Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Tag: poetry

  • Storylines: Voices in the Street

    IP - Storylines Voices in the Street 1

    Exploring new places is one of my absolute favourite things to do. All those new little nooks and crannies to explore. Those new cafes and bookshops to discover. The hidden gems just waiting to be found. On the weekend I was lucky enough to be able to combine my twin loves of exploring and writing when I caught public transport to the Voices in the Street: Storylines poetry workshop hosted by Mothertoungue, a long running Naarm poetry night.

    It was a rare, sunny day here in late winter and I had an enjoyable stroll from the station to the Ivanhoe library where the workshop was being held. I found the cutest ever bookshop that almost took all my money (but not quite) and a bulk food store that had the best trail mix ever and gorgeous mini white Persian figs. Oh my.  They were so good that I went back and bought more after the workshop!

    When I walked into the workshop room I was greeted with a table filled with art supplies, flowers, leaves, feathers, an emu egg and a couple of coolamons made by Aunty Sharon. It was my first clue that this workshop was going to be anything but ordinary!

    IP - Storylines Voices in the Street 2

    Aunty Sharon Hughes and Kristen Munro from the Storylines Aboriginal Writers Group were our facilitators. We started with a beautiful movement practice led by Kristin that called on the land and the elements. We were guided through a fabulous writing prompt to create five lines of poetry. We then learnt how to make mini books and spent the rest of the afternoon happily collaging and decorating our mini books with the art supplies on the table.

    It was so wonderful to be making something with my hands again. Poetry, art and books? I was in heaven!

    Thanks Aunty Sharon, Kristin and Mothertongue for a fabulous afternoon!

     

  • Anthropocene

    IP -Anthropocene 1

    I’m so excited by my copy of Anthropocene. It’s a chapbook published by the Queensland Writers Centre that contains four of my poems. Only two copies were made – this one and one other that was sold to raise funds for the Queensland Writers Centre. You know I love limited edition print runs and I don’t think you can get rarer than this! 

    IP -Anthropocene 2

    IP -Anthropocene 3

    IP -Anthropocene 4

    I was stoked when I found out my submission had been accepted for publication in a chapbook. These poems are close to my heart and it’s wonderful to see them finally in print.

    I had no idea what the cover of this chapbook was going to look like. All I knew was that it was going to be illustrated by Christine Sharp. Letting go of my work without knowing what the end result was going to look like was a real act of trust. I’m so glad I put my faith in Q Poetry! because the chapbook is gorgeous!! Fabulous design and layout and I adore the cover

    Thanks to the Queensland Writers Centre and Christine Sharp for taking my poems and turning them into a work of art!!!

    IP -Anthropocene 5

    Given the theme of this collection of poems, I think it’s fitting that the snails got to it first as you can see on the back cover. 🐌 

    Anthropocene by Indrani Perera
    Published by: Queensland Writers Centre
    Cover design by: Christine Sharp

     

  • Spring, Again!

    IP - Spring again

    Can you feel it? Or rather can you smell it?

    There’s something about this time of year, when the flowers open their buds and show off their shiny new petals. With their opening, comes the heavenly smell of nectar borne on the breeze. It’s heady stuff I tell you and just what’s needed to wake up from the foggy winter slumber.

    I’m not sure what it is but I’m finding winter harder and harder to get through (it’s probably my age but shhhh! I’m trying to pretend it’s not happening!). During winter my energy levels get super low and by the end of the day all I want to do is sit on the couch and eat chocolate. Which I’m sure is not helping at all with feeling good and full of energy.

    But that’s now fading into the past because there are blossoms and bees getting busy, making honey.

    Time for me to start getting busy too! What are you excited about this spring?

     

  • A Little Morning Walk

    IP - A Little Morning Walk

    I'm coming out of hibernation and starting to go on morning walks again.

    I had the best of intentions this winter to do more exercise but honestly the lure of the heater was far too strong.

    It's so good to be moving my body again and drinking in the lush pockets of natural beauty that can be found even in the outer suburbs, and a highly urbanised environment like mine.

    I'm super grateful to have this reserve close by to my house and I plan to visit it more often now that the weather is becoming more hopeful!

    Where do you go when the weather starts to get warmer?

  • 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!

     

  • Souped Up!

    IP - The Week of Soup

    It’s hard keeping the troops fed. Especially when they come home from school, starving. All that learning sure does burn calories! 

    I’m not sure about them but I know that I get bored with making the same things so I took a little time the other day to go through my recipe books and find some tasty recipes.

