|
| Description: | Mentoring program for emerging Western Sydney writers and arts-workers |