For 30 years Les has been a figure of substance in the Australian literary community.  He has been a guest at most of the nation's literary festivals, toured widely and been published in well over 150 newspapers, anthologies and magazines across nine countries in seven languages.

Equally well known is his work as a publisher and editor.  Artransit put contemporary poetry and art into Sydney & Newcastle buses but that is just one of dozens of similar roles: some predictable like literary magazines while others range as far afield as publishing a poem on the surface of a river.

He travels Australia performing & conducting workshops. partly arising out of this is a fascination with “peopled landscapes”. An consistant feature of the poet's work has been the wide range of characters captured on paper, a subset of this theme has been his fascination with the interplay of them with a unique Australian landscape. This selection explores that theme.

Les Wicks' books are "The Vanguard Sleeps In" (Glandular, 1981), "Cannibals" (Rochford St, 1985), "Tickle" (Island, 1993), "Nitty Gritty" (Five Islands, 1997), “The Ways of Waves” (Sidewalk, 2000), “Appetites of Light” (Presspress, 2002) & "Stories of the Feet" (Five Islands, 2004).

personal & engaging, accessible & immediate - Warwick Wynne, Australian Book Review

varied, nimble, humane, wry & well timed  - Jennifer Maiden

… a sudden wit and quick shifts of tone and mood. ...he is chameleon, restless, full of questions, refusing to be pinned down. Happily moving here & there, amused, bemused, shaking his head in disbelief, belief, in love with it all. - Brook Emery

Web Page:  http://leswicks.tripod.com/lw.htm

Collage by Les Wicks