Almanac Poetry and Life – 30 years later: How an art scene in 1990s Bendigo inspired a poetry anthology in 2026.

 

In the early 1990s Bendigo was a very different place to what it is now. The population was around 50,000. Many of those were retired farmers and almost all were white and very conservative. We had one commercial radio station playing ‘all the hits from the 60s, 70s, and 80s’ (3BO), two TV stations (ABC and Channel 8), and one conservative newspaper (The Advertiser). However, thanks largely to the presence of a University with a strong and diverse arts department, beneath the veneer of this white, conservative country town lurked a sub-culture of artists, writers, musicians and thinkers.

 

While memories of this time for me are a mixture of murky and non-existent thanks to the liberal use of recreational study aids at the time, I do remember it being a time of great creativity with a vibrant underground art scene.

 

At the time I was struggling through the second half of a Bachelor of Arts after having transferred from Graphic Design to Humanities. The Studies in Western Traditions Humanities course at Bendigo Uni was a uniquely curated mix of Greek, Roman and Christian philosophy and history, along with avenues in literature, media and art history. Department Head Roger Sworder had an unrivalled passion for Plato and early Greek and religious philosophy which permeated the department’s teachings. From this department sprung many of the creative people who helped form Bendigo’s underground art scene in the early 90s. I was surrounded by interesting, intelligent, creative people and it inspired in me a surge of creativity during that period. I wrote poetry, dabbled in photography, and was fascinated with film, making a number of short, experimental super-8 films. 

 

In order to thrive and for people to get together, to share ideas and to share their art, all great art scenes need great meeting places. In Bendigo we had Artspace.

 

Artspace was a ramshackle building located in Lyttleton Terrace just behind what is now the Bendigo Library. Brick walls with concrete floor and a tin roof.  Plywood-lined, cave-like individual spaces housed artists. These sometimes doubled as a squat of sorts when artists were ‘in-between’ accommodation. Bands would rehearse there. Gigs were held there. 

 

Formed as an arts collective, Artspace was a place for visual artists, writers and musicians to rent a small studio space for a nominal fee. It was a melting pot and a meeting place where creatives and those on the fringes of Bendigo’s conservative mainstream could go and simply be themselves.

 

 

 

From out of this creative soup grew a poetry scene that would endure for the next 10 years and is now resurfacing thanks to the work of two Artspace regulars – Sean Stanyer and Joel O’Connor – and the launch of a poetry anthology that celebrates the poetry scene of the 1990s by re-introducing the poets from that era as well as introducing the next generation of poets.

 

Poetry emerged out of the Artspace scene thanks to a group of determined local poets, Sean and Joel among them. Intimate readings were held, and eventually a ‘zine called Big Foot’s Love Slave found the light of day. 

 

As the poetry scene became more recognisable and the readings grew in popularity, it was decided to take the poetry to a broader audience and regular readings were held in pubs around town. The Waterloo Hotel in Bridge Street was a key venue, while the Cumberland Hotel, and Shamrock Hotel also hosted readings. Posters were created by local visual artists, local musicians got involved. The Pied Pipers Poetry Pubcrawl took the poetry to the streets; people were really taking notice. 

 

An ethos of positivity and camaraderie was a key element to this scene. No artist was more important than the other. Everyone was equally valid and valued. It was inclusive before inclusivity was a thing. This also instilled confidence in participants to create like-minded projects, or to read or publish their poetry to a broader audience. It inspired me to launch Lotus, a poetry, arts and music magazine that we published from 1993 to 1994. 

 

As often happens with scenes such as this, over time things began to drift. Priorities change, people move away. I finally graduated from Uni and started a career. 

 

Sean Stanyer had largely become the driving force behind the Poets Mahone as they’d become known. When Sean moved to Melbourne, the momentum went with him. However it didn’t take long for Sean to rekindle the Bendigo poetry scene in his new neighbourhood. North Fitzroy’s Empress Hotel became home to a new band of poets who met regularly to read. A similar ethos was adopted and a fresh, vibrant scene emerged again.

 

 

 

 

Cue circa 1997: After studying a journalism degree at Deakin Uni in Geelong, former Bendigo Artspace regular Joel O’Connor moved to North Fitzroy to live and work. One night while making the most of the Wednesday night falafel deal at his local kebab shop, Joel noticed that the pub across the road was hosting some poetry readings. Keen to reconnect to a local poetry scene, Joel wandered in. That pub was the Empress Hotel. Joel and Sean were reunited and a whole new chapter of creative collaboration was born.

 

Keen to promote the scene centred around the Empress Hotel, Sean enlisted the help of Joel to publish an anthology of work by the poets involved using the technology available in 1997 – a printed anthology. After much collating and editing, Millennium Poets was born, although for only a very brief lifetime. Just three copies were printed. The idea was shelved as, once again, things drifted apart and the scene fell into remission.

 

Twenty-five years amble on by. Life flashes before our eyes. A new generation is born. Joel, reminiscing on the days that gave birth to the original Millenium Poets anthology, employs his journalistic skills to track down and get in contact with Sean and other poets of the day. He floats the idea of reviving and republishing the Millenium Poets – not only to republish the original Millenium Poets – to revisit the current work of those original poets and publish a whole new volume of current works as well and the work of the next generation; the poems of the original poets’ children.

 

 

Millennium Poets II is born. 

 

Now, over 30 years after the birth of the original Artspace scene that inspired it, the Millennium Poets are returning to the Empress Hotel once again to launch Millenium Poets II. I was honoured to be asked to contribute even though I was not involved in the scene once it moved away from Bendigo. Even more exciting for me was that my daughter Trinity was asked to be involved and that two of her poems appear in the anthology alongside four of mine. There is something very special about sharing the creative process with your children and this has been a way for Trinity and me to connect through a common love of words.

 

 

 

 

I was also pleased to have Joel and Sean join us on the Rambling Podcast recently to discuss the origins of the Millenium Poets and how the anthology came about. 

 

You can listen to the podcast episode with Joel and Sean on Spotify here. 

 

Millennium Poets I and II are being launched at the Empress Hotel in North Fitzroy on Saturday, March 28 from 3.00pm. Entry to the launch is free but RSVP is required at the Eventbrite link here.

 

Featured writers include: Sean Stanyer, Joel O’Connor, Sandy Jensen, Amber Jensen, Evan Flux, Bear’age X, Eddy Burger, Daniel du Prie , Gabrielle Everall, Jez PA Speelman, Scott Hunt, Trinity Hunt, Gerald Keaney and more.

 

Copies of Millenium Poets II can be purchased online here.

 

 

All images provided by the author.

 

More from Scott Hunt can be read Here.

 

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Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

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