Ringwood poet aged 93 chosen to read his work at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra

A RINGWOOD poet has honoured the Anzacs with a reading at the Australian War Memorial.

Ted Holmes shared the stage at the Australian War Memorial with fellow poet Rupert McCall who has been commissioned to create an Anzac tribute poem. Picture: Chris McCormack.

WHILE the works of Ted Holmes come from a place of grief, the Ringwood poet would say they also go hand in hand with joy.

The 93-year-old, who has published four books containing 1500 poems, was inv­ited to read his work at a special poetry reading at the Australian War Memorial.

The February 26 event, the first of its kind at the memorial, was called “Of Words and War: Poetry at the Memorial”and featured 21 poets reciting their pieces at different locations around the building and grounds.

The poems were reflections of the experiences of Australians at war and the event was headlined by ren­owned poet Rupert McCall, who has been commissioned to create an Anzac tribute poem, titled A Hundred Years from Now.

Holmes said reading his poetry was a very memorable experience.

Ted Holmes shared the stage at the Australian War Memorial with fellow poet Rupert McCall who has been commissioned to create an Anzac tribute poem. Picture: Chris McCormack.

He said his poetry was born of spiritual suffering and grief after the death of a daughter in 1997 and soon after the loss of his wife.

“I started to write and I wrote non-stop for a fortnight,’’ Holmes said.

Holmes’s first book, Grief and Joy, was published in 1999.

He was selected to read four pieces: Feeding the Troops on Victory (1999), Anzac Cove (2002), One Body on the Beach (1999), and Letters to the Living and the Dead: Uncle Bruce DoD 13.8.16 (2003).

“It (the war memorial) is a very special and ­sacred place and there were 80-100 ordinary Australians listening to us,” Mr Holmes said.

“I felt humble and very proud and enjoyed it very much.”

In the lead-up to the 100th anniversary of the Anzac landing at Gallipoli, Holmes said he had held discussions with schools and RSLs about reading some of his work.