Paul Kelly Pays Homage To Great Writers At 2013 Brisbane Festival

He is one of the finest writers to have ever come from this country and now Paul Kelly is looking to pay tribute to those who have influenced him as he announces Conversations With Ghosts, a special show that he has written in collaboration with West Australian composer James Ledger.

The show will see Kelly teamed up with Ledger on electronics, Genevieve Lacey on recorders and a ten-piece Australian National Academy of Music ensemble featuring two violins, viola, cello, double bass, clarinet/saxophone, two horns, keyboards and harp.

The 12 songs that will be performed on the night are inspired by the following poems: The Lake Isle of Innisfree and Sailing to Byzantium by W.B. Yeats, Once in a Lifetime, Snow by Les Murray, Five Bells by Kenneth Slessor, Basking Shark by Norman MacCaig, Woman to Man by Judith Wright, One Need not be a Chamber to be Haunted by Emily Dickinson and Ring Out, Wild Bells by Lord Alfred Tennyson, as well as a few of Kelly's own works.

The show will happening at Melbourne Recital Centre on Wednesday 4 September and the Perth Concert Hall on Sunday 8 September, but will be a big part of the opening celebrations of the annual Brisbane Festival on Saturday 7 September.

The remainder of the line-up for the 2013 Brisbane cultural event will be announced on Wednesday 12 June.