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I was part of a fabulous line up Wednesday evening at this month’s No Wave poetry readings at The Wheaty – Jelena Dinić, Caroline Reid and Jennifer Liston – curated by the equally fabulous Jill Jones.
Jelena was first up who shared some poems from her recent trip to Serbia that were haunting and quiet and devastatingly beautiful, just like the rest of her work. Jelena’s collection In the Room with the She Wolf published by Wakefield Press charts her journey from her former home of Yugoslavia to Australia, from childhood to becoming an adult, and won the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature Unpublished Manuscript prize in 2020.
I was next up and shared some poems from my new collection ice cream ‘n’ tar, one of the winners of the James Tate Chapbook Poetry Prize last year published by Survision Books in Dublin. Offering a surrealist take on climate change, my work produced many contemplative responses, which was exactly the reaction I’d hoped for, as the idea behind these poems was to help people focus on the human impact on our wonderful world.
After a short break Caroline took the stage, whose work was highly entertaining in its grittiness and appeal, where poets were compared to dogs with their bite and how the monthly bleed can generate associations in various guises. Caroline won the 2021 Mslexia International Poetry Prize with ‘A Poem to My Mother that She Will Never Read’, which I remember finding in the magazine and being completely wowed by it.
Last but by no means least was Jen who read poems from her forthcoming collection Grace Notes due out from Salmon Publishing later this year, about Grace O’Malley the Pirate Queen of 16th century Ireland who, despite commanding over 200 men at sea, was written out of history. Jen’s poetry is mesmerising and this was no exception, as she gave voice to this heroine once again following her sold out shows at the Adelaide Fringe in 2020.
It was a brilliant evening compered by Jill who shared witty alternative bios alongside our real ones (seem to recall I was a famous chef!) and the variety of poetry shared worked incredibly well. The readings were recorded for Vision Australia Radio‘s Emerging Writers program, to be broadcast alongside the interviews we gave to Kate Cooper, one of its volunteers, which was another fabulous opportunity to reach a wider audience. Here’s my reading and interview if you’re interested and be sure to check out the others too.
So, I consider ice cream ‘n’ tar officially launched and what better place for it than at these prestigious readings. I even managed to sell several signed copies, although of course a poet is never in poetry for the money; it’s all about the words.
August is Australia’s poetry month, deemed so by Red Room Poetry, a leader in commissioning, creating, promoting and publishing poetry in meaningful ways. And it was busy.
Launched in 2021, Poetry Month aims to increase access, awareness and visibility of poetry, with Red Room Poetry hosting a variety of events, such as readings and workshops, and providing prompts to generate those all-important words. There’s also a poetry showcase in each state and one of the many wonderful aspects of this initiative is the ‘pay what you can’ ethos.
The first event I signed up for was an online book club, with Andy Jackson, Ellen van Neerven and James Jinag, facilitated by the effervescent Felicity Plunkett. Each shared passages and reflections on a favourite book of their choice with some wide-ranging and collaborative selections. Andy’s and Ellen’s fantastic work I’m familiar with, Human Looking and Throat being their latest collections respectively, but James I wasn’t, so it was great to hear his thoughts on the texts shared and learn about him.
Next up was an online workshop with Andy Jackson through Writers SA called Un-alone Poetry, where we delved into self-portrait poems with Andy sharing some from his latest collection that brings together the voice of the disabled. I’ve participated in Andy’s courses before and this was of the same brilliant ilk, perfectly balancing time to read and reflect with the opportunity to write and share. We even indulged in some collaborative poetry by being paired and swapping lines via the chat function in Zoom, that delivered some surprising results.
The Dog-Eared Readings are brainchild of two beloved poets, Heather Taylor-Johnson and Rachael Mead, with the inaugural one taking place mid-week at The Howling Owl. Backed by a grant from Arts SA and with free drinks very kindly provided by Red Room Poetry, these readings aim to fill the gap left by Ken Bolton’s Lee Marvin series and offer the same imitable blend of poetry and prose. First up was Stephen Orr reading from his novel Sincerely, Ethel Malley, followed by the krumping (a new performance style I discovered!) Matcho Intrumz Cassidy and finished with Dominic Guerrera in conversation with Natalie Harkin who shared poems from her latest collection Archival-Poetics, a gift of poems (literally) that reckon with the State’s colonial archive.
Another online workshop, The Speculative Poet, with Sally Wen Mao completed the month for me, in which we explored blurring the boundaries between fact and magic, research and conjecture, with poetry the perfect form with which to do so. Sally shared slides and some insights from the infamous Toni Morrison on speculation, as well as a few of her own poems, with ‘Nucleation‘ a particular standout for me. Sally’s award-winning collection, Oculus and forthcoming, The Kingdom of Surfaces, both from Graywolf Press, are the latest additions to my ever-growing wish list.
What I love about projects and events like these, apart from showcasing the fine work that’s out there, is their ability to inspire and connect, and for me generated several ideas for the next full-length collection I’m working on, as well as introducing me to new poets and forms. So next year, I must remember to clear my calendar for August again, give the poetry room to breathe.
J V Birch 