Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Month: March 2019

On West 46 and Broadway

On West 46 and Broadway

there's newly matyred Christians

selling salvation

whilst kitty-cornered across the road

the devil sells damnation

for only the price of your soul

And it's kinda weird

how there's always a crowd

around Beelzebub's limo

whilst people avoid the gazes

of God's honest foot soldiers

Flashback to my first book of poetry, Defenestration, published in 1997. Now back in print.

~~~

Luckily for me as part of the ‘Getting Published' course I did in the 1990s, I had the chance to show my work to the teacher, Stephen Matthews of Ginninderra Press. He kindly offered to assess it and let us know if we had a chance of being published by a major publishing house. Sadly for all aspiring authors, publishers get far too many unsolicited manuscripts (the slush pile) to be able to offer any feedback. I grabbed the chance with both hands.

When Stephen handed back my poetry and asked if there were any more, enough to make a collection I was gobsmacked. Not only did he think my poems were good enough to publish, he was going to publish them!!! My name. On the cover. Of a real book!

March 27, 2019
2019 Poetry Challenge – Week Twelve

Week 12 words from @handelsit: friend, bank, hand, man, end.

I've spent my joy

in careless Autumn afternoons

now she is no friend of mine

and I must bank

on happiness instead

~

I hand over my heart

wrapped carefully

in lines of cramped

and almost illegible prose

the stony edifice of the man

behind the counter

rasps against my skin

and my pages curl inwards

to hide the end

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the twelfth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

This one was really tricky. Both the words and finding the motivation to write it. I've cheated a little as it's in two parts. I just couldn't seem to get the first two words to fit neatly in the poem so I made a separate little introduction piece.

On the weekend, however, I did an amazing poetry workshop run by Melbourne Spoken Word, The artist was Joel McKerrow and he shared his creative process and performance technique. He said the only way to write good poetry is to write lots of bad poetry and then stitch the hidden pearls together into a beautiful necklace, Well maybe not the last bit but he writes a poem a day and apparently a lot of them are crap but sometimes, there's something good. It was an amazing experience learning from Joel and I'm feeling much more motivated to write poetry!

If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge, head on over to my Instagram account (@indraniperera) where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Write a poem and post it. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #2019poetrychallenge and #livepoetsclub.

If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).

Happy writing!

March 27, 2019
On West 46 and Broadway

On West 46 and Broadway

there's newly matyred Christians

selling salvation

whilst kitty-cornered across the road

the devil sells damnation

for only the price of your soul

And it's kinda weird

how there's always a crowd

around Beelzebub's limo

whilst people avoid the gazes

of God's honest foot soldiers

Flashback to my first book of poetry, Defenestration, published in 1997. Now back in print.

~~~

Luckily for me as part of the ‘Getting Published' course I did in the 1990s, I had the chance to show my work to the teacher, Stephen Matthews of Ginninderra Press. He kindly offered to assess it and let us know if we had a chance of being published by a major publishing house. Sadly for all aspiring authors, publishers get far too many unsolicited manuscripts (the slush pile) to be able to offer any feedback. I grabbed the chance with both hands.

When Stephen handed back my poetry and asked if there were any more, enough to make a collection I was gobsmacked. Not only did he think my poems were good enough to publish, he was going to publish them!!! My name. On the cover. Of a real book!

March 27, 2019
2019 Poetry Challenge – Week Twelve

Week 12 words from @handelsit: friend, bank, hand, man, end.

I've spent my joy

in careless Autumn afternoons

now she is no friend of mine

and I must bank

on happiness instead

~

I hand over my heart

wrapped carefully

in lines of cramped

and almost illegible prose

the stony edifice of the man

behind the counter

rasps against my skin

and my pages curl inwards

to hide the end

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the twelfth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

This one was really tricky. Both the words and finding the motivation to write it. I've cheated a little as it's in two parts. I just couldn't seem to get the first two words to fit neatly in the poem so I made a separate little introduction piece.

On the weekend, however, I did an amazing poetry workshop run by Melbourne Spoken Word, The artist was Joel McKerrow and he shared his creative process and performance technique. He said the only way to write good poetry is to write lots of bad poetry and then stitch the hidden pearls together into a beautiful necklace, Well maybe not the last bit but he writes a poem a day and apparently a lot of them are crap but sometimes, there's something good. It was an amazing experience learning from Joel and I'm feeling much more motivated to write poetry!

If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge, head on over to my Instagram account (@indraniperera) where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Write a poem and post it. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #2019poetrychallenge and #livepoetsclub.

If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).

Happy writing!

March 27, 2019
~ Author Photo Credit: Brendan Bonsack ~

Indrani Perera is a Sri Lankan/German/Australian poet, creator of The Poets’ Express e-mail newsletter, founder of The Pocketry Almanack print journal, host of the poetry podcast Pocketry Presents and maker of useful things.

Indrani describes her poetry as narrative plainsong – poems that tell a story in plain language. She shares stories about being a writer and a mother and she has recently started to untangle the knots of her mixed race heritage.

Indrani is obsessed with reading, researching, writing, editing, designing, printing, making, binding and collecting books. Secretly she has always wanted to be a famous actress and loves getting up on stage to perform her poetry at open mic nights.

Forthcoming Workshop!

Latest Book!

Indrani invites you to come take her hand; to dance, spin and twirl with her words.

‘It is an intimate invitation to savour the music of our bodies in language and to be immersed in the dance of words.’

~ Emilie Collyer, poet and playwright

Online Shop

Buy bespoke zines, chapbooks and bookmarks featuring Indrani Perera’s poetry and original photography.

