Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Category: Spoken Word

  • The Last Dance

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    Last night I attended the last ever Radio Laria poetry evening at Open Studios in Northcote. Open Studios is a fabulous little venue that has been hosting and supporting independent and emerging musicians and artists for the last fifteen years. Sadly they are going to close at the end of the year due to a lack of funding.

     

    We had all the feels with a packed open mic and as usual, great features curated by our hosts, Laura, Emma and Anke.

    Thanks for all the good times, Open Studio! You'll be missed.

     

     

  • Perc.U.Lations

    Perc.u.lations

    Anke Mclean is the fabulous host of a little known poetry open mic held in Dandenong and she recently asked me to come along and be featured poet. I was delighted to accept and spend some time back in the old neighbourhood. I spent my primary school years living in Noble Park North with my parents. Every Friday night Mum would do the weekly grocery shop at safeway in Dandenong while I read a book in Myer. Afterwards we would have dinner at the Light of Asia Indian restaurant which was the closet thing we could get to Sri Lankan cuisine back in the early eighties. I always had gulab jamun for dessert.

     

    Kafé on Hemmings in a delightful cafe and their folded eggs on gluten free toast was divine as was their strawberry matcha latte. I wasn't expecting there to be soma ny tasty things on the menu that I could eat!

     

    But what about the poetry I hear you ask? Well there was poetry. Lots of poetry. The afternoon begins with an hour long writing workshop for anyone wanting to learn more about writing poetry. Then there's an amazing open mic of poets from all over including the Mornington Peninsula and Gippsland. And Anke who is an mc extraordinaire. And the guy whose name I've forgotten but he always ends the afternoon with his guitar and three songs. 

    I got to do two, fifteen minute sets of poetry. I read from my second collection, pas de deux, which is about connections to place, family, motherhood and nature. I also performed some of my more recent work which has started to look at the legacy of my mixed race heritage. These newer poems have also started to play with form and are long and more detailed than my earlier work. I really enjoyed performing at Kafé on Hemming, its a lovely venue and the staff are terrific!

     

  • Perth Poetry Festival Finale

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    The Perth Poetry Festival Finale was emceed by the fabulous Scott-Patrick Mitchell at the Switch Theatre on Wellington Street in Perth. I think this intimate venue was my favourite performance space for the festival. It was easy to make eye contact with all the members of the audience and tp see their reactions to my poems.

    I was the second performer for the evening and after thanking my lovely husband who was at home all week keeping the home fires burning and looking after our beautiful girls, Gary from WA Poets, who was manning the camera for the Zoom, wished me a happy birthday. At that point the whole audience burst into song! It was a brilliant way to start a performance.

    After the performance, Laksh, Gillain and Ro took me out to dinner at the Moon Cafe in Northbridge where we indulged in mocktails and a vegan ice cream for me for dessert. It was the perfect end to a wonderful birthday and a brilliant festival!

    Thanks Perth and all the lovely people Meet for making my trip memorable in all the right ways!

     

  • Perth Poetry Club

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    When I was exploring Northbridge on my very first day in Perth, I wandered past this funky little diner style cafe with its retro 50s booth seats and promised myself I would come back. I mean with a name like The Moon, how could I resist? At the time I hadn't twigged that this was the venue for Saturday afternoon's Perth Poerty Club at which I would be performing.

    The Perth Poetry Club is hosted by Elio to a packed room at the back of the building. It's on every Saturday afternoon and always has a zoom component so anyone can join. There were so many people that eighteen of them didn't get a chance to perform on the open mic! Poetry is alive and well inn Perth I tell you!

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    For this set I read out a poem from each issue of the Pocketry Almanack that I have published – so far there have been seven issues. If you're an emerging poet who hasn't been published in a journal, had on over to Pocketry. Submissions for issue eight will be opening soon.

    Those beautiful Almanack poems from unheard voices deserve to be taken out from time to time and shared with the rest of the world and I am more than happy to introduce them to new audiences so they can meet people and make new friends. 

     

  • Perth Poetry Festival Gala

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    IP - Perth Poetry Festival Gala 2

      ~ Scott Patrick Mitchell ~

     

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    ~ Lisa Collyer  ~

     

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    ~ Arianne True ~

     

    Last night saw me treading the boards at Planet Royale in Northbridge for the Perth Poetry Festival's opening gala. I shared the stage with an incredible lineup of Local, National and International Guest Poets. Scott-Patrick Mitchell was the host and Glen, the festival's patron gave a witty and thought proving key note address.

