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Another national Poetry Month is nearing its end that has brought a variety of events to get involved in, from online readings to in-person workshops, many of which were facilitated by Red Room Poetry. Here’s a few that I attended.
First up was a poetry workshop based on the Dangerously Modern art exhibition with Jill Jones. Taking images from the gallery by pioneering Australian women such as those depicted above, we explored objects, interiors and thresholds in response to them through a series of writing exercises, some of which I plan to develop further to see where they take me.
I went along to a panel discussion next, Poetry as Medicine, with the poets above sharing what this means to them and excerpts from their work, that varied from the impact of chronic conditions on the self through to big picture impacts on the world around us. The questions were thought-provoking and produced some interesting answers, with the session culminating in a reading from Anna-Mei Szetu.
The last event was the online workshop Finger Exercises for Poets with American poet Dorianne Laux, who read extracts and exercises from her book by the same name, explaining how its concept was inspired by the finger exercises her mother did on the piano before playing a piece of music. It’s a book that definitely warrants spending time with.
In-between these events I’ve continued with my regular commitments – a monthly online feedback workshop with Cath Drake, meeting with a local poetry group and an online writing session that delved into using the senses with The Orange & Bee. I’ve also been pairing photos taken on my various walks with poetic quotes and sharing them on Facebook and Instagram to help keep the poetry conversation going, but also as a little relief from the daily onslaught of horror that’s called news. Give me a snowdrop thriving through a crack in cement any day.
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 