09 Oct Vale Ania Walwicz (1951-2020)
It is with sadness that ASAL acknowledges the death of Australian poet and playwright Ania Walwicz.
Ania Walwicz (1951-2020) was born in born in Swidnica, Poland and migrated to Australia in 1963, where she was a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, and Deakin universities. She was an influential poet, working in avant-garde, experimental and abstract modes, and was also well known for her performance work. She was artist/writer-in-residence at the Experimental Art Foundation in 1986, writer-in-residence at Deakin University, Victoria, 1987 and writer-in-residence at Murdoch University, Western Australia, in 1988. She read and discussed her work widely on radio, and taught in the School of Creative Media at RMIT.
She published seven collections of poetry, including Horse (2018), Palace of Culture (2014), Elegant (2013), Body (1999), Travel/Writing (1989), Boat (1989), and Writing (1982), as well as a novel, Red Roses (1992). Her theatrical pieces include Girl/boy Talk (1986), L’Elegant (1988) and Telltale (1994). Her poem ‘Australia’ has been widely taught in Australian universities since it was first published in 1981 and continues to stand as a fierce and incisive evocation of Australian society from a migrant perspective. ASAL offers our condolences to her family and friends.