Stephen Kenneth Kelen (born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1956), known as S. K. Kelen, is an Australian poet and educator. S. K. Kelen began publishing

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

in 1973, when he won a Poetry Australia contest for young poets and several of his poems were published in that journal. Kelen attended the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, where he studied

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

Literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. After graduating he worked in Sydney in various jobs then Canberra as a civil servant, and reviewed books for the

Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

. He has also been a visiting professor at the

University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is the flagship univ ...

in 1996, and

Asialink Asialink is Australia's leading centre for creative engagement with Asia. Asialink works with diverse communities in Australia and Asia for mutual understanding and prosperity. Asialink develops insights, capabilities and connections through p ...

Writer in Residence in Vietnam in 1998. In 2005 he completed a Ph.D. from the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

. He taught poetry, creative writing and literary studies at the

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

and taught in high schools and colleges in the ACT.

Recognition

Kelen's collection ''Earthly Delights'' was a joint winner of the

Judith Wright Prize The Judith Wright Award, also known as the Judith Wright Prize, was awarded annually as part of the ACT Poetry Award between 2005 and 2011 for a book of poems published the previous year in book form by an Australian author. It was awarded for ...

in 2007. Other awards won by Kelen include the 1973 Poetry Australia Prize (writers under 18 years of age), an ACT Creative Arts Fellowship in 2000, and the CAPO ( Capital Arts Patrons Organisation) Award in 2001 and in 2004 and 2007 - 2008

Australia Council The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

Grants for Established Writers for poetry writing.

Awards

Award for individual works

*Island Earth: New and selected poems. 2012 selected work poetry *2013 - shortlisted ACT Book of the Year Award *Earthly Delights 2006 selected work poetry **2007 - shortlisted The Age Book of the Year Award —

Dinny O'Hearn Dinny may refer to: *Dinny Allen (born 1952), retired Gaelic football manager and former dual player *Dinny Barry-Murphy (1904–1973), famous Irish sportsperson *Dinny Cahill (born 1952), Irish hurling manager and former player *Dinny Campbell or ...

Poetry Prize **2007 - joint winner Australian Capital Territory Poetry Award — Judith Wright Award for a Published Collection by an Australian Poet Joint winner with Diane Fahey for Sea Wall and River Light. *Goddess of Mercy : Poems, 2002, selected work poetry **2003 - shortlisted

The Age Book of the Year ''The Age'' Book of the Year Awards were annual literary awards presented by Melbourne's ''The Age'' newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. After 1998, they were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival. Initially, two awar ...

Award — Dinny O'Hearn Poetry Prize **2003 - shortlisted

Victorian Premier's Literary Awards The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary p ...

— The C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry **2003 highly commended Australian Capital Territory Book of the Year Award *Shimmerings: Poems, 2000 selected work poetry **2002 - shortlisted Festival Awards for Literature (SA) — John Bray Award for Poetry *"Near the Jungle" 1976. short story 1976 - runner-up,

University of Sydney Union The University of Sydney Union (USU), established in 1874, is the student-run services and amenities provider at the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia. The USU's key services include the provision of food and beverages, retail outlets ...

Short Story Competition *"Koki Market" 1976 - winner, University of Sydney Union Poetry Competition

Book and Chapbook Publications

* The Gods Ash Their Cigarettes. St Lucia, Qld: Makar Press, 1978. * To the Heart of the World’s Electricity. Broadway, NSW: Senor Press, 1980. * Atomic Ballet. Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1991. * Dingo Sky. Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1993. * West of Krakatoa: Poems. Ainslie, ACT: Limestone Press, 1994. * Trans-Sumatran Highway, and other poems. Cook, ACT: Polonius Press, 1995. * Postcards from the Universe. Cambridge, UK: Folio / Salt, 1998. * Dragon Rising: Poems. Hanoi, Viet Nam: The Gioi Publishers, 1998. * Shimmerings: Poems. Wollongong, NSW: Five Islands Press, 2000. * Goddess of Mercy: Poems. Blackheath, NSW: Brandl & Schlesinger, 2002. * Earthly Delights. Canberra: Pandanus Books, 2006. * Island Earth: New and selected poems. Blackheath, NSW: Brandl & Schlesinger, 2012 *Don Juan Variations. Sydney: Vagabond Press, Rare Object Series, 2012 * Yonder Blue Wild. Macao, PRC: flying island books, 2018 * A Happening in Hades. Waratah, NSW: Puncher & Wattmann, 2020 * Love's Philosophy. Sydney, NSW: Gazebo Books / Life Before Man, 2020

