Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Tag: spoken word

  • Slamtidote

    Love vs Autumn (Slamtidote) Cover

    Slamtidote is a newish poetry gig bringing poetry and spoken word to Naarm. It's a collective that puts on a monthly gig, held in secret locations. Once you've booked your ticket (and there are free options) you have a pass to a fabulous night of poetry, art, food and music.

    I read my poem, Notes from Diaspora on Returning 'Home',  to the haunting guitar of Bird Girl. It was the first time I've read my poems accompanied by music. It was an incredible experience with Bird Girl improvising the accompanying melody after hearing a line or two of my poem.

    As well as the performances during the evening, Slamtidote also published a zine for the event, filled with poetry and art from some incredibly talented poets and artists. I was super chuffed to have one one my poems included in the beautiful chapbook.

    The secret venue was gorgeous – festooned with fairy lights and red heart balloons. There was warm food in the Indian Dhaba out the back serving dahl and rice. Plus market stalls with books and art. Something for everyone in fact! Slamtidote is most definitely a great new addition to the poetry scene in Naarm!

     

  • Poetry and Tea

     

    IP - Poetry and Tea 1

    After teaching my eco-dyeing workshop in Niddrie on Sunday, I headed to the Beit e'Shai Teahouse and Pop-Up Gallery in Preston for an evening of tea, tunes and poetry.

    IP - Poetry and Tea 2

    IP - Poetry and Tea 3

    Shiralee Hood was our wonderful MC. Farhad Bandesh sang songs in Kurdish to Yusuke's improvised guitar. All while Nadine served us drinks and snacks and Tara worked in the kitchen to brew more tea. Rasha Tayeh, a Palestinian herbalist and nutritionist, has created a beautiful space in which to meet new friends and drink tea. Everything about the teahouse feels intentional and beautiful.

    IP - Poetry and Tea 6

    There was a green room for the performers where I got to hear the musicians rehearsing and our MC running through her lines.

    A green room! How rockstar is that? Having a place to sit with other performers and prepare was amazing. And Rasha bought us her hibiscus tea and snacks from the Vietnamese restaurant next door that came on real plates. It felt so supportive to have a dedicated space for performers to focus on their work before sharing it with an audience. It's the first time I've ever had a green room – I could get used to it!

    IP - Poetry and Tea 4

    IP - Poetry and Tea 5

    I performed poems about the diaspora experience and the legacy of my mixed race heritage. I wanted to bring all the facets of my being – the food, the language, the culture and the ways in which they inhabit my mind and body.

    I think it was my best performance ever. Rasha created an intimate, safe and welcoming space. And the audience was warm and supportive. I felt at home in the teahouse with this incredible community and my words flowed easily.

    IP - Poetry and Tea 7

    I haven't been writing lot of poetry this year. With all that is happening in the world at the moment, writing poetry feels frivolous and like an indulgence. Here I am safe from harm while other people are starving or are being slaughtered. Genocide is happening in Palestine and our leaders are doing nothing. We petition and protest and we march and still our leaders don't listen.

    So me performing poetry, what's that about? How's that going to help anyone? These are some of the questions I was wrestling with after I accepted Rasha's invitation to perform at the Sunday Sessions. I said yes because I wanted to support her business and her community by giving my time and performing. But still, what good would it do?

    And then I thought, what would I say to someone else if they asked me:  'What is the point of performing/writing poetry if other people are suffering?' And my answer would be 'Your voice is important. What you have to say matters.'

    If we can speak, then we should. About whatever it is that we want to share.

    It's the only way we'll ever be able to understand each other.

     

  • Sunday Teahouse Sessions

    IP - Beit e'Shai Sunday Teahouse Session #1 copy

    Coming up on Sunday 17th November, I will be performing my poetry at the Beit e’Shai Sunday Teahouse sessions.

