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Bio in Brief
The Bloke with the Beard and Turban
Well, you might have opened this page out of curiosity, or web etiquette feeling obliged to give this site the once-over. The fact is you really want to know about the beard and turban thing, right? Is he Indian, or of mixed parentage? And what about the pale skin and blue eyes? Let's get to it.
An Australian of Irish descent, I adopted Sikhism in 1989 following early interest in meditation and a fascination with the Eastern arts. It wasn't until my 30s that I came in contact with Sikh philosophy conveyed through its poetry and classical music. You can read more about it here. I have recently completed a PhD in Creative Writing at Monash University.
Singapore Literary Activities
Thus, although my birthplace is Australia I am equally at home in Asia, especially Singapore where my wife and I founded and run Word Forward, a literary arts company, the Writers Centre, Singapore, along with a seven-year-strong arts festival Lit Up, Singapore.
Well, you might have opened this page out of curiosity, or web etiquette feeling obliged to give this site the once-over. The fact is you really want to know about the beard and turban thing, right? Is he Indian, or of mixed parentage? And what about the pale skin and blue eyes? Let's get to it.
An Australian of Irish descent, I adopted Sikhism in 1989 following early interest in meditation and a fascination with the Eastern arts. It wasn't until my 30s that I came in contact with Sikh philosophy conveyed through its poetry and classical music. You can read more about it here. I have recently completed a PhD in Creative Writing at Monash University.
Singapore Literary Activities
Thus, although my birthplace is Australia I am equally at home in Asia, especially Singapore where my wife and I founded and run Word Forward, a literary arts company, the Writers Centre, Singapore, along with a seven-year-strong arts festival Lit Up, Singapore.
Bonbeach, South-East Melbourne on Port Phillip Bay
I am the co-founder of Poetry Slam in Singapore and Malaysia an organisation that curates the National Singapore Poetry Slam, the Singapore National Youth Poetry Slam League and Playright Fest. I have also had the unique privilege of performing poetry regularly before mass audiences of all ages and conducting cross-genre writing and performance classes for thousands of students.
Audio Arts
In the late 80s and rely 90s I wrote radio arts scripts and presented programmes for Radio National Australia, later doing voice-over work for Singapore advertising companies. More lately, I have returned to home-studio voice and musical composition.
Music
In addition, my interest as a musician and composer with Western classical and popular training turned eventually toward Sikh sacred and Indian classical music. I spent several years learning these on-the-job in India, working for periods as a professional Sikh devotional singer-musician.
Festival and Overseas Appearances*
2010: Melbourne Overload Poetry Festival, Australia
2010: Salt of the Tongue Festival, Goolwa, Australian National Poetry Festival
2008: Delphic Games, Jeju, South Korea
2009: Leeds Young Authors Performance and workshops at Seven Arts, Leeds, UK
2009: Love Poetry Hate Racism Event, Belfast, UK
2007: Kuala Lumpur International Literary Festival (2007), Malaysia
2007: Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival, USA
2003: Austin International Poetry Festival, USA
Residency
2011: 1-month Residency at Sanskriti Kendra, New Delhi.
* Most of the above festival and overseas visits have been kindly supported by the Singapore National Arts Council.
Audio Arts
In the late 80s and rely 90s I wrote radio arts scripts and presented programmes for Radio National Australia, later doing voice-over work for Singapore advertising companies. More lately, I have returned to home-studio voice and musical composition.
Music
In addition, my interest as a musician and composer with Western classical and popular training turned eventually toward Sikh sacred and Indian classical music. I spent several years learning these on-the-job in India, working for periods as a professional Sikh devotional singer-musician.
Festival and Overseas Appearances*
2010: Melbourne Overload Poetry Festival, Australia
2010: Salt of the Tongue Festival, Goolwa, Australian National Poetry Festival
2008: Delphic Games, Jeju, South Korea
2009: Leeds Young Authors Performance and workshops at Seven Arts, Leeds, UK
2009: Love Poetry Hate Racism Event, Belfast, UK
2007: Kuala Lumpur International Literary Festival (2007), Malaysia
2007: Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival, USA
2003: Austin International Poetry Festival, USA
Residency
2011: 1-month Residency at Sanskriti Kendra, New Delhi.
* Most of the above festival and overseas visits have been kindly supported by the Singapore National Arts Council.