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olivierb@unimelb.edu.au
(to avoid emails being mistaken for spam, please include the word "poetics" in the subject line.)

Search for online publications at the University of Melbourne digital repository

Olivier Burckhardt

Honorary Fellow, English

Biography

Educated in Italy, France, and England before migrating to Australia in 1978, Olivier Burckhardt has been working as an independent essayist, poet, and translator since 1988.

Languages: mother-tongue fluency in Italian & French; a working knowledge of Classical Chinese.

Website

www.obfuchai.com

Research projects

Pencilled Lines on Poetry: Essays on East-West Poetics

From mystic utterances ascribed to a talking fish to grandma's poems in the attic, giving pattern to speech and thoughts has given rise to a variety of poetic traditions. Through a sequence of accessible essays Pencilled Lines on Poetry will explore specific issues related to the practice and appreciation of poetry from ancient and modern times from a broad cross-cultural perspective (i.e. both across and within Eastern and Western traditions and languages). Expected publication date: mid 2008

Grants, awards and fellowships

• 2005/6 New Work Project Grant: Literature Fund, Australia Council for the Arts.
• 2005/6 The Redmond Barry 1854 Fellowship, awarded by The University of Melbourne in association with The State Library of Victoria.
• 2000 New Work Project Grant: Literature Fund, Australia Council for the Arts.
• 1999 Elected Fellow of the Swiss Institute in Rome / Istituto Svizzero di Roma, Italy.
• 1999 Writing grant from: UBS Kulturstiftung, Zürich.
• 1996 Writing grant from Marianne & Curt Dienemann-Stiftung, Luzern.
• 1994 Writing grant from Marianne & Curt Dienemann-Stiftung, Luzern.

Publications

Select poetry

• Rome River Poems. Booklet of poems in Italian signed: Oliviero Bucardo, Edizioni dell' Istituto Svizzero di Roma, (2000).
• "Migrant Tongue: Battos in Australia." Cycle of poems. The Irish Review. 30 (2003) 125-133.
• "Fetio Rede de Palavra." Prose-poem. The Irish Review. 24 (1999) 118-124.
• "Swift Is The Sound Of The Arrow." Poetry. The Irish Review. 21 (1997) 120. Reprinted with slight variations: Contemporary Review. 272 (1999) 195

Essays

• "Sung Poems: The Incantatory Voice." Quadrant, 50:3 (2006): 70-73.
• "Where Poetry and History Meet." Essay on Horace's Odes I, II, & III. Quadrant.48:4 (2004).63-67.
• "Spirals to Unravel a Mystery." (Part One & Two) Essay on the listening aspect of language. Quadrant. Part One: 47:1 (2003) 71-7. Part Two: 47:3 (2003) 58-64.
• "The Voice of One in the Wilderness." Essay on the experimental theatre, fiction, and painting of Gao Xingjian. Quadrant. 44:4 (2000) 54-57
  Anthologised in: Contemporary Literary Criticism Vol. 167, ed. Jeff Hunter, Gale Publishing, (2003) 200-204.
  up-dated and expanded version: PN Review. #137, 27:3 (2001) 28-32.
• "Reflections on Intolerance." Contemporary Review. 274:1601 (1999) 311-315.
• "Modern-Day Troubadours." Essay on poetry in the Occitan languages. The Irish Review. 23 (1999) 89-93. Expanded version as "Modern-Day Troubadours: Contemporary Literature in the Occitan Languages." Contemporary Review. 274:1596 (1999) 33-37.
• "Jacob Burckhardt: Historian of Civilization." Contemporary Review. 271:1582 (1997) 250-256.

