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In Melbourne, some twenty issues of a free poetry magazine - 925 - were published in the five years from 1978 to 1983. The magazine focussed on the poetry, prose, photos and drawings of everyday life and work. As P O (Pi.O) described in the editorial in the first issue:
The magazine started out with a 500 copy print run, increasing to 3000 copies at the end. It was always given freely to subscribers (all donations accepted), with a small charge for purchase from bookshops. Production and printing was financed by a core group of people. Many of the regular contributors, including P O and Thalia, have also contributed to the anarchist movement in Melbourne, and 925 provided a medium for promoting working class culture and initiative in the arts. 925 enabled poets to gain access to radio, both in the public broadcasting sector and national radio via the ABC, and to Arts festivals, prisons, and workplaces. Although the subject was 'work', it was always stressed that this included the experience of being unemployed or housework.
Certainly any comprehensive coverage of Australian poetry needs to give recognition to the contribution of 925. By articulating the nature of work in Australia, the poets of 925 have contributed to the radical tradition in Australia.
There are 2 types of Poetry: "pure" & "Applied". This magazine's aim is the latter: applied. It is written by poets who use the "raw materials" of their jobs, as the bases of their poems, & by poets who don't believe that the 'productive process' ('work') should be seperated from their "art".
Takver, November 1999
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P O wrote the editorial in Issue 10:
"Jas H. Duke in the 4th issue of 925 submitted a poem about his work....The poem had to do with the relationship his work has/had on the general public/community. His poem was a brave attempt at 'demystifying' the phobia & myth surrounding both his work & the word: shit. It was printed in 925 as he was an expert in his field. As Jas H. Duke said about the poem:"
The producers of 925 protested in person to the ABC and were told that the reason the program was never aired was because it may offend some members of the public. Readers of 925 were urged to protest to the ABC. The poem was subsequently read on a number of public radio stations, and was part published in The Age newspaper.
I'm in the shit business
I work for the sewerage depatment
I analyse experiments
I draw graphs and flow charts
and conclusions
today I was sitting at my desk
trying to explain
the dissolved air flotation process
where streams of little bubbles are released
into a tank full of sewerage
to float the suspended solids up to the surface
to be skimmed off
but what I was really thinking about
was lunchtime
the canteen cook
caters to the ethnic multitudes
by putting on Italian eats most days
I was thinking of ravioli
with meat sauce
but I was writing things like
"The sludge produced by this process
is grey-brown in colour
and does not produce
offensive odours
provided anaerobic conditions
can be prevented"
the sludge is really composed of
my used ravioli
and the Boss's used steak
and your used hamburger
and the vegitarian's used brown rice
all mixed up together
and when it gets in this state
no one wants to know about it
except me
I don't find shit offensive
most people do
they can'y wait to push the button
or pull the chain or something
and then they think the shit has vanished
into the centre of the earth
it hasn't really
it just floats up somewhere else
However
it's all biodegradable
I reckon most people think
that shit is the most deadly poison
on the face of the earth
they'd rather face ten tons of plutonium
than half a bucket of shit
even their own
no curse in the English Language
is complete
without "shit" included in it somwhere
lunchtime arrived
I ate my ravioli
I had a shit
it was brown in colour
I felt a lot better
-the meat-
-the lettuce-
-the cheese-
-the pickles-
-the bun-
McDonald's isn't food it's propoganda
has a high fat content
12 chemicals to keep it "crisp!"
3 x 3 yellow lino
loaded: polysorbate 80
a 13% sugar loading
925 Issue One (1978) |
925 Issue Eight (1980) |
925 Issue Ten (1981) |
925 Issue Eleven (1981) |
925 Issue Fourteen (1982) |
925 Issue Fifteen (1982) |
925 Issue Sixteen (1982) |
925 Issue Nineteen (1983) |
24 Hours
P O, Collective Effort, 740pp, $37.50 Aus
P O (PiO) is one of Australia's foremost modern poets, although he gets minimal recognition from Arts Bureacrats. 24 Hours is a monster of a poem which uses the language of the street to articulate migrant and working class life. P O was co-editor of 925 magazine, and has self published numerous poetry books, as well as being active in Melbourne's Performance Poetry scene, and the anarchist movement.
Thalia New & Selected Poems
Thalia, Collective Effort, 134pp, $12.50 Aus
Thalia is one of Melbourne's anarchist poets, who writes about migrant culture and working class life. She was a co-editor of 925 - a mag of poetry for the workers by the workers, about the workers' work, and is a founding member of the Poets' Union of Australia.
925 workers poetry from Australia 1978-1983
Various, Collective Effort, 148pp, $12.50 Aus
Not just another poetry anthology. 925 was important in expressing working class culture in its focus on work. The magazine was an important celebration of radical writing.