    My two favourite cookbooks at the moment are both by Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall of River Cottage fame. They have incredibly naff covers but Hugh’s Three Good Things…On a Plate and Light & Easy are both fantastic cookbooks.

    I must be craving warmth because every recipe I flagged was soup! White bean soup, barley soup, lentil and bacon soup, chickpea soup, eggplant soup and fennel soup to be precise. I figured why not have a crack at making them all and so I did.

    The biggest hit was the lentil and bacon soup followed by the white bean soup. I also quite liked the fennel soup with its preserved lemons. The chickpea soup tasted a lot like a hot, runny, hummus! 

    It felt great to be back in the kitchen, making something new. And so wonderful to be a eating so many new flavourful soups!

  • Being

    IP - Being

    Late last year I had not one, but two poems, long listed for the University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor's International Poetry Prize! It was a huge honour to have my work recognised by the judges.

    Landline is a poem about old friends who you've know forever but hardly find the time to see any more. Life has moved you in different directions and you may not even live in the same city. But there's always the phone.

    Much to my amazement, the second poem, Notes From the Diaspora on Returning 'Home', ended up being shortlisted! I wrote this poem while I was traveling in Sri Lanka with my partner, daughters and parents. It was an incredible experience to hear my father telling us all stories about his childhood in the places where they happened. And at that same time feel a disconnection from a place that should be more familiar than it is.

    If you'd like to read my poems you can now buy this wonderful anthology where you'll also find the winning poem and other amazing poems fro the competition. This is an anthology to treasure and read again and again.

    Huge thanks to the University of Canberra for including my poems and recognising my work.

     

  • 3CR Radiothon & Spoken Word Show

    IP - 3CR Radiothon & Spoken Word Show 1

    I’ve just joined community radio, 3CR's Spoken Word team as one of the four hosts. This morning I did my first ever show – a live broadcast for the station’s annual fundraiser. It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time!

    IP - 3CR Radiothon & Spoken Word Show 2

    This is me in Studio 1 at 3CR right after this morning’s broadcast. We were broadcasting live with poems sent in to us from poets all round the country. It’s part of the drive to raise funds for the station. Our show’s target is $1650 and if you can donate to help keep us on air we can keep bringing you new and amazing poetry. Click here to go to the page to make a donation. Every little bit helps! And it's tax deductible too!

    IP - 3CR Radiothon & Spoken Word Show 3

    Lucky for me tech whizz and all round incredible human being Brendan Bonsack was driving the panel and the fabulously witty and super calm Waffle Irongirl was sharing the mic. It was a blast and I’m hooked!

    If you didn't manage to catch the live broadcast, don't worry, you can hear it over on our podcast page.

     

  • Heroine’s Anthology Shortlist

    Heroine's Anthology Shortlist

    My poem, pathika, has been shortlisted for the Heroine's Anthology Prize which means it will now appear in the forthcoming Heroine's Anthology of poems from around the world.

    I am so excited to be included in this global edition of poetry about amazing women from throughout Herstory, I can't wait to see who I will meet in its pages!

     

  • Heroine’s Anthology Longlist

    Heroine's Anthology Logo

    Herstory is a topic very dear to my heart. I am always looking for females voices, especially those that have been hidden or erased from the offical versions of accounts. I want to know about the stories of women who shaped past events. I want to hear about their ingenuity and inventions. I want to know what they were like, where they lived and who they loved. I want to look at the stories we tell ourselves about the world and I want to see myself reflected within its annals.

    I guess I've always been feminist in this regard but my quest for women's tales only grew stronger once I had two daughters. I wanted to share with them stories about the world that told them they could do anything that they set their minds and hearts to doing. If you're on this quest as well. I'd highly recommend the Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls series of books and the Little People Big Dreams picture book biographies about prominent female figures. Princess Smartypants is a wonderful picture book for young girls about a. sassy Princess who does not want to get married – she's too busy doing other things!

    All of this is to say that I am beyond thrilled to announce that my poem, pathika, has been longlisted for the Heroines Anthology Global edition Prize. 

    Pathika is about the lives and poetry of three famous Indian poets. These women are well known in India but not as familiar to most readers in the west. Being from South Asia, I wanted my poem to reflect my heritage. No Greek goddesses for me! I was originally wanting to write a poem about female poets from Sri Lanka but they were quite hard to find given that I don't speak Sinhala or Tamil. So I looked to our neighbours for inspiration and found a whole wealth of material.

    Big thanks to the Heroine's Anthology for choosing my poem!