Fists in the Eye that Blinks on a Pin is a collection of poetry that feels both raw and surreal, and moves between moments of tenderness and moments of violence, exploring themes of memory, loss, and fractured identity. What inspired you to write this particular collection of poems?

This collection of poems was actually inspired by a very specific event. I was gearing up to see Billy Corgan perform at the Good Things festival when there was a sudden announcement that he would be performing an intimate acoustic set at a small venue called The Gem. The Gem is a tiny bar in a suburb called Collingwood in Melbourne, Australia. I managed to secure tickets and was huddled in this room of maybe 100 people, watching the legend Billy Corgan perform this unbelievable, stripped-back acoustic set. Truly a dream come true.

He opened up the floor to questions, and I asked how he manages to separate the emotional connection to his songs from the need to view them objectively for release to the world. His answer mesmerised me, as he talked about themes of going back to the freedom of creativity you have in childhood… reminiscing on how we have this creative flare that lets us do anything, we draw rabbits that are red with blue feet, we colour outside the lines; and it’s only once people start telling us that we’re wrong and that our drawing is terrible, that we focus on how we perceive things should be… he advocated for returning to the freedom of creativity before someone told us it was wrong. And so that’s what I tried to do with this book – just write with freedom and creativity, without concern for anything else.

How did you decide on the themes that run throughout your poetry book?

Following on from question one, there really were no preconceived themes or concepts. I didn’t set out to write the book with a particular arc or angle; nor did I know where it was going to go. Everything that was written was just written organically with a kind of spur-of-the-moment enthusiasm for creating something with freedom and enjoyment.

How do you strike a balance between clarity and ambiguity in your poetry?

It’s a good question, but probably not one I can answer. I think each reader would have a different perception of the balance between clarity and ambiguity in the book. For me, I like the idea of poetry that is more on the ambiguous side; that demands a bit of curiosity and a willingness to look for hidden meanings. But I don’t think the wider audiences like to unpack poetry anymore; people don’t want to sit down and read something that doesn’t make sense, and that they have to unravel like a code… but to me that’s what poetry is supposed to be – it’s supposed to be ambiguous, decoded…it’s supposed to challenge the reader to look deeper than merely reading the words. So who knows?

How has this poetry book changed you as a writer, or what did you learn about yourself through writing it?

I enjoyed the freedom of writing for myself first. I think my other poetry works have all been written with somewhat of a plan, a structure, a sense of narrative, and thematic linking points; I had fun writing as a homage to an experience, for the mere outcome of creating something. That was fun.

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