Feature review essays and articles

• "Modern Italian Poetry." Review essay Quadrant. 49:5 (2005): 68-71.
• "Callimachus and the Ambling Muse." Review essay on translations and modern versions of Callimachus: PN Review. 163 (2005): 94-95.
• "Catullus, Today and Always." Essay on translations and modern versions of Catullus. Quadrant. 49:1/2 (2005) 82-85.
• "Translating Echoes." Review of "Birds and Bison: Poems" by Claire Malroux, translated by Marilyn Hacker, Modern Poetry in Translation. Series 3:4 (2005) 197-200.
• "Of Sea and Words and Toil: The Poetry of Cesare Pavese." Review-essay. Quadrant. 48:7/8, (2004) 82-85. Revised version, London Magazine. (Oct-Nov 2004) 117-126.
• "The Italian Century." Feature review essay on Italian poetry. Cencrastus. 78 (2004) 38-41.
• "Half the Ancient World." Review of "The Cambridge Encylopedia of the World's Ancient Languages" ed. R.D. Woodard. Quadrant. 48:12 (2004) 88-89.
• "Philosophical Synthesis East-West." Review of "Ancient Worlds, Modern Reflections" by G.E.R. Lloyd. Quadrant. 48:12 (2004) 92-93.
• "Ungaretti: Man of Anguish." PN Review. 153 29 (2003) 70-71. With slight revision as "Translating Ungaretti" Quadrant. 47:12 (2003) 89-90.
• "Burgess Oath to Poetry." Review of "Revolutionary Sonnets and Other Poems" by Anthony Burgess, ed. K. Jackson. Quadrant. 47:4 (2003) 84-85. & PN Review. 29:3 (2003) 63-64
• "The Weaving of Memories." Review of "One Man's Bible" by Gao Xingjian, tr. M. Lee. Quadrant. 46 (Dec. 2002) 85/6
• "Eine Reise zu den Grenzen der Sprache." Feature article on Gao Xingjian in German. Lanbote, Winterthur. (9 December 2000) 33.
• "The Paper Nautilus Constructs Her Thin Glass Shell." Review essay on Marianne Moore. PN Review. 27:2 (2000) 62-64.
• "A Toolbox for Poets." Review of "The Making of a Poem" ed. M. Strand & E. Boland. The Independent on Sunday, London (1 Oct. 2000) The Review 60/61. Revised and expanded as "The Rules and the Measures" Quadrant. 44:11 (2000) 85-86.
• "A Century Later, and it's Time to Make it New Again." Feature review article on "The Harvill Book of 20th C. Poetry in English" ed. M. Schmidt. The Independent on Sunday, London (25 July 1999) 11. Revised and expanded as "A Place for the Genuine" Quadrant. 44:5 (2000) 84-85.
• "The Full Montale." Feature review article on Eugenio Montale "Collected Poems 1920-1954" Tr. J. Galassi. The Independent on Sunday, London. (10 Jan. 1999) Culture 13.
• "China's Forgotten Women." Review of "A Biographical. Dictionary of Chinese Women" & "Writing Women in Modern China." Contemporary Review. 275:1604 (1999) 160-1
• "5000 Characters in Search of an Author." Feature review article on "Tao-te Ching" tr. R.J. Lynn. The Independent on Sunday, London (27 June 1999) Culture 12.
• "The East is Read." Review of "The Picador Book of Contemp. Chinese Fiction" ed. Choa & Li-Qun, & "The Lit. of China in the 20th C." ed McDougal & Louie. The Independent on Sunday, London (10 May 1998) The Review 34.
• "Tales From Where the Sun Sets." Feature review article on French literature from the Magreb. The Independent on Sunday, London (3 May 1998) The Review 26.
• "Chinese Literature." Feature review essay on "An Anthology of Chinese Literature" ed. & tr. Stephen Owen. Redoubt. 24 (1997) 135-142.

Reviews and miscellaneous pieces

• "Genre Beyond the Noun" Review of "Genre" by John Frow, in press PN Review. (mid 2007)
• "Axe-Wielding Poetry." Review of "Being Alive" ed. N. Astley. Quadrant. 49:5 (2005) 89.
• "Hidden Hughes" Review of Ted Hughes "Collected Poems" ed P. Keegan. Quadrant. 48:9 (2004) 88-89.
• "A Dance Made out of Words." Review of "New Poetries III" ed. M. Schmidt. The Independent on Sunday, London (39 Nov 2002) Books 15.
• "Out of the Lecture Hall and Into the Toolbox: The Secrets of Philosophy." Review of "Zeno and the Tortoise" by N. Fearn. The Independent on Sunday, London (9 Sept. 2001) The Review
• "Mirrored Voices." Review of "Women Writers of Traditional China" ed. Chang & Saussy. PN Review. 72:3 (2001) 78-79.
• "Journey Without End." Review of Gao Xingjian's "Soul Mountain" Quadrant. 44:9 (2000) 84-85.
  Anthologised in: Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol, 167, ed. Jeff Hunter, Gale Publishing, (2003) 204
• "The Elusive Quinto Orazio Flacco." Review of "The Complete Odes and Satires of Horace" tr. S. Alexander. PN Review. 26:1 (1999) 64.
• "Childhood Fears and Joys." Review of "The Penumbra" by Lalla Romano, tr. S. Williams. London Magazine. 39:5/6 (1999) 117-119.
• "The Cambridge History of Ancient China." Review of title ed. M. Loewe & E.L. Shaughnessy. History Today. 49:6 (1999) 54-55.
• "Winners and Losers in the Great Human Race." Review of "Imperfect Conceptions" by Frank Dikötter. The Independent on Sunday, London (20 Dec. 1998) Culture 11.
• "Whose English is it Anyway." Review of "The English Languages" by T. McArthur. Contemporary Review. 273:1593 (1998) 216.
• "Little Six and the Great Leap Forward." Review of "Daugher of the River: An Autobiography" by Hong Ying. The Independent on Sunday, London (18 Oct. 1998) Culture 12.
• "Modern China an Illustrated History." Review of title by J.A.G. Roberts. History Today. 48:10 (1998), p. 54.
• "The Songs They Sing in the South of France." Article on Occitan poetry. The Independent on Sunday, London (16 Aug. 1998) Culture 14.
• "China's Historic Insecurity." Review of "The Great Wall and the Empty Fortress" by A. Nathan & R. Ross. Contemporary Review, 272:1585 (1998) 102-104.
• "An Introduction to China." Review of "A History of China, Vol 1" by J.A.G. Roberts. Contemporary Review, Vol. 271:1579 (1997) 104-5.
• "China Past and Present." Review of "China and Other Matters" by B.I. Schwartz. Contemporary Review. 270:1576 (1997) 274-5.

Translations

• "Within the Gaze" by Philippe Dagen, original French title: "L'intérieur du regard." Preface/essay in: Gao Xingjian: Within the Gaze. Catalogue, Asia Arts Centre gallery, Taiwan 2005, pp. 8-11 With slight variations in: Asian Art News. 15:3 (2005) 40-45
• Walled Roof (Tetto Murato) novel by Lalla Romano. In progress.

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