Poetry

Burn

the blood, the blood

runs deep

they say

Read More

Performance

‘Absolutely gorgeous. I love your words, and your voice

– there’s nothing like hearing you read your work yourself… Encore!’

Sue Totterdell, singer and musician

The Circus of Similes

An online poetry portal from Indrani Perera where you can download print ephemera to inspire your creative process and create new poetry.

It’s a mashup of word games, children’s toys, paper craft, book binding and poetry.

Visit!

March 26, 2019
~ Author Photo Credit: Brendan Bonsack ~

Indrani Perera is a Sri Lankan/German/Australian poet, creator of The Poets’ Express e-mail newsletter, founder of The Pocketry Almanack print journal, host of the poetry podcast Pocketry Presents and maker of useful things.

Indrani describes her poetry as narrative plainsong – poems that tell a story in plain language. She shares stories about being a writer and a mother and she has recently started to untangle the knots of her mixed race heritage.

Indrani is obsessed with reading, researching, writing, editing, designing, printing, making, binding and collecting books. Secretly she has always wanted to be a famous actress and loves getting up on stage to perform her poetry at open mic nights.

Forthcoming Workshop!

Latest Book!

Indrani invites you to come take her hand; to dance, spin and twirl with her words.

‘It is an intimate invitation to savour the music of our bodies in language and to be immersed in the dance of words.’

~ Emilie Collyer, poet and playwright

Online Shop

Buy bespoke zines, chapbooks and bookmarks featuring Indrani Perera’s poetry and original photography.

Poetry

Burn

the blood, the blood

runs deep

they say

Read More

Performance

‘Absolutely gorgeous. I love your words, and your voice

– there’s nothing like hearing you read your work yourself… Encore!’

Sue Totterdell, singer and musician

The Circus of Similes

An online poetry portal from Indrani Perera where you can download print ephemera to inspire your creative process and create new poetry.

It’s a mashup of word games, children’s toys, paper craft, book binding and poetry.

Visit!

March 26, 2019
Love and Desire

On my recent trip to Canberra I managed to squeeze in a visit to the National Gallery of Australia to check out the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition, Love & Desire. I took my mum and my two girls to see these magnificent paintings from the 1800s.

When I was in my 20s I was a huge fan of John William Waterhouse. He's the painter most people associate with this period in art even though he wasn't one of the original seven members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. There's even a print of his very famous painting, The Lady of Shallott, at my folks from when I lived there.

It was wonderful to see the paintings in real life. Get up close and see the brushstrokes. Marvel in the incredible detail.

We did the guided tour and it was fascinating to hear stories about the artists as well as those of the people in the paintings. It's the first time I've done a guided tour in a gallery and I'll definitely be doing more. Sue, our guide, was knowledgeable and full of trivia. She was also very respectful and mindful of my daughters (aged 8 and 12) and pitched her talk to accomodate them.

Unlike a lot of artists, the pre-Raphaelites actually made money in their life times. They were canny sales people and sold reproductions of their works. They were able to capitalise on technology and deliver art to the masses, foreshadowing the future.

March 25, 2019
Love and Desire

On my recent trip to Canberra I managed to squeeze in a visit to the National Gallery of Australia to check out the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition, Love & Desire. I took my mum and my two girls to see these magnificent paintings from the 1800s.

When I was in my 20s I was a huge fan of John William Waterhouse. He's the painter most people associate with this period in art even though he wasn't one of the original seven members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. There's even a print of his very famous painting, The Lady of Shallott, at my folks from when I lived there.

It was wonderful to see the paintings in real life. Get up close and see the brushstrokes. Marvel in the incredible detail.

We did the guided tour and it was fascinating to hear stories about the artists as well as those of the people in the paintings. It's the first time I've done a guided tour in a gallery and I'll definitely be doing more. Sue, our guide, was knowledgeable and full of trivia. She was also very respectful and mindful of my daughters (aged 8 and 12) and pitched her talk to accomodate them.

Unlike a lot of artists, the pre-Raphaelites actually made money in their life times. They were canny sales people and sold reproductions of their works. They were able to capitalise on technology and deliver art to the masses, foreshadowing the future.

March 25, 2019
2019 Poetry Challenge – Week Eleven

Week 11 words from @petedblackmore: swim, stretch, walk, hot, cold.

salmon swim upstream

leaping over boulders

and climbing waterfalls

I stretch the truth

walk around the facts

hot with shame

cold with grief

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the eleventh week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

I'm still grappling with the Poetry Challenge and my feelings of inadequacy. Self doubt crept in last week in a big way and looks fit to stay for a while longer. At the start of the year I was fired with enthusiasm and full of ideas. Now? I convince myself to put off writing for as long as possible then I drag myself to the words. Torture. Self inflicted of course.

If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge Torture, head on over to my Instagram account where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #2019poetrychallenge and #livepoetsclub.

If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).

Happy writing!

March 23, 2019
2019 Poetry Challenge – Week Eleven

Week 11 words from @petedblackmore: swim, stretch, walk, hot, cold.

salmon swim upstream

leaping over boulders

and climbing waterfalls

I stretch the truth

walk around the facts

hot with shame

cold with grief

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the eleventh week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

I'm still grappling with the Poetry Challenge and my feelings of inadequacy. Self doubt crept in last week in a big way and looks fit to stay for a while longer. At the start of the year I was fired with enthusiasm and full of ideas. Now? I convince myself to put off writing for as long as possible then I drag myself to the words. Torture. Self inflicted of course.

If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge Torture, head on over to my Instagram account where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #2019poetrychallenge and #livepoetsclub.

If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).

Happy writing!

March 23, 2019