Brendan Ryan

Brendan Ryan grew up on a dairy farm at Panmure in Victoria. His poetry, reviews, and essays have been published in literary journals and newspapers. He has had poems published in The Best Australian Poems series (Black Inc). His second collection of poetry, A Paddock in his Head, was shortlisted for the 2008 ACT Poetry Prize. His most recent collection of poetry, Travelling Through the Family (Hunter Publishers), was published in 2012 and was shortlisted for the 2014 Victorian Premier’s Awards. He lives in Geelong, where he teaches English at a secondary college.

'Philip Hodgins – A Dream', a new poem by Brendan Ryan

February 2011, no. 328 • 04 May 2011

Philip Hodgins – A Dream I walk toward a paddock bordered by cypress trees. Philip Hodgins is on a tractor harrowing forty acres. I can’t see his face but I know it is him methodically going about his business, navigating the terrain, driving into a diminishing square, like the farmer in Dispossessed mowing lucerne, driving rabbits and snakes into a disappearing centre. Except here, w ... (read more)