WRITER | POET | SCHOLAR
ABOUT NICK
Nick van Buuren is an Australian writer, poet, scholar, and editor living and working in Meanjin-Brisbane on the lands of the Turrbal and Jagera people.
His work across forms has been locally, nationally, and internationally published.
A graduate from the University of Queensland, he writes from his hazy recollection of the noughties on interests in Celebrity, lyricism and contemporary culture while also practicing as a lawyer.
Nick has also given lectures and conference papers on contemporary literature and media; facilitated creative writing workshops; hosted and MC’d magazine launches, poetry readings and open mic nights; and appeared on several panels discussing the importance of and his experiences in independent publishing, the humanities and arts.
He his happy to do (and hopeful of doing) all of the above again, for you.
You can keep up to date with his latest news here!
You can get a copy of his CV by clicking this one.
You can get in touch using the details below.
POETRY & FICTION
Nick’s poetry has been published in various journals, publications and zines such as Australian Poetry Journal, Going Down Swinging, Voiceworks, sugarcane, Jacaranda, concrescence, and Pastel. He has performed with the Queensland Poetry Festival since 2017 and hosted various open mic nights and readings in association with his co-founded literary zine, The Tundish Review.
His most recent project is a series of poems written in response to the varied filmography of British actor Hugh Grant which is soon to be expanded to include more Hollywood personas of the “Grant” persuasion.
Nick also writes short fiction of the sincere and absurd variety while honing his craft (and research!) for a debut novel, injudiciously in a similar vein.
RESEARCH & CRITICISM
In 2019, Nick completed a First Class Honours Thesis in English Literature at the University of Queensland. His research on the novels of British author Zadie Smith explored the spectral presence of celebrities in those works and the implications that flow to make uniquely contemporary “renewalist” texts.
He continues to research contemporary cultures of repetition and haunting, with particularly interest in the work of Mark Fisher, Jacques Derrida, and Josh Toth. Most recently, he co-presented a paper on hauntology in the Star Wars franchise at the Realizing Resistance Virtual Conference.
Some of Nick’s research has also appeared online alongside his criticism, which explores questions of reading and taking meaning from literature in a COVID world.
EDITING & FACILITATION
Nick has served as the masthead for several independent and emerging literary and academic publications. In 2017 he co-founded The Tundish Review with fellow poet Katelyn Goyen which published emerging and established local and national poets.
In 2018 he took on the role of Editor-in-Chief of Jacaranda, the University of Queensland Humanities Undergraduate Student Society annual publication and built it into a quarterly publication of short stories, poetry, creative non-ficition and academic criticism.
Through his masthead roles Nick has facilitated creative writing and editing workshops and performances in collaboration with several Arts organisations, Universities, and other artists.
RECENT WORK
2021
Poetry:
“Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)” in Going Down Swinging
“Maurice (1987)” in Australian Poetry Journal 11.1
Research:
“Orders of Resistance: Galactic Hauntology and the Force of Recognition in Star Wars.” Paper presentation with Owen Morawitz for Realizing Resistance Episode II: Uncharted Galaxies - Virtual Conference 2021, University of North Texas.
2020
Criticism:
“Childish Epistemologies: Shrek and the Postmodern” in The Pitch of Discontent.
“Love in the Time of Corona: Part V -Reading Emily Dickinson’s Poetry” in The Pitch of Discontent.
“Love in the Time of Corona: Part IV - Reading Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse (1927)” in The Pitch of Discontent.
“Love in the Time of Corona: Part III - Reading Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719)” in The Pitch of Discontent.
“Love in the Time of Corona: Part II - Reading Zadie Smith’s White Teeth (2000)” in The Pitch of Discontent.
“Love in the Time of Corona: Part I - Reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera (1985)” in The Pitch of Discontent.
2019
Poetry:
“14 Litres of Olive Brine and Tears” in Concrescence.
Research:
“Celebrity’s Spectral Self: a Spectroanalysis of Contemporary Character and Celebrity in Zadie Smith’s The Autograph Man and Swing Time” a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honours in English Literature at the University of Queensland.
Editorial:
The Very Last Ever Final Tundish Review - Issue 11
The Tundish Review - Issues 9 & 10
Evolve: How Exceptional Leaders Leverage the Inner Voice of Human Evolution by Graeme Findlay, Routledge, London.
2018 & Before
Poetry:
“Qu(I)ntesent(I)al Austral(I)an F(I)lm” in Voiceworks No.113
“Two Flights” Second Place Winner in Bareknuckle Poet Annual Amateur Poetry Prize 2016
“Autumn Lillies” in sugarcane Vol.1.1
“c.Australis” in sugarcane Vol.2.1
“Beginnings of a Museum Fascination” in Jacaranda Vol.4
“For Cashel Man” in Jacaranda Vol 3.
“Night-school” in Pastel - Issue 1
Editorial:
The Tundish Review - Issues 1 to 8
Jacaranda, Annual Journal of the University of Queensland Humanities Undergraduate Student Society Vol.5
Jacaranda’s Best Series: Short Stories, Non-Fiction and Poems. Chapbooks 5.1 to 5.3.
