The Interview - Words on Art and Life

Clark gave an hour-long interview discussing his creative career, on Tuesday the 12th of May 2026, at Green Square Library, Sydney.

This interview is one of a series put on by the City of Sydney Library. Danny Gardner was the interviewer.

Expertly recorded on his phone by David Franklin.

Includes three live songs, and a couple of poems.

Here’s the blurb:

One of Australia’s most distinctive creative voices shares insights into his unusual and wide-ranging career.

Clark Gormley is a folk-pop musician (one half of duo, Nerds & Music) and writer whose work blends wit, storytelling and musical invention. He is the creator of Sydney the Folk Musical, a bold production featuring 17 original songs, a live folk band and a Greek chorus, and is currently developing his next project, The Throne, co-written with James Carter. The work is a sequel to a Newcastle cult live radio-style play about a sterling silver toilet that famously found its way to the Newcastle steelworks site to serve Her Majesty during the 1954 royal visit.

Clark has written and performed multiple one-man shows including Up the Nerdsville Track, Dial N for Nerder, and Clark’s Nerdy Science Show, appearing at festivals across Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide Fringe, Tamworth Country Music Festival, as well as theatres, bowls clubs and sheds across the country. With Rob Edmonds he created and performed Failure to Launch, a stage show using way too many props, where they perform original poems wearing Mr Squiggle outfits.

A natural poet, Clark has been involved with Poetry at the Pub in Newcastle for 30 years, including 11 as president, written a couple of books of poetry, most recently Not What You Think (Flying Island Books), a collection of poems that uses wit and wordplay to explore the hidden stories of everyday life. From watching birds to venetian blinds and nonsense rhymes, Gormley’s poetry adds lustre to things we know so well that we often stop thinking about them.

Beyond the stage and page, Clark reached the finals of SBS’s Australia’s Mastermind in 2024 and, in a surprising parallel career, is also a qualified chemical engineer.

Host: Danny Gardner is a prolific poet, seasoned presenter and passionate advocate for poetry and storytelling. With decades of experience championing Sydney’s creative voices, Danny brings warmth, insight and curiosity to each conversation.