Kent writes: “This picture was taken in Collingwood, Australia in November 2006. It doesn’t show the falling drizzle or allude to the outright downpour that began right after I snapped the shutter. I am typically quite smitten with objects that persist through years of inclement exposure, the nervousness of creeping time and urban redevelopment. As are most people, I think. I was strolling to nowhere in particular alongside a woman with whom I was rapidly becoming smitten … every ‘thing’ and ‘scene’ exuding that new-and-wow glint. It felt like strolling through an Edward Hopper painting except the mood was the antithesis of what his scenes are. What struck me about this bowser was that is felt as if the ‘scenario’ I was in had tripped and skinned its knee on the street asphalt in a very childlike, oh-well-back-up-again manner. I’m reticent to get all Brazil on you (in that Terry Gilliam way), but for a moment that bowser was the skinned knee, opened up to the byzantine inner world of hissing boilers, greasy parts, levers and hoses that surely must be running everything under the surface of even the most delicious of experiences.”
About Kent MacCarter
Kent MacCarter, expatriate of Minnesota, Montana and New Mexico, former resident of Florence and Sienna, Italy, is now a permanent resident in Melbourne, Australia with his wife, son and two cats.
MacCarter came to Australia in 2004 to study poetry and writing. His first collection of poetry was In the Hungry Middle of Here (Transit Lounge Press). It’s a book that navigates the world, seeking the sounds, textures and tastes that characterise its parts. As university adviser to MacCarter, Chris Wallace-Crabbe had this to say of his work, ‘MacCarter is the poet as energetic globe-trotter. Wherever he finds himself he notices and records objects, atmosphere, people. His poems are crammed with such perceptiveness.’ In 2012, another poetry collection, Ribosome Spreadsheet (Picaro Press), will be released as well a non-fiction anthology he is currently co-editing on expatriate writers now living and writing from Australia.
His career in Australia has chiefly been in educational and academic publishing as a developmental editor for multimedia, online resources and ebooks. MacCarter currently sits on the executive board of The Small Press Network, an advocate association for small presses as they meet challenges of the digital revolution in publishing. He is also an active member in Melbourne PEN.
MacCarter is Managing Editor of Cordite Poetry Review.
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