TT. O TT. O i(A18486 works by) ( Pi O ) (a.k.a. P. O.; Peter Oustabasidis; Peter Oustabasides; Pi O; Π.Ο. ; ΠO; ΠO)
Born: Established: 1951 Katerini, Macedonia,
c
Greece,
c
Western Europe, Europe,
;
Gender: Male
Arrived in Australia: ca. 22 Jul 1954
Heritage: Greek
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Works By

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1 Song of Despair i "F of H front of house ●●", TT. O , 2024 single work poetry
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , July 2024;
1 Concrete Terra Nullius TT. O , 2023 single work essay
— Appears in: Overland , Spring no. 252 2023; (p. 42-57)
'In May 2023 6 poets, Jas H Duke, Peter Murphy, thalia, Sandy Caldow, Arjun von Caemmerer, and myself, held an exhibition of concrete poetry 'Wayword Forword' at the Nicholas Building in Melbourne, curated by Victoria Perin. It attracted a large number of people over its 3 weeks on the wall, and generated a lot of discussion about the place of concrete poetry in the annals of Australian art history and poetry.' (Introduction)
1 [Untitled] TT. O , 2023 single work poetry
— Appears in: Kalliope X , Summer no. 5 2023;
1 Slavery TT. O , 2023 single work poetry
— Appears in: A Line in the Sand 2023;
1 5 y separately published work icon The Tour TT. O , Artarmon : Giramondo Publishing , 2023 26220009 2023 single work novel 'This book-length verse narrative is about a so-called ‘Dirty T-Shirt Tour’, on which a group of Australian poets travel to cities in the United States and Canada in the mid-1980s,to give readings. It is composed as a diary, written from the point of view of one of the poets, who finds himself at odds with the others by virtue of his migrant background, and his commitment to ‘performance’ poetry. It is his first visit to America, which he views with both wonder and alarm. Isolated in the group by his commitment to a poetics of ‘utterance’, he finds friendship and acclamation in his audiences and the people he encounters on the street. The tensions portrayed extend beyond the group to encompass issues of racism, sexism and class, as the book offers snapshots of American society, as viewed by the outsider, which are in themselves an expression of his performance poetic. The Tour stands as a chronicle of thed ifficulties and triumphs of performance poetry, of which Pi.O. was one of the pioneers, long before it became the popular form it is today,' (Publication summary) 
1 Messaging i "A spider caught 17 flies. (Gave", TT. O , 2023 single work poetry
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2023; Meanjin , Autumn vol. 82 no. 1 2023; (p. 9)
1 Boarding House i "Bugs, mosquitoes, fleas", TT. O , 2023 single work poetry
— Appears in: Heat (Series 3) , February no. 7 2023; (p. 72-73) Best of Australian Poems 2023 2023; (p. 13)
1 Strike Day i "We're angry", TT. O , 2023 single work poetry
— Appears in: Heat (Series 3) , February no. 7 2023; (p. 71)
1 Aging Stars i "This bottle of bourbon, is", TT. O , 2023 single work poetry
— Appears in: Heat (Series 3) , February no. 7 2023; (p. 68-70)
1 I Come On i "I come on : No guitar", TT. O , 2023 single work poetry
— Appears in: Heat (Series 3) , February no. 7 2023; (p. 67)
1 On Us i "B= the incidence of reflection", TT. O , 2022 single work poetry
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 79 no. 3 2022; (p. 143)
1 Exact/Inexact i "There are exactly 12 eggs", TT. O , 2021 single work poetry
— Appears in: Meanjin , Winter vol. 80 no. 2 2021; Best of Australian Poems 2021 2021; (p. 68)
1 The Story of the Kelly Gang 1906 i "From a fallen tree, all", TT. O , 2020 single work poetry
— Appears in: In Your Hands 2020; (p. 89)
1 1 Halley’s Comet i "Mark Twain came to Australia in 1895", TT. O , 2020 single work poetry
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 19 December 2020; (p. 18)
1 Fat Facts i "Airplay = Cheesecake", TT. O , 2019 single work poetry
— Appears in: Australian Poetry Journal , vol. 9 no. 1 2019; (p. 82)
1 Enumerables i "An employee's job, is to sell software.", TT. O , 2019 single work poetry
— Appears in: Rabbit , no. 28 2019; (p. 14-17)
1 11 y separately published work icon Heide TT. O , Newcastle : Giramondo Publishing , 2019 17275159 2019 selected work poetry

'Heide is an epic poem about history, painting, painters, patrons and the people who made art happen in Australia — from Louis Buvelot to Edith Rowan, Tom Roberts and Robert Streeton to Vassilief, Nolan, Tucker, Joy Hester, the Boyds, Mirka Mora, and Albert Namatjira, with a particular focus on the artists gathered around Sunday and John Reed at Heide in Melbourne.

'It is a poem that explores the influence of art and poetry on the psyche, and the influence of social class on both, from the upper echelons and industrialists of Melbourne, to the struggle of the working class through such artists as Alisa O’Connor, Noel Counihan and Yosl Bergner. It begins with the foundation of Melbourne, and in its epic scope traverses an encyclopaedic range of subjects, assembled from facts, quotations, proverbs, definitions, historical documents, newspaper accounts and the author’s own reminiscences. 

'Heide is about the poets and artists who put their lives on the line, the Australian preoccupation with landscape, the dominance of a masculinist aesthetic, the sidelining and denigration of Indigenous art, the struggle of women artists to assert their influence and presence, and the impact of migration on Australian culture. 

'It is a long poem made up of almost 300 poems, each bringing to life characters and incidents that are fleshed out in vivid detail and with a dramatic intensity unique in Australian poetry.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 Memo i "a Bomb threat", TT. O , 2019 single work poetry
— Appears in: Solid Air : Australian and New Zealand Spoken Word 2019; (p. 156)
1 On The Genius of Les Murray TT. O , 2019 single work essay
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , May 2019;

'The unofficial poet laureate of Australia Les Murray died in April 2019. I first met him at the Adelaide Arts Festival in the early 70s where i asked Ted Hughes did he kill Sylvia Plath, cos i couldn’t see how come he was in Australia out on bail. After a few other confrontations, i found myself alongside Les Murray, and he said that before i left poetry i’d make a big splash — and i remember turning to him and thinking he better not jump in the pool or there won’t be any water left. He may have been a good poet ‘with a genius for language’ as John Kinsella said but he had ‘some terrible politics’. Elsewhere i’ve talked about Les’s supposed decadency from the great James Murray the lexicographer who gave us the dictionary ‘proper’ — more foundation stories? — and my reaction to his appropriating and usurping the ‘ethnic’ debate by taking centre-stage with a book entitled Ethnic Radio. This ‘self-styled bard of the people’ even claimed be a descendant of Aboriginal stock — he seemed to be everything — a great publicist being No 1.'  (Introduction)

1 The BBQ i "The Pushers, the Gangsters", TT. O , 2018 single work poetry
— Appears in: Australian Poetry Journal , vol. 8 no. 2 2018; (p. 30-32)
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