NSW & Sydney Poetry Events - September 2016

A regular feature from Norm Neill, to encourage the sense of community among poets and the poetry-appreciation community. We would love to have a comprehensive bulletin for Australia-wide, so if you have any feedback, readings, performances, launches, etc. please send an email to kristy@redroomcompany.org.

Thursday 1 September, 7.00 pm (Doors open, Slam start 7.45 pm) – Caravan Slam will feature founder of Freshly Baked Poetry and the Weekly Comfort Blog and 2012 National Australian Poetry Slam finalist Jessica Santosa, for the launch of her first collection, Freshly Baked Poetry - The First Batch of Brutal Honesty. https://www.facebook.com/events/1022279247893272/.  Django Bar, 19 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville, opposite Sydenham Station. $5 guests, performers free. All funds go to Caravan Slam projects.

Saturday 3 September, 12.30 –3.00 pm – Sue Barnett and the Wollongong Writers Festival will present From Orkney to Wollongong: a writer's sense of place, a masterclass with visiting poet from Orkney Pam Beasant, who will talk about how poetry derives from place. She will encourage participants to write about their own place, or sense of being out of place. Wollongong Art Gallery, 46 Burelli St, Wollongong. Entry $40 cash, paid on the day, but register with program@wollongongwritersfestival.com All welcome.

Saturday 3 September, 7.30–10.00 pm – Poets Ron Pretty, Aunty Barbara Nicholson, Marcella Hayes, Victoria Keighery, John Stokes, Mark Mordue, Karine Shellsheer and Frances Paterson will read and talk as part of Words out Loud, Thirroul Readers and Writers Festival Session 3, Excelsior Hall, 352-360 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Thirroul. Entry $30/$20 (concession). Details and bookings at www.thirroulreadersandwritersfestival.org.

Sunday 4 September, 1.30–3.00 pm – As part of her national tour of readings and teaching, Glasgow-born Orkney resident Pam Beasan will read a selection of her poetry at Wollongong Art Gallery,46 Burelli St, Wollongong, joined by local poets,. Afternoon tea will be served. Gold coin or pink paper donation.All welcome.

Sunday 4 September, 1.00–4.00 pm (A Poetic Licence Week event) –The Spring Arising Festival will feature the announcement of the winning poem of a competition about Petersham Bowling Club in spring (Maximum 20 lines to soulserendip@yahoo.com.au by 2 September) plus open mic poetry, music and atworks. Bar and bistro open. 77 Brighton St Petersham. Info: Mark 0410 054 756. Free entry.

Monday 5 September (and 12, 19, 26 September and 10, 17 October, 6.30–9.30 pm – Mark Tredinnick will present A Leaf that Tells a Tree: Writing Poetry. Form and voice are big deals in poetry. This course will explore the disciplines of beauty entailed in fashioning a poem. Suitable for beginners and experienced poets. NSW Writers’ Centre, Callan Park, Balmain Road, Rozelle. $600/$420 (member)/$360 (concession member). Information and bookings atwww.nswwc.org.au or on (02) 9555 9757.

Tuesday 6 September, 7.00–9:30 pm – AVANT GAGA #25: The poetry night at Sappho in September is on the FIRST Tuesday of the month (not the usual second, apologies), and will feature guest poets Laurie Duggan, Pam Brown, Liam Ferney and Allison Gallagher, plus an open section. Sappho Books Wine Bar & Cafe, 51 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. Free entry. Drinks,food, bar, etc.

Wednesday 7 September, 5.00 pm – (Poetic Licence Week Event): There will be a celebration of poetry of all styles, including Ken Potter reciting Edward Harrison’s The Kerrigan Boys, Hugo reciting Garry McDougall’s The Buccaneers Return, and four other poets. Thirroul Library.

Saturday 10 September, 2.30 for 3.00 pm (A Poetic Licence Week event) – Luke Fischer will launch Brook Emery’s new collection, have been and are, at the Friend in Hand Hotel, 58 Cowper Street, Glebe. Free entry.

Friday 9 September, 7.00–9.00 pm – Phil Wilcox will host the Willoughby Poetry Slam at the Willoughby Arts Centre, 33 Laurel Street, Willoughby. Entry $10. Book performance spots on (02) 9958 6540 or at the door.

Thursday 15 September, 6.00–9.00 pm – Poems, spoken word and songs by women and men who have experienced violence, abuse and controlling oppression from parents, partners, relations and others close to them; betrayals of trust from the people they should trust the most. A chance to create a positive from so many negatives; to speak and share and take some power back. Featured poets, live music, and open section. King Street Theatre bar, 644 King Street, Newtown. Email Alan and Bee at firecrakas@yahoo.com.au for open spot to read original work on this topic. Entry $5. All proceeds go to crisis accommodation.

Saturday 17 September, 9.00 am–5.00 pm – The Symposium of the fourth Rose Scott Women Writers' Festival, Literary Legacies ­ Contemporary Classics, will be held at The Women's Club, 179 Elizabeth Street. Speakers will include Dr Kerryn Goldsworthy (on literary prizes) and poets, authors and playwrights Michelle Cahill, Sue Woolfe, Andrea James, Sulari Gentill, Bianca Nogrady, Melina Marchetta and Melinda Smith. Efi Hatzimanolis will also launch Antigone Kefala's latest book of poetry, Fragments. Cost $100 (includes teas, lunch, closing wine reception). On Friday 16 September, the Festival will also include a luncheon ($55) and evening event ($25). Program details and various links, including on-line booking, at http://www.rswwf.com.au/program-2016.html. Further information: Rosemary Huisman 0417 773704.

Saturday 17 September, 5.45 and 8.00 pm (two shows) – Live Poets will present /Words on the Wall - Echoes and Ink/, voices of the Spirits of Sydney  from Botany Bay to Westconnex. The Live Poets Players - Lou Steer, Christian Brimo, Fayroze Lutta, Robert Howe, Des Maddelana, Bee and Allan and Danny Gardner will take you on a journey into the creative minds of Sydney's history with special emphasis on Kenneth Slessor, Arthur Chidley, Harry Hooton, Bea Miles, 'Eternity Man' Arthur Stase, Henