Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Tag: Melbourne Spoken Word and Poetry Festival

Going Out With A Bang

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.

July 31, 2019
Mastering the Microphone

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.

July 22, 2019
Fresh Voices

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.

July 18, 2019