    Beit e’Shai means House of Tea in Arabic and it is the creation of Palestinian nutritionist, herbalist, artist and independent researcher, Rasha Tayeh. I first met Rasha at a market when I was buying her wonderful tea. 

    I am so delighted to be reading my poetry at the new Beit e’Shai PopUp Teahouse and Gallery in Preston.

    Come along and hear some poetry and tunes and of course drink some tea!

    Book a ticket now!

     

     

  • The Last Dance

    IP - The Last Dance 1

    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.

     

     

  • Writing Together

    IP - Writing Together 1

    I had such a fabulous time yesterday at the Kathleen Syme library in Carlton, teaching my poetry workshop, Beyond the Page, to a lovely group of people.

    Beyond the Page is a different kind of poetry workshop. Instead of analysing poems written by other people and then trying to write your own poems, the focus is on what the poets already know and those gifts that they have within themselves. They trick is helping them to find the right key to open that locked box of treasure.

    The poets whole-heartedly embraced all the prompts including hopping about like a grasshopper and blowing in the wind like a tree in a hurricane. I created a mix of movement, drawing and sensory exercises along with poetry prompts to help the writers access their subconscious minds. 

    IP - Writing Together 2

    IP - Writing Together 3

    After all the preparation and promotion leading up to the workshop, it was so lovely to sit aback and let the poets do their thing. It was so much fun seeing them scribble away and then hear the results of their efforts. It was a real honour and a privilege to hear such raw and fresh writing.

    Thanks to everyone who came! I hope you found the exercises useful and that you can incorporate some of them into your writing  practice.

     

  • Beyond the Page – A Poetry Workshop

    Humanitix 2024 Sonic Poetry Festival Workshop (2160 x 1080 px)
     
    I’m running a poetry workshop, Beyond the Page, on Saturday 7 September in Carlton as part of the Sonic Poetry Festival 2024.
     
    If you're feeling uninspired or stuck in a poetry rut, come along and learn how to neurohack your writing through sound, movement and drawing.
     
    Through exercises and writing prompts, you will:
    • use movement and drawing as part of your writing practice and to access different parts of the brain. 
    • write poems from different points of view, including insects and inanimate objects.
    • write using senses other than sight — especially those of sound and hearing.
     
    Bring your child-like self, a sense of adventure and a willingness to play!
     
    This workshop suits emerging poets wanting to learn new skills as well as more experieienced poets looking to super charge their writing.
     
    Will you join me? Book now!
     
     

  • Haiku in the Hills

    IP - Haiku in the Hills 1

    I drove up into the Dandenong ranges earlyish on Sunday morning for my second poetry workshop of the weekend. This time it was Haiku in the Hills with AJ D'Costa, another Sonic Poetry Festival event which makes three in three days! I love poetry month – there's so many amazing things to do!!!  

    We all met up at the gazebo and then AJ took us through a beautifully curated and thought-out walk through the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden in Olinda. We stopped at various places along the way where AJ would give us some haiku theory/history/poems and a prompt for writing our own. As we walked between locations, she asked us to note down our observations which we then turned into haiku at the end. It's been a while since I've been in the hills and I had forgotten how chilly it gets, especially in the mornings at this time of year. Luckily we got moving and I soon warmed up.

    IP - Haiku in the Hills 3

    At the very end of our walk, we stopped in a grassy meadow and spent some time working on our haiku in the sun. After that we had a picnic style lunch with pakoras, samosas, dips, veggie sticks, cheese, apricots, crackers, chai and iced tea – all carried in packs by AJ and Ady, her partner.

    It was a brilliant morning and it's definitely in my top three of all time favourite workshops. It was the perfect combination of walking, writing, talking and eating. And I met so many lovely new people. Huge thanks to AJ and Red Room poetry who gave AJ a micro grant to run the workshop. Aj is an incredibly warm and generous person and donated all the profits for the day to PARA (Palestine Australia Relief & Action), supporting Palestinian refugees in Australia.

     

  • 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!

     

  • 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!

     

  • 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.