Richard James Allen

Richard James Allen (born 1960) is a contemporary Australian poet, dancer, actor and filmmaker.^[1] The former artistic director of the Poets Union Inc, and founding director of the Australian Poetry Festival, Allen was co-artistic director with Karen Pearlman of That Was Fast (New York City) and Tasdance (Launceston), and now at The Physical TV Company (Sydney).^[2]

Allen has published thirteen books of poetry, fiction or performance texts, most recently Text Messages from the Universe (2023), More Lies (2021), The short story of you and I (2019), Fixing the Broken Nightingale (2014), The Kamikaze Mind (2006), and Performing the Unnameable: An Anthology of Australian Performance Texts (1999), co-edited with Karen Pearlman. He received the 2005 University of Technology, Sydney, Chancellor's Award for Best Doctoral Thesis. A multi-award-winning film adaptation of his Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry-nominated book, Thursday's Fictions (1999), was first broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 2007. This surreal dance fantasy also has a Second Life presence, Thursday's Fictions in Second Life.^[3]

He is the grandson of World War II Major General Arthur Samuel "Tubby" Allen, son of novelist and short story writer Robert Allen, and the brother of art critic Christopher Allen.^[4]

Books

• Allen, Richard James (c. 2023). Text Messages from the Universe. ASM: Macau & Cerberus Press: Markwell, N.S.W., Australia: Flying Island Books. ISBN 978-0-6455503-1-3.
• — (c. 2021). More Lies. Brisbane, Queensland, Australia: Interactive Press. ISBN 978-19223-32-64-6.
• — (c. 2019). The short story of you and I. Perth, Western Australia, Australia: UWA Publishing. ISBN 978-17608-00-21-5.
• — (c. 2014). Fixing the broken nightingale. ASM: Macau & Cerberus Press: Markwell, N.S.W., Australia: Flying Island Books. ISBN 978-99965-42-58-9.
• — (c. 2006). The kamikaze mind. Blackheath, N.S.W., Australia: Brandl & Schlesinger. ISBN 1-876040-71-8.
• — (c. 1999). Thursday's fictions. Wollongong, N.S.W., Australia: Five Islands Press. ISBN 0-86418-596-0.
• with Karen Pearlman (c. 1999). Performing the Unnameable: An Anthology of Australian Performance Texts. Sydney, N.S.W., Australia: Currency Press in association with RealTime. ISBN 0-86819-420-4.
• with Karen Pearlman (c. 1996). New Life on the 2nd Floor. Launceston, TAS, Australia: Tasdance. ISBN 0-9586795-0-9.
• — (c. 1995). The air dolphin brigade. Brooklyn, N.S.W., Australia, and Launceston, TAS, Australia: Paper Bark Press in association with Tasdance. ISBN 0-646-26678-0.
• — (c. 1995). What to name your baby. Brooklyn, N.S.W., Australia, and Launceston, TAS, Australia: Paper Bark Press in association with Tasdance. ISBN 0-646-23747-0.
• — (c. 1993). Hope for a man named Jimmie; &, Grand illusion Joe. Wollongong, N.S.W., Australia: Five Islands Press Associates. ISBN 1-875604-07-3.
• — (c. 1989). To the ocean; &, Scheherazade. Sydney, N.S.W., Australia: Hale & Iremonger. ISBN 0-86806-396-7.
• — (c. 1986). The way out at last & other poems. Sydney, N.S.W., Australia: Hale & Iremonger. ISBN 0-86806-248-0.

Further reading

• "The Exhilaration and Anxiety of Free Fall"^[5] Dr Mark Seton reviews The Kamikaze Mind by Richard James Allen

External links

Creative Websites:

• The Physical TV Channel on YouTube^[6]
• #RichardReads - an online compendium of Global Poetry, Read Aloud
• Performing The Unnameable: An Anthology of Australian Performance Texts
• Out Of The Labyrinth Of The Mind: Manifesting A Spiritual Art Beyond Dualism (Abstract for Doctorate of Creative Arts)

Interviews:

• TASA Media Voices Series, interview on creativity across various artforms (7 October, 2021)
• Tony Messenger, Verity La, interview on poetry, spirituality and the arts (24 February, 2020)
• Paul Brookes, The Wombwell Rainbow, interview on writing history and practice (7 August, 2019)
• Magdalena Ball, Compulsive Reader, interview on poetry and creativity (24 June, 2019)
• Samuel Elliott, Backstory Journal, interview on poetic form (16 June, 2019)
• Eddy Diamond, FBi Radio, interview on poetry (2 February, 2019)
• Interactive Media Innovation (imi) industry leader interview (April, 2012)
• Andrew Mikkelsen interview on yoga, creativity, philosophy and personal history (21 February, 2012)
• Josef Brown interview on dance film and creativity (30 May, 2011)
• Orion Mitchell interview on dance film and the internet, as part of Dancing Through YouTube (April 26, 2011)
• SPIKE Magazine interview on dance for film and virtual worlds (6 April 2011)
• Transmedia Victoria – Meet transmedia artist: Richard James Allen (20 December, 2010)
• RealTime interview on mixed reality dance film (Issue #99, October–November 2010)
• RealTime interview on dance film (Issue #80, August–September 2007)
• RealTime interview on dance and poetry (Issue #10, December–January 1995)

Archives:

• Richard James Allen at Red Room Poetry^[7]
• Richard James Allen at Australia Dancing, National Library of Australia^[8]
• Richard James Allen at IMDb
• Richard James Allen at the Manuscripts Collection, the State Library of New South Wales^[9]
• The Physical TV Company Website selected for preservation by Pandora, Australia's Web Archive, at the National Library of Australia^[10]

References