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August is poetry month here in Australia, a national celebration launched by Red Room Poetry to increase access to and awareness of our poetic landscape, and mine’s been filled with readings, applications and a writing retreat.
First up was the SA Poetry Month Showcase at the Wheaty, with readings by Jelena Dinic, Arantza Garcia, Tikari Rigney, Wallis Prophet and Dominic Guerrera. Hosted by Gemma Parker, it was a popular event. I liken Jelena’s work to a beautiful haunting and it was wonderful to hear from performance poets Arantza, Tikari and Wallis, with equally profound words from Dominic, who also hosted the open mic that followed.
Next was my turn to read in the bi-monthly Ern Malley series held at Australia’s oldest literary bar. These readings, courtesy of Stan Mahoney, take inspiration from Ken Bolton’s Lee Marvin ones (where I was also fortunate to read), by offering the same intimate experience equipped with desk and lamp. I shared work from my chapbook ice cream ‘n’ tar, as well as some new poems from the collection I’m working on at the moment.
Then I went on my first ever writing retreat at Island View Writers House! Run by the brilliant Heather Taylor-Johnson, this gorgeous place in Clayton Bay provides writers with the time and space to develop their writing, either through a focused or self-led residency. I chose the latter to further my collection and was absolutely amazed by what I managed to achieve over a long weekend there.
Having that thoroughly enjoyable immersive experience prompted me to apply for the annual fellowships with Varuna and Writers SA. Between them they offer a variety of opportunities to progress projects, and the application process helped me to focus the scope of my collection and identify what I want to achieve with its content, form and voice. So I have everything crossed one of them comes through!
Hosted by Red Room Poetry as part of their new initiative Poetry Month, I zoomed into a workshop by Tony Birch – ‘Everything is everything’.
Poetry Month is all about celebrating Australian poetry, poets and publishers, and Tony is one of its finest poets. Author of three novels, including White Girl, winner of the 2020 NSW Premier’s Award for Indigenous Writing, and short story collections in addition to poetry, Tony is also an activist, historian and essayist.
The workshop focused on simplicity; the paring back of a poem to its bones to let it breathe and quietly be. Tony showcased the work of Agnes Martin (painter) and Alice Walker (poet) among other artists, sharing his method of holding a poem and not releasing it until it’s ready to be formed. And form really is key, something not to be forced, with Tony admitting he knows little about the technicality of poetry.
You can have the greatest technique but if the poem doesn’t have heart, it’s vacuous.
Tony Birch
Reiteration, writing body, themes of country, family and blood, Tony shared his own work as well as others, explaining how he often revisits poems to discover another layer. Referring to himself as a writing block plumber, Tony gave us prompts to try, one of which was to take a favourite photo and capture an impression of it rather than an exactness.
Tony was incredibly generous with his time, knowledge and skill, and answered questions throughout. We even got to see his writing desk! And what I love about these sorts of insightful workshops is being introduced to new work, new ways of seeing and of course the inevitable additions to an ever-growing wish list.
J V Birch 