The writing of Ash Hall

Hearthrug

Poetry, plays and prose from Newcastle, New South Wales. Work about the body, memory, and the cycles that carry on past any one life.

Poetry

Poems and collections

Ash Hall's poetry has been published through Studio La Primitive since 2017, with copies held in the National Library of Australia.

The Vitruvian Poems In development

Poetry sequence

A sequence taking its measure from the Vitruvian figure. The work draws on the mirror-makers of Murano, the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, and a residency at St Petroc's Retreat House, Buckfast Abbey.

Studio La Primitive publications

2017–2025 · including collaborations with Martin Edmond

Poetry published across nine years with Studio La Primitive, including collaborative publications with the writer Martin Edmond.

To add: titles, years and a cover image for each published collection, plus two or three selected poems.

Theatre

Plays and performance

Stations Full draft

Full-length play

A full-length play structured on the Stations of the Cross. The lead role is cast with actor Tony Jozef.

Zero Does Not Exist In development

Visual synthesis work · companion to Stations

A standalone visual work built on cycles: the seed inside the fruit, the life cycle that passes through more than one creature, the treasury of souls not yet born. It can be shown on its own or projected as a layer during Stations.

Prose

Longer works

The Collector Manuscript

Literary biography

The life of a Newcastle art collector, told through the diary he kept in 2017.

Patterns of Life and Death: Movements Through Invisible Sound Manuscript

Prose work

Written in three registers, The Known, The Speculative and The Quiet Witness, across five threads.

The Tales of Owl and Bunyip Illustrating

Picture book · first in a series

A dreaming child, as a Southern Boobook owl, travels one night through the Jenolan Caves and the Blue Mountains. Each creature Owl meets teaches it something, and Owl gives something back in kind.

Spiritual Writing

Scripture, myth and the tarot

The Path Back Read online

The Major Arcana in reverse

The twenty-two cards of the tarot walked backwards, from The World to The Fool, alongside the story of Moses: the rose, the white dove, Excalibur, the Templars and blood drawn from stone.

The Orange Bible Read online

A fan scripture in eight parts · inspired by Frank Herbert's Dune

The book Dune mentions but never writes. It moves from refusal, through ecology and paradox, to the body, and its Hidden Books set embodied consciousness into prayer, litany and canticle.

Two Genesis Read online

Ash Hall with Claude · two readings

The opening of Genesis read twice: as a scribe's rebuttal to the gods of the surrounding empires, and as a signal sent back from the future, built to show how easily a text bends to fit a theory.

Bible Decoder App

A reading tool

Look up any verse and read it across several translations, beside the original Hebrew or Greek with Strong's numbers, with notes linking passages to The Path Back.

Translations

Poems in other languages

A home for translated editions of Ash Hall's poems.

To add: which poems and languages to show, and whether the poetry translator tool should be public here.

Readings & News

Readings and appearances

Emily Dickinson Poetry Marathon

Emily Dickinson Museum · Tell It Slant festival

Ash reads each year as a volunteer in the museum's multi-day marathon reading of Dickinson's poems.

The Beach

Exhibition · Tap Gallery, Surry Hills · Head On Photo Festival, May 2017

Most recent solo exhibition of painting and photography.

About

Ash Hall

Ash Hall (Ashlar Hall) is a poet, playwright, visual artist and actor based in Merewether, Newcastle. Born in London, she grew up between England, Australia and Canada before settling in New South Wales. Her writing moves between poetry, theatre and long-form prose, and often returns to the body, memory, and the patterns that continue beyond a single life.

Study
BA Fine Art and MA Creative Industries, University of Newcastle
Award
Margaret Olley Memorial Scholarship, 2019
Publisher
Studio La Primitive, since 2017
Stage
Actor, including 12 Angry Jurors at REX Theatre, Newcastle

Contact

Publishers, programmers and readers

For publishing, readings, performance or permissions, write to:

artistmaggiehall@gmail.com