Bill Direen

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William Direen
Cover of New Sea Land by Bill DIREEN 2005.jpg
Direen at Kawakawa Bay, New Zealand. "New Sea Land" (poems, 2005).
Background information
Also known asBill Direen
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • Poet
  • Critic
Instrument(s)
  • vocals
  • guitar
Years active1975–present
Labels

Bill (also William) Direen is a musician and poet. He manages the music group Bilders and lives in Otago, New Zealand. [4]

Contents

Direen has appeared at Book Festivals in New Zealand, the USA and Eastern Europe, but is better known for his music and songs, recorded and performed with musicians in NZ and overseas. He has made small tours of USA, [5] Europe, [6] Serbia [7] and Australia,. [8] He is the subject of a documentary, Bill Direen, A Memory of Others, directed by Simon Ogston (2017). [9]

Books and Theatre

Direen directed the alternative Blue Ladder Theatre at 87 Cashel Street in 1984-85 [10] Christchurch, [11] [12] [13] and later produced a series of experimental "psycho-musicals" in Wellington. [14] Later writing (1994–present) ranges from criticism [15] and speculative fiction [16] to science fiction and poetry sometimes performed with collaborating musicians. [17]

From 2006 to 2017 he edited a trans-cultural literary annual Percutio, "dedicated to aspects of the creative process and to works that bridge cultures". [18] He edited a special anthology in 2021 to oppose cost-cutting depletion of New Zealand National Library's non-NZ books. [19] [20] He occasionally reads his works, and still performs music live, solo and in groups under the collective title Bilders.

Bibliography (for Discography see Bilders)

Evolition Poems. Publisher: 1995 (Printed letter press). R. S. Gormack (Printer), Nick Gormack (Printer), Nag's Head Press (Christchurch, N.Z.), F. Cartwright & Son (Binder) Print Book, English, 1995 [31]

Awards and fellowships

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Bill Direen, A Memory of Others is a 2017 documentary film produced and directed by Simon Ogston that follows Dunedin-Christchurch poet Bill Direen from Dunedin to Auckland on a tour of music and phono-aesthetic poetry. The full 87-minute documentary begins in a small Otago town where Direen is preparing for the tour, leading to interviews at radio stations and live performances in cafés, music foundations, libraries and a children's school. Ogston invited Direen to write poems along the way, which he performed on subjects such as writer Janet Frame, composer Douglas Lilburn and poet James K. Baxter. The film shows him rehearsing with the current lineup of his band The Bilders, while playing footage of earlier groups, and showing the process whereby a 16mm film of song The Cup was restored and remastered by the New Zealand Film Archive. Final interviews with Kiran Dass and with Ogston himself reveal something of Direen's approach to poetry and music. The film ends with an extract from his novel Song of the Brakeman and a tune from a rare vinyl LP of 1987.

References

  1. "SPORT". SPORT.
  2. "takahē - Bringing literature and art from Aotearoa New Zealand to the world".
  3. "broadsheet: new new zealand poetry". broadsheet: new new zealand poetry.
  4. "Stoats of Otago". 30 June 2017.
  5. "Bill Direen Keeps Learning About Himself Through Others".
  6. Waechter, Johannes (24 March 1995). "Sanssouci: Vorschlag". Die Tageszeitung: Taz. p. 28.
  7. "Pelen – Bil Dirin".
  8. http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=51222 "a momentary Melbourne band of Barry Stockley, Jess McCann and Tama Stockley"
  9. Bill Direen: A Memory of Others |url= https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/bill-direen-memory-of-others-2017 |publisher=NZ On Screen Iwi Whitiahua |access-date= 10 December 2021
  10. "a genuine alternative theatre", Dr. Richard Corballis, NZ Times 14 October 1984
  11. "BLUE LADDER THEATRE. THE WEDDING PARTY ON THE EIFFEL TOWER". ngataonga.org.nz.
  12. "a chamber version of grand guignol" Richard Corballis, NZ Times 14 October 1984
  13. "Bill Direen Théâtre Les Cenci d'après Shelley et Artaud – Vidéo Dailymotion". Dailymotion. 8 November 2009.
  14. Bernadette Rae, NZ Herald, 25 July 1992.
  15. https://landfallreview.com/daring-to-take-the-leap-into-clarity/ Review of "Karl Wolfskehl, A Poet in Exile" by Friedrich Voit, Cold Hub Press, 2019
  16. "The Imaginary Museum: Millennials (4): Song of the Brakeman (2006)". 19 October 2019.
  17. "Bill Direen's Ferocious". Radio New Zealand . 25 May 2020.
  18. 1 2 Centre, Michael King Writers (2 August 2018). "William (Bill) Direen: 2010 University of Auckland Writers Residency".
  19. Scoop Publishing Ltd|= https://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=140249/ |title=Ten writers at public protest against National Library plans to get rid of books |publisher= Scoop Foundation for Public Interest Journalism |access-date= 10 December 2021
  20. No Disposals Anthology|= https://nodisposals.neocities.org |publisher=Writers Against NZ National Library Disposals |access-date= 10 December 2021
  21. Publisher description: https://www.grapefruitrecordclub.com/products/william-direen-100-years-of-darkness-book
  22. NZ distributor description: https://southindies.neocities.org/html/100YearsDarkness
  23. Item description: https://unitybookswellington.co.nz/product/stream-light/
  24. Label description: https://www.discogs.com/release/27036921-Bilders-Mindful-expanded
  25. Graham Reid Reviews https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/writingelsewhere/10325/seasons-by-william-direen/
  26. "Road Runner". Flying Out.
  27. "Sport 18". 6 May 2011.
  28. "Pelen – Bil Dirin". partizanska knjiga.
  29. https://search.worldcat.org/title/29367268
  30. https://search.worldcat.org/title/Inklings-:-poems/oclc/31037772
  31. https://search.worldcat.org/title/34179495
  32. "Medals and awards search". Royal Society Te Apārangi.
  33. "Scholarships at UC | University of Canterbury". www.canterbury.ac.nz.
  34. "Graduate Search – Alumni Association | University of Canterbury". The University of Canterbury.
  35. Scoop Independent News | Title: Julius Vogel Awards for Science Fiction, Fantasy And Horror | https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1106/S00103/julius-vogel-awards-for-science-fiction-fantasy-and-horror.htm | June 8, 2011