Poetry Reading at the Gallery

GEOFFREY LILBURNE – West Australian Poet

Born in Geraldton during World War Two, Geoffrey discovered his poetic gift during his 17 years in the United States. Inspired by Black poets and the songs of Bob Dylan, Geoffrey first published poems in the United States. Returning to Australia in the late eighties, Geoffrey soon found a poets group at the Katharyn Susannah Pritchard house in Mundaring where he further honed his poetic writing. His first Australian collection, The Life Between, West Coast Poems was published in 2020 by Ginninderra Press and this was followed by The Poetry of Farming in 2023. Geoffrey is a popular teacher of writing in Kalamunda and in 2022 started The Kalamunda Poetry Group, whose members will be visiting Collie at the end of November, this year.

Geoffrey began his professional life as a high school teacher in Applecross before moving to Melbourne for higher studies and then onto the United States where he became a Professor of Theology. After a stint in ministry, Geoffrey lectured at Murdoch University, and on retirement took up a small cattle farm in the Chittering hills. Geoffrey’s love of the land and farming finds rich expression in his poetry and his prose publications, Joy Interrupted: A Memoir of Depression and Prayer published in 2018. All books will be available at the Collie Art Gallery reading on November 30.

Join us for poetry reading with Geoffrey Lilburne at 11am, on Saturday, 30 November, in the Main Gallery, where works by Elizabeth Bishop are on display. All Geoffrey’s books will be available for sale on the day. This is a free event and everyone is welcome to attend.