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June 1, 2002September 22, 2022

Melissa Ashley—in conversation with Kate Middleton

KATE MIDDLETON

You were saying before that you’ve written work that has been quite experimental in the past where you feel you might have pushed that too far – what do you see as too far? What does it become?

MELISSA ASHLEY

I felt that I went too far in the sense that I stopped communicating with anyone but myself. At university a couple of years ago, I studied Monique Wittig’s The Lesbian Body, and while I absolutely adore the book, I also kind of resent it, because it affected my writing in a such detrimental way, down to its very roots and bones. I began producing strange block-style hybrid prose poems about Greek goddesses and the anatomy of the female body. I knew what I was talking about, however I don’t know if anyone else did – or cared – and that’s a problem. Wittig is also a philosopher, and via The Lesbian Body was attempting to push out the boundaries of poetic language, trying to rupture the dichotomous structures of Western thought (such an unambitious project!). So when I picked up on this, probably on a more sensual (and by that I mean poetic rather than philosophical), than intellectual level – only half-aware of what I was doing – my writing became very convoluted.

What I know now is that Wittig’s project was a moment in time, the world has since changed – thank god we don’t live in the seventies – we’ve gone beyond the literary fashion of goddess-archetypes; however for a while I was seduced. So as a result of descending into this poetic Gehenna (hell), (and subsequently clawing my way back) I’ve become very sensitive about experimental writing. I feel that some people are partial to it – you’ve got generations of American language poets, and Australian too – but it leaves others cold.

[part of an interview published in ‘Famous Reporter 25’, June 2002]

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Categories

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  • A Chides Alphabet
  • ACT Literary Awards
  • Adamson, Bob
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  • Ashley, Melissa
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  • awards
  • Azimitabr, Mostafa ‘Moz’
  • Bailey, Thomas Forest
  • Baker, Tim
  • Bandesh, Farhad
  • Barnes, Melanie
  • Barton, Alison J.
  • Bell, Johanna
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  • book launch
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  • Castlemaine Poetry Readings
  • children's books
  • City Park Radio
  • Clifton, Alison
  • climate change
  • Colette
  • Collins, Anne
  • Colville, Jan
  • Conan-Davies, Cally
  • conversations & interviews
  • Corbett, Nancy
  • Cordite Poetry Review
  • Corfiatis, Thérèse
  • Cossins, Jennifer
  • Couani, Anna
  • Cranston, CA
  • Crucefix, Martyn
  • Csik Zenekar
  • Daiza, Eliza Dune
  • DakhaBrakha
  • Davis, Megan
  • Didion, Joan
  • Dimitriadis, Koraly
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  • faith
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  • Filreis, Al
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  • Flanagan, Martin
  • Flanagan, Richard
  • Flett, Alison
  • Fowlis, Julie
  • Gallego, Ruben
  • Garcia-Navarro, Lulu
  • Giard-Chase, Ann
  • Gillespie, Alyssa
  • Gorton, John
  • Gotye
  • Greenhill, Susie
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  • haiku
  • Hay, Pete
  • Hecate
  • Herbert, Elanna
  • Hetherington, Graeme
  • Hey Rosetta!
  • Higgins, Kevin
  • Hindrum, Cameron
  • Hobart
  • Hobart Bookshop
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  • Hunt, Julie
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  • Ireland, David
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  • poets
  • Poets on the Line
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  • Price, Jacinta
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  • Pybus, Cassandra
  • Rayner, Tony
  • Reaburn, Norman
  • Red Room Poetry
  • refugees
  • Reid, Harry
  • research
  • reviews
  • Riekki, Ron
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  • Rogers, Lars
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  • science
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  • Sheerwater, Henry
  • short stories
  • Simic, Charles
  • Skilbeck-Porter, Ella
  • Skovron, Alex
  • Slade, Tim
  • Small Press Network
  • Smith, Hazel
  • Sometimes, Alicia
  • song
  • Spaulding, Ralph
  • Spineless Wonders
  • Spoken Word, 3CR
  • Stenberg, Britta
  • Strummer, Joe
  • Swain, Helen
  • Tasmanian Literary Awards
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  • Tasmanian Literary Awards 2025
  • Tasmanian Poetry Festival
  • The Richell Prize
  • thinking aloud
  • Thorne, Tim
  • Those Folk & The Inadequates
  • Tinmouth, Valerie
  • Tiny Desk Concert
  • Tokarczuk, Olga
  • Tredennick, Mark
  • Ukraine
  • Uluru Statement from the Heart
  • Uncategorized
  • US politics
  • Vale
  • Van Rijswijk, Philomena
  • Vaughan, Eleanor
  • Victorian Premier's Prize for Literature
  • Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry
  • Webby, David
  • WestWords
  • Whish-Wilson, David
  • Whish-Wilson, Peter
  • White, Rachel
  • Whitebeach, Terry
  • Wicks, Les
  • wildness (online poetry journal)
  • Williams, Jane
  • Williams, Lucy
  • Winfield, Liz
  • Winton, Tim
  • Witek, Jules
  • Wood, Charlotte
  • Woodside
  • Woomble, Roddy
  • Woorilla Poetry Prize
  • Writers' Week, Adelaide Festival
  • Yee, Grace
  • Young, Damon
  • Young, Mark
  • Yukon Blonde
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