Joe Pascoe (b. 1956) has had a long career in the visual arts sector, including as director of the Shepparton Art Gallery and Craft Victoria. He also worked on the other side of the desk in funding agencies such as the Victorian Ministry for the Arts and the Australia Council. He started writing poetry over the last few years and describes the process as standing on top of the desk, rather than sitting on either side of the curatorial divide.
Joe came to poetry as the result of needing a wedding anniversary present for his beloved wife and muse, Lyndel. Many seeds were sown on the way through authorship of art essays and government reports. In 2000 Pascoe wrote Creating: the Victorian College for the Arts (Macmillan Publishers Australia).
There is an undoubted urban wildness to Joe’s poetry, with conscious poetic sources including John Donne, C. J. Dennis and Les Murray. The classic art historians have had their impact, however, he also draws on the cadences of everyday speech. Joe sees poetry as best rolling on the forward edge of what is possible, with the vernacular offering a short-cut to meaning.
Joe’s latest book is Sharp Pencil and can be ordered here.
Joe is the founder of Insect Arts Management.
Reading Sideways Press 