I’m going to be on the radio!
If you're in Melbourne, tune into Spoken Word on community radio 3CR (that's 855 on the AM dial) tomorrow, Thursday 16th September, at 9am to hear me being interviewed by the wonderful Melbourne musician, photographer and poet, Brendan Bonsack.
If you can't tune in live or live out of Melbourne, you'll be able to listen to a recoding after the interview.
I can’t wait to chat about all things poetry!
Last night was incredible. Listening to all the amazing poets on the open mic as well as sharing the stage with my fellow feature Helen Bradwell at Open Studio in Northcote. Open Studio is a warm, cosy and friendly venue that has hot drinks, crepes and snacks as well as alcohol. Laura is a fabulous compere and Anna Forsyth of Girls On Key does and amazing job behind the scenes to create the events. I'm still buzzing!
I was super nervous as it's been over two years (almost to the day) since my first and only other feature for Melbourne Spoken Word's Fresh Voices. As I stood behind the microphone last night reciting My Words from my latest collection, pas de deux, I could hear my heart thundering and pounding away.
After a while it receded and I settled into the groove — reading from my book, sharing poems published elsewhere as well as reading poems by wonderful poets who I have published in the Pocketry Almanack. Before I knew it I was approaching the end of my set and feeling like it was all over too soon. My 11 year old daughter was right when she said you've spent all this time preparing, practicing and rehearsing and it will be over in a flash.
I can't wait to do it all, again!
I spent yesterady afternoon at the Motley Bauhaus in Fitzroy listening to a fabulous range of poets strutting their stuff at the P-Word Sessions. The P-Word Sessions are a monthly event hosted by Amanada Anastasi and Anthony WP O'Sullivan.
It's a brilliant event. First up is the open mic with a plethora of poets performing profound and poignant pieces (how's that for a bit of alliteration?). Then a break to mingle and bump elbows. After that comes the two featured poets who take us on a deep dive into their creative worlds. Amanda and Anthony always curate a great line up and yesterday was no exception. Alice Allan held us all spellbound with her sonnets and great delivery. And Kevin Brophy took us to the remote Aboriginal community of Mulan, Western Australia and then to Rome with his collections of poetry.
If you live on Melbourne and haven't already been to the P-Word Sessions, make sure you check them out. Thye're on the first Sunday of every month.
I was back at Bunjil Place last night for Littlefoot and Co's monthly spoken word event and it was packed. The feature was Joel Evans, the man behind the scenes who makes events in the City of Casey happen and everyone was there to say farewell as it was his last spoken word gig before he moves west to Fremantle.
When I saw all the people I started to feel a little bit nervous. When they said not everyone on the open mic sign-up sheet would get a turn I feel a lot more nervous. When I heard all the awesome performances I was even more nervous. This was in stark contrast to last month when I felt super chilled and happy. I'm not sure what was different but there were a few things that inspired me.
I was struck by the authenticity and emotional honesty of the performances. This was raw poetry coming straight from the heart. And it was relatable – not wrapped up in euphemism or hyperbole. There was one poet who blew me away with her performance – she had all the moves and I want to learn how to do that. How to move the words through my body and around the stage. And then wrap it all up in a clever metaphor or simile. But not rhyme. I tried rhyme recently during my Online Poetry class with Pip Smith and it ended up coming out cheesy and nursery rhyme-ish.
So that's what I'm aiming for folks: poetry that's relatable with emotional authenticity, wrapped up in metaphor and performed with my whole body and using the stage as my canvas. Easy huh?
Stoked to be part of this great podcast from Words Out Loud in Ballarat, Victoria as part of the 2020 Melbourne Spoken Word & Poetry Festival Online. You'll find my poems The Problem, The Shift and But What Does It Mean plus a whole heap of poems by some great poets. Go check it out.
On Friday night I headed into town for the extravaganza of words and wit that is the Melbourne Spoken Word Prize. Now in its fifth year, the prize features twenty-five of Melbourne's spoken word artists as nominated by the convenors of the regular poetry gigs held around Melbourne each week. If you're poet, Melbourne is the town to be in. If you don't believe me, head on over to Melbourne Spoken Word to check out the gigs on now.
The Prize was held in the ornate Collingwood Town Hall and filled with a group of chattering poets all keen to see who would take out the prize for Melbourne's best spoken word artist. There were three prizes for the night – Convenors Prize for most nominated poet, the People's Choice Award and the Judges Prize worth a cool $1400.
The poetry community is welcoming, supportive and inclusive. It's a safe space where you can be vulnerable and share your darkest and most painful moments. Going to a spoken word event is like getting a huge hug from all your friends. It was great to be there on Friday night, hearing amazing poetry and catching up with my poetry buddies.
The calibre of the performers was incredible. Their performances were electric. The way they could take a word and make it sing, turn a phrase with a deft ear, flip metaphors on their head and leave you shouting for more. I didn't envy the judges their choice at all. It was hard enough figuring out who to vote for in the People's Choice Award when all the performers were outstanding.
Emilie Collyer asked who I voted for – was it the poet whose language I admired? Or perhaps the one who tugged at my heart strings. Or maybe even the one who surprised and took the poem to unexpected places. I went for the person who moved me most. My stand out performers in a night of stars were Amy Bodossian with her poignant piece and incredible singing. Ren Alessandra with her don't mess with me feminist call to arms. Loran Steinberg with her quiet and compelling voice. Yoram Symons with his call to ad felinity to the divinity. Wahibe Moussa who hit me right in the feels. And Josh Cake for his timely piece about how much time we have left.