Anthologies

* Poems included in ~ * Anthology of Australian Religious Poetry, ed. Les Murray (Melbourne: Collins/Dove, 1986) * The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Poetry, ed. John Tranter & Philip Mead (Melbourne: Penguin, 1991) * Oxford Book of Modern Australian Verse, ed. Peter Porter (Oxford University Press, 1996) * Family Ties: poems of the Australian Family ed. Jennifer Strauss (Oxford University Press, 1998) * Landbridge: Contemporary Australian Poetry ed. John Kinsella (Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1999) * Open Boat, Barbed Wire Sky: Poems for the Refugees ed Sue Hicks and Danny Gardner (Live Poets’ Press, Sydney 2003) * The Best Australian Poems 2003 ed Peter Craven (Black Ink, Melbourne 2003) * The Best Australian Poems 2004 ed Les Murray (Black Ink, Melbourne 2003) * Windchimes: Asia in Australian Poetry ed Noel Rowe and Vivian Smith (Pandanus, Canberra 2006) * Best Australian Poems 2007, ed. Peter Rose (Black Inc, Melbourne 2007) * Best Australian Poetry 2007, ed. John Tranter (UQP, St Lucia, 2007) * Che Guevara in Verse ed. Gavin O’Toole and Georgina Jimanez (Aflame Books, Wiltshire, 2007 * Over There – Poems from Singapore and Australia ed. John Kinsella and Alvin Pang * Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry, ed John Kinsella, (Penguin, 2008) * The Perfume River: An Anthology of Writing from Vietnam, ed. Catherine Cole (UWA Publishing 2010) * The Best Australian Poems 2012 ed John Tranter (Black Ink, Melbourne 2012) * The Turnrow Anthology Of Contemporary Australian Poetry, ed. John Kinsella, Jack Heflin and William Ryan (Desperation Press/Tunrow Books, USA 2013) * The Best Australian Poems 2014 ed Geoff Page (Black Ink, Melbourne 2014) * The House is Not Quiet and The World is Not Calm: poetry from Canberra, ed Kit Kelen and Geoff Page (Association of Stories, Macao, 2014) * Contemporary Australian Poetry, ed Martin Langford, Judith Beveridge, Judy Johnson, David Musgrave (Puncher &Wattmann, Sydney, 2016)

Literary publications

Poems, short stories and book reviews have appeared in Australian and overseas magazines, including: The (Melbourne) Age, Agenda (UK), The American Pen (US), Antipodes (US), ANU Reporter, Aspect,

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

Australian Book Review ''Australian Book Review'' is an Australian arts and literary review. Created in 1961, ''ABR'' is an independent non-profit organisation that publishes articles, reviews, commentaries, essays, and new writing. The aims of the magazine are 'to ...

, Block, The Bulletin, Chili Verde Review (US), Canberra Times,

Cimarron Review ''The Cimarron Review'' is a major American literary journal published quarterly by the Oklahoma State University. It was founded in 1967, and its current editor is Lisa Lewis. The magazine has its headquarters in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Contributo ...

(US), Compass, Cordite, Diwan (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Eclectica, Editions, Education, Etchings, Final Taxi Review, fieralingue, foam:e, Fulcrum, Heat, Hobo, Honi Soit, Imago, Iron (UK), Island, JAAM (NZ), Jack (US), Jacket, Journal of Poetics Research,

The Literary Review ''The Literary Review'' is an American literary magazine founded in 1957. The biannual magazine is published internationally by Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey. In addition to the publication of short stories, poems, and ...

(US), The Longneck (US), Madame Bull's Tavern (Canada),

Magic Sam Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

, Masthead, Meanjin, Metre (Ireland), Meuse, Muse, Narcissus,

Nation Review ''Nation Review'' was an Australian Sunday newspaper, which ceased publication in 1981. It was launched in 1972 after independent publisher Gordon Barton bought out Tom Fitzgerald's ''Nation'' publication and merged it with his own ''Sunday Revi ...

Newcastle Herald The ''Newcastle Herald'' (formerly branded as ''The Herald'') is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the greater Hunter Region and ...

, New Poetry, Nguoi HaNoi ‘Hanoi People’ (Vietnam), Nimrod International: journal of poetry and prose (US), Otis Rush, Outrider, Overland, The Pen (UK), Poetry Australia, Poetry Canada, Poetry Kanto (Japan), Poetry Review (UK), poetryX, Poets Choice '76, '77, 78, 79, Polar Bear, Prague Literary Review (Czech), Prism International (Canada), P-76,

The Reader ''The Reader'' (german: Der Vorleser) is a novel by German law professor and judge Bernhard Schlink, published in Germany in 1995 and in the United States in 1997. The story is a parable, dealing with the difficulties post-war German generations ...

, Salt, Melbourne Sunday Herald, Scripsi, Siglo, Slow Dancer (UK), South Dakota Review (US), Southerly, Stand (UK), Surfers Paradise,

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

, Taj Mahal Review (India), Tien Ve, Thylazine, Timber Creek Review (US), Union Recorder, Verse (US), Vietnam Cultural Window (Vietnam), Voices, Your Friendly Fascist. Poems have also been broadcast by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

on the Poet's Tongue, a First Hearing and '' Poetica''. Other broadcasts on 5UV Writers Radio,

2JJ Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

, 2SER-FM,

2CN ABC Radio Canberra (call sign: 2CN) is an ABC Local Radio station based in Canberra and broadcasting to the Australian Capital Territory as well as surrounding areas in New South Wales – this includes the cities and towns of Queanbeyan, Yas ...

, Canberra Artsound.

References

S. K. Kelen (1956– )
Australian Poetry Library, (425 poems).
S.K. Kelen
at AustLit University of Queensland {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelen, S K Australian male poets 1956 births Living people University of Sydney alumni University of South Dakota faculty University of Adelaide alumni Academic staff of the University of Canberra 20th-century Australian poets 21st-century Australian poets