Join us for our monthly Bookclub conversation event featuring acclaimed poet, writer and editor Ouyang Yu.
We will explore Ouyang's leaf installation. Afterwards, Ouyang will read for us, and we will discuss his series of 'rejected works', self-published in 2020 as limited editions of one, namely: West of the River, Spring Waters: Li Yu, the Emperor of Poetry and Small Says: Words, Stories and Mini-Meditations.
Our focus will be on Spring Waters: Li Yu, The Emperor of Poetry, which examines the life story of Li Yu (Chinese 李煜; c. 937 – 15 August 978), the emperor poet after whom Ouyang was named.
The single-editions will be offered for silent auction. Three other limited edition titles will also be offered for sale on the evening: The Kingsbury Tales: A Complete Collection, 2012; The Kingsbury Tales, 2008; and, After the Rush: Regulation, Participation and Chinese Communities in Australia 1860-1940, 2004.
For some background on Ouyang's 'single editions', head to a long-form interview with him conducted last year in connection with our exhibition Silent Dialogue --> here.
Note:—Please RSVP to attend. If you’re a correspondences Member or you have purchased a book from us during the month, select the ‘free admission’ option. Otherwise, please select the $10 ticket option. $5 goes towards the cost of a cup of batch filter coffee or a pot of black/herbal tea, and the rest goes towards future speaker events. If you’d also like a sake, please choose the relevant option.
Proceedings for the afternoon/evening:
— After settling in, Ouyang will commence his first reading from Spring Waters at 3:15 pm.
— At 3:30 pm, guests will be invited to explore Ouyang's eucalypt leaf poem installation while listening to his 'whisper-poem' cycle, which will play over the sound system for the afternoon/evening.
— At 3:45 pm, Ouyang will read the second segment from Spring Waters.
— At 4:00 pm, we will declare the silent auction open and take a small refreshment break while guests explore the editions offered.
— At 4:15 pm, Ouyang will read the final segment from Spring Waters and talk a little with us about the novella, the ‘single-edition’ concept and the other titles offered for auction.
— At 4:30 pm, formal proceedings will conclude, and refreshments will be offered. The event will end at 5:00 pm.
