Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Tag: words

Pride and Prejudice

So we have a family rule for movies where we don't watch a movie until we've read the book. In theory anyway. In reality we've seen Around the World in Eighty Days, Freaky Friday, Jumanji, Never Ending Story, Princess Bride, The House With A Clock in Its Walls and The Help – all without ever having read the book. In our defence, most of the time we didn't realise they were books first until after we'd seen the movie.

But there are some movies where I think you need to read the book first. No, strike that, you must read the book first. Which is getting kind of tricky as there aren't a lot of movies that aren't based on books that we can watch that will appeal to the very different tastes of a thirteen and a seventeen year old.

Jane Austen has written so many books that have been turned into movies and tv series and I really want to watch them but we haven't read the books. I have to confess, I haven't read Pride and Prejudice either. So I've decided to revive bed time stories and read a chapter every night. That way we can all get through the book and then we'll have the fun of trying to figure out which adaption to watch first!

May 27, 2023
Back on the Stage

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.

May 26, 2023
The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion

Hearing Pádraig Ó Tuama reciting lines of poetry by heart at the Poetry Retreat I recently attended made me want to go home and learn to speak in verse. I have a growing collection of books written by poets I have met at gigs and launches as well as ones that I have bought from a shop. Most of the time they sit on the coffee table at home for a while before I put them on a shelf to look pretty and gather dust.

Over the last few years I have been hearing lots of poetry at events and on podcasts. BBC's The Verb and Poetry Unbound being two current favourites. You can also check out my podcast, Pocketry Presents, for Australian flavoured poetry. I have also been attending loads of poetry workshops (a whopping sixty-two in the last & year's!) where I have been introduced to many new poets. But reading? Reading poetry? Not so much.

But that's all changing. Fired with enthusiasm after the first day of the workshop I went home and started searching through my shelves for The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion by Kei Miller. At the retreat, Pádraig read out Always Under Your Breath by Kei Miller and said he was one of his favourite poets. Apparently Pádraig owns all of his works.

I met Kei Miller a few years back when I was in Canberra visiting my folks and attended the Poetry on the Move festival. He was an incredible performer and I immediately bought his book. I flicked through it and read a couple of poems and then… you know what happened, right? The book went on a shelf to gather dust. Until now that is.

I'm about half way through at the moment and really enjoying the cartographer and rastaman's accounts of Babylon and surrounding lands. Miller has an ear for language and captures the two distinct voices well. If you want to hear Kei Miller read some of his poetry, check out Oracabessa.

When I was young(er) books were sacred objects to be handled with care. Don't crease the spine! Don't dog-ear the pages! Keep it looking like new. But then a few years back much to the horror of my eldest daughter, I started writing notes in the non fiction books I was reading. Highlighting phrases, writing notes in the margins. Commenting on passages. That sort of thing. After reading the introduction to Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World by Pádraig Ó Tuama, I decided to do the same with my poetry books. A nice way to remember my favourite lines and a record of my thoughts and feelings at a certain time.

My original plan was to read a book of poetry a week but then life got in the way. Now the aim is for one a month. Twelve books read doesn't sounds as impressive as fifty two but it's a whole lot better than none! I've been wanting to have something to do in an idle moment. A few years ago I used to take craft projects with me wherever I went and they would keep me amused while waiting. But in spite of making a wrist brace recently I'm still not making things with my hands. Now I won't be bored with this new bookish project – to read and read and read poetry!

May 25, 2023
Twenty Four Hours of Poetry

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.

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!

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.

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?

September 11, 2022
Littlefoot & Co Spoken Word

Last night saw me heading south to Bunjil Place in Narre Warren for the Littlefoot and Co spoken word night. Bunjil Place is an incredible venue. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, it's well worth the trip. They have an incredible program of events throughout the year and the building is state of the art.

It was a wonderful night of spoken word and poetry with perfomances from first time poets right through to the 2020 Australian Poetry Slam Champion, Ren Alessandra. Spoken word gigs are a roller coaster of emotion as the poets take you on a wild ride through their experiences and imaginations. What I love about spoken word and the poetry community here in Melbourne is how welcoming they are. It doesn't matter if you're a novice or a superstar, everyone gets an enthusiastic reception. Of course, part of what makes this particular event so special is its hosts, Eden and Josh.

It was only the second time I've perfomed live since lockdown ended and it was wonderful to be back on stage. For once, I didn't preplan or rehearse everything I was going to say. I wasn't even 100% sure what poems I was going to recite. I was too busy before hand to prepare so I decided to try something new and wing it!

I had a few poems I was thinking about performing but it wasn't until the gig was underway that I made my final choice. I recited My Words and The Shift which are about the creative porcess of writing a poem and I finished with Never Seen which was published in Brownface, issue 100 of Cordite.

It was interesting performing in this way – with no practice or preparation. I liked speaking off the cuff about my poems and I wasn't too nervous either. Perhaps it was because I wasn't trying to be perfect and get all the words to my intorduction right. Maybe it's because it was familiar and I've done it before. Whatever the reason, I really appreicated the feeling of being comfortable on stage and behind the microphone. I found I still knew My Words and The Shift off by heart even though it's been a while since I've perfomed them. It was like slipping into an old and familiar jumper that's cosy and warm.

The night ended with two original songs from a local songwriter and musician. This is one of the best spoken gigs in Melbourne and I'll definitely be going back for more poetry goodness!

March 12, 2021
Books, It’s All About Books

This year for Christmas I asked for books. I went mad for books. I got a stack of books. There were lots of books.

I often ask for and receive books as presents. There's a whole world waiting for you in a book. And the best thing is, you can revisit that world whenever you want. It's always waiting for you. Oh and I just thought of another thing – you can take it with you wherever you go and it never runs out of batteries!

Mostly I ask for fiction and devour it in days. There's nothing like a good story to lift the spirits. This year, however, I mostly went for non-fiction. There's just so much I want to learn! Now what usually happens when I buy non-fiction is it sits around in the lounge for a bit, I look at the cover and read the blurb, flick through a page or two and then I put it on the shelf and never look at it again. This is terrible. All that knowledge trapped between the pages with no-one to set it free.

I decided that this year was going to be different so I've left the books on my desk in a most inconvenient place and I'm not allowed to tidy them away until I've read them. And it's worked. So far I've read Bindi by Kirli Saunders, Just My Type by Simon Garfield, and Songlines by Margo Neale and Lynne Kelly. I've started Shady Characters by Keith Houston and I've been dipping into Guwaya- For All Times: A Collection of First Nations Poems from Red Room Poetry. I'm working my way through the excellent How to Grow your Own Poem by Kate Clanchy. Of course, HollowPox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend and The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst: A Kingdom and Empires Book by Jaclyn Moriarty were finished long ago. They're ripping yarns, that's why!

Once I've got through all those I'll still have Arelhekenhe Angkentye Women's Talk: Poems of Lyapirtneme from Arrente Women in Central Australia, Welcome To Country by Marcia Langton, Loving Country by Bruce Pascoe and Vicky Shukuroglou and Yornadaiyn Woolagoodja to read.

As well as Book Cover Designs by Matthew Goodman, The Illustrated Dust Jacket by Martin Salisbury and The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time by Keith Houston and for a little light reading Selected Poems from T.S. Ellliot's. I'm a sucker for good design and this series of hardcover poetry books by famous poets is simply gorgeous.

What do you devour? Fiction or non-fiction?

January 13, 2021
The Melbourne Spoken Word Prize

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.

December 9, 2019