In the end it was Tabani Tshuma who won. And when I say won I mean he won all the prizes. The Convenors' Award, The People's Choice and the Judges' Prize. His performance was amazing. Masterful and powerful with an incredible use of language and imagery.
The closing night for the Melbourne Spoken Word & Poetry Festival at Howler in Brunswick on Sunday night was incredible. Six featured poets, four hours of spoken word and more inspiration than you could poke a stick at.
Jon Englezos had me wiping away surreptitious tears with his beautiful poem about his yai yai. A masterful example of the power of story to connect us all.
I am so lucky to live in country where we can all speak up and be heard. Huge thanks to Melbourne Spoken Word for bringing Rania Ahmed to the stage last night to share her poetry. Seeing the world through her eyes was a revelation.
Legendary poet Claire Gaskin rocked the stage last night with her reinterpretation of Greek mythology, giving voice to the women ignored by his/story.
I'm steeling reeling from Tenda McFly's performance. A mixture of spoken and sung word plus video and collaboration. If you're a poet, go check out Gladiator. It will inspire you to keep writing.
American poet Bill Moran gave a stream of consciousness Beat style performance melding spoken word and music with haunting images. He has got the most expressive face I think I've ever seen.
Headlining the event was the Individual World Poetry Slam champion Mic Ting. I was mesmerized by his eloquence and use of gestures to illustrate a point or heighten the moment. I attended his Extended Metaphor workshop on Saturday which was amazing. It was wonderful to then hear how he incorporates metaphor into his work. He also used characters and personas in his performance. This was beyond poetry. It was a masterclass in storytelling.
I hung around for the after party, chatting to fellow poets, meeting the features and not wanting the night to end. The whole festival has been the most incredible experience and I am so grateful to Benjamin Solah and the whole team over at Melbourne Spoken Word for all their hard work in putting the festival on.
Sunday morning saw me packing all my books into bags and heading back in to town for the Melbourne Spoken Word & Poetry Festival Book Fair at Siteworks in Brunswick.
It was super fun to be spending a day hanging out with other poets and checking out all the cool things they're publishing. Lots of chapbooks, zines, second hand poetry books (thanks Fiona for the great haul!) and more. I loved Kat's beautiful chapbook, Hungry and her illustrated posters. Eddie Burger had a humongous range of zines for sale. Adiba was selling books in Syriac (the first international language), Arabic and English. Imagine being able to speak and write in three languages!
I was selling Defenestration, my hand bound chapbook, Wild Heart, as well as bookmarks and postcards from the book. I did really well and only have left 3 copies of my limited edition run of 25 for Wild Heart. If you couldn't make it to the Book Fair but want to buy a book, they're for sale in my online shop.
There was an open mic for the stall holders and Tim did a series of interviews with the authors during the day. It was great to chat to all the other poets and see what they're creating. I'm feeling very inspired now!
I was terrified of the microphone. Absolutely petrified. Completely intimidated. When I went to open mic nights and had to stand behind the microphone, I was a frozen bunny in the spotlight. I had no idea how to adjust it for my height or how to speak into it so I could be heard.
But that all changed on the weekend when I attended the Mastering The Microphone workshop with musician and poet Meena Shamaly. The workshops part of the phenomenal Melbourne Spoken Word & Poetry Festival. If only I had more time and didn't need to sleep, I would be going to all the things.
Meena has the best voice, a love of all things sound tech and a great way of sharing his passion. He taught us how to set up a mike stand, showed us how a mixer worked and then let us loose on the microphone buffet he had created. We got to experience where on the mic to speak into, how far away to stand, what to say to the sound guy to make us sound better and so, so much more. At the end Mena even hooked the mic up to an amp he'd brought long so I could have a play and see the difference in the sound.
It was so much fun playing with a piece of equipment that had terrified me. And really? All that cool new gear? You guys know I love good tools. Now I have a microphone, stand, speaker and mixer on my wish list. It would be so cool to have a set up at home to play with and to practice more.
I've spent the last six weeks alternating between a state of anxiety and excitement. I guess you could call it nervous anticipation. The cause? My first ever feature as a spoken word artist at the Fresh Voices event as part of the Melbourne Spoken Word & Poetry Festival.
When Benjamin Solah of Melbourne Spoken Word asked me to do a fifteen minute set my response was 'Hell, yes!' I couldn't believe Ben had asked me to share the stage with Cat Lee, Thabani Tshuma and Poetpre. These guys have amazing poetry and have won all sorts of spoken words in the last year.
I've only been performing since the beginning of the year and although I dreamed of one day performing a set as a feature, I thought it would be years before that happened. Turned out I was wrong!
Once the excitement wore off however, doubt began to creep into the cracks and corners. Pretty soon it turned into dread. Fifteen whole minutes up on stage. Did I have enough material to make up a fifteen minute set? Was any of it good enough to share with an audience? Could I remember all my poems? What was I going to wear? How was I going to get there? What if no-one liked me and I died of shame?
~ these next photos were taken by Brendan Bonsack, photographer extraordinaire ~
Like most things, it turns out all the energy spent on worrying was a waste. I loved being behind the microphone and speaking to an audience of over 100 people at the North Fitzroy Library. My husband and beautiful girls came along to see my first ever feature and there were lots of friends in the audience too. It was my first time performing in front of them and one of the reasons for my anxiety (what will they all think of this side of me?). The experience of seeing familiar and friendly faces in the audience was incredible. I know I'm a poet but I have no words to describe it.
My friends loved the whole evening and all the open mic performers and other featured artists. It was fabulous to see their appreciation of the spoken word community and to share it with them. Sometimes the things you dread turn out to be the best things of all.