    My beautiful family even got to zoom in and join the proceedings. My parents from Ngunnawal Country in the ACT and my husband and daughters from Naarm on Wurrundjeri Country. It's the first feature I've done without them being there and I got a little bit emotional at the start just talking about it.

    In all the rehearsing and preparation for this evening I forgot how much fun it is to get up on stage and perform in front of a live audience, That connection between poet and listener is electric, it's almost alive.

    I met some amazing new people and bought a whole stack of new poetry books, most of which I got signed. All in all, a brilliant night!

     

  • Perth Poetry Festival 2023

    Author Photo - Indrani Perera

    I am honoured to announce that I will be a National Guest Poet at this year's Perth Poetry Festival alongside Juan Garrido-Slagado from South Australia and Jean Kent from New South Wales. We'll be joining International Guest Poet Srijato Bandyopadhyay from India as well as Local Guest Poets Lisa Collyer, Caitlin Maling, Talya Ruben and Luoyang Chen. The festival will take place from 9-17 September 2023 on Whadjuk Noongar land in and around the glorious Western Australian city of Boorlo / Perth.

    I've been enviously observing the vibrant Perth Poetry scene from afar for quite some time and I am looking forward to discovering new poets, hearing amazing poetry and being part of it all, even if it's only for a short time. There are so many great poets coming out of Western Australia including Shastra Deo, Madison Godfrey, Scott Patrick Mitchell (who I got to interview in season one of Pocketry Presents), Rashida Murphy, Nadia Rhook and Elfie Shiosaki. And so many workshops I wish I could do, especially those being held at the Wetlands Centre (where Lakshmi R Kanchi is the poet in residence) and at the Centre for Stories.

    It's going to be my second visit to the city. The first was with my parents when I was in primary school and I can barely remember anything from that trip. I'm looking forward to rediscovering this west coast city.

    WA Poets Inc put on a great festival and there will be performances, open mics, workshops and more!

    If this sounds like your cup of tea, you can find the workshops here. There's an early bird discount if you book before 1 July 2023.

     

  • Back on the Stage

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    With all the lockdowns during the pandemic I got out of the spoken word habit. I've attended a gig here or there. In March I was lucky enough to catch Andy Jackson, winner of the Prime Minister's Award for Poetry reading from his most recent collection, Human Looking. I also heard my beautiful youngest daughter reading for her first feature set at Radio Laria in Northcote. That all changed last night when I tamed the butterflies and got back up on the stage.

    The hosts of Littlefoot & Co, Eden and Josh, are beautiful human beings who create a safe and welcoming space for poets of all abilities. Their warmth is what makes this event special. The venue itself at Bunjil Place in Narre Warren is an intimate studio theatre with brilliant acoustics. The sound and lighting tech are all taken care of by Bunjil Place staff making this one of the most schmick spoken word events in Melbourne. Forget about noisy pubs or hole in the wall dens, this is next level professional. And there was free soup and sourdough bread! Seriously good people.

    I performed two pieces. One was published in The Victorian Writer and the other was a newer piece I wrote after coming back home from Sri Lanka at the end of last year. Being back on the stage again was brilliant. I love performing in spite of the nerves! And hearing other poets read their poetry is always inspiring and affirming. But the best bit of the night was after all the performances were over and I got to meet and speak to the other performers. So good!!! A huge shout out to Littlefoot & Co, all the poets and the audience for making it such a great night.

     

  • Poets Speak

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    It was awesome to be in the city last night, in a funky little laneway bar listening to poets reading their poems from issue 2 of Mantissa Poetry Review. I have raved about this journal before – it's my favourite print journal because of it's amazing design and layout as well as the exciting content editor Erin Lyon curates within its pages.

    On top of all that, Erin does a great launch with poets from the issue reading their poems plus an extended set by Sam Morley, author of Ear Shot which I just had to buy after hearing his poetry. We also heard poems from Ruby Davis, Jocelyn Deane, Guido Melo and FM Papaz.

    It was great to rub shoulders with other poets and I finally got to meet the emerging Greek-Australian poet, FM Papaz who was in town from Brooklyn, USA which she now calls home. I first 'met' Papaz on Instagram and published her poem, Empty-handed, Open-hearted, in Issue 6 of the Pocketry Almanack. She is a beautiful human being and a poet to watch!

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  • In Bed With Amy

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    IP - In Bed with Amy 2Photo credit: Helena Plazza

    IP - In Bed with Amy 3Photo credit: Rowan White

    Last night saw me at Hares and Hyenas in Fitzroy, getting ready for In Bed with Amy and Friends as a part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Amy Bodossian is an incredibly talented and creative soul who can sing, write phenomenal poetry and captivate audiences with her charm and wit. Oh and she’s funny too!

    The middle photo is of the fabulous bed from which Amy interviewed her incredible guests Farhad Bandesh and Andy Grace last night. The conversations were heart felt and moving. Listening to them speak made me want to go home and hug my kids with so much gratitude for the life I am privileged to live.

    Looking at the third photo, it's hard to believe I was the kid who got kicked out of two school choirs and told to mime the words for the grade six musical while I stood on stage and everybody around me sang.

    Fast forward to now. After six years of singing lessons that’s me on stage in the Lighthouse choir as a backup singer to the amazing Amy Bodossian. A huge shout out to my wonderful singing teacher Katrina Pezzimenti of Accent Voice Studio. Thank you for teaching me to sing!

    It was an honour and a joy to sing with all of these beautiful women. Big thanks to Helena Plazza for teaching us the harmonies and being a brilliant choir leader. And thanks to singing buddies Di Cousens, Anna and Carmen. I can’t wait till we sing together again on the 21st!

    If you missed out on last night, there’s one more performance on Friday 21st October. Get your tickets here.

     

  • Twenty Four Hours of Poetry

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    Hours of Poetry 2

    I have just spent the most amazing day immersed in the world of words. It began with Claire G Coleman's workshop, Embracing Your Poetic Licence, at the Wheeler Centre for Books. The workshop was part of the Melbourne Writers Festival and it was wonderful to be attending an event at my first ever writers' festival. It sorta felt like a coming of age moment as an author! The festival program was incredible and there were so many great workshops that I wanted to do but I decided to be content with one.

    Claire is the author of several books including Terra Nullis and I've wanted to attend one of her workshops for a long time. She gave us some great exercises and stressed the importance of reading poetry for all authors but especially authors of prose to learn the techniques of lyrical writing. 

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    After the workshop some fellow festival goers were heading out for drinks so I tagged along as we headed downstairs to the Moat. It was so, so, so cool to be chatting to other writers in a spontaneous gathering after an event. This never happens to me – usually all my commitments as a mother prevent this from happening! Thanks Tash for the idea. And the funny thing was, three of us were having milestone birthdays in the following week – 40, 45 and 50. What an odd coincidence!

    I spent the rest of the evening out in Fairfield at my first Mothertongue spoken word event. I'd seen one of the co-hosts, Fleassy Malay at a festival at CERES a few years back and since then Mothertongue had been on my list gigs to attend. It was wonderful to be back in the spoken word space, hearing the stories and words of women and gender diverse poets speaking their truth. It was an intimate gig and the cakes and chai from the caterers were delicious. I could even eat them which is no mean feat given all my intolerances!

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    After the gig I got a lift into the city from a lovely poetry friend and spent the night in a hotel!! It was a real treat to be able to stay out as late as I wanted and not worry about having to catch public transport home to the hills. It was wonderful to stay in such a lovely room with city all lit up outside my window.

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    The next day I hopped on a tram to Carlton for Emilie Collyer's workshop, Where We Meet the World. The workshop was put on by Melbourne Poet's Union and they even provided snacks! Fresh fruit, biscuits and tea and coffee for the break. It's the first writing workshop I've been to where I've been fed!

    Emilie is brilliant. I could happily do her workshop every single week it was that good. If you ever get the chance to do one her workshops, sell the car, abandon the cat. Do whatever it takes, but be there. I promise you, you won't regret it. Not for one moment.

    I feel so blessed to have been able to spend a while day devoted to my passions. A day of learning, writing, reading, speaking and hearing poetry. What more can a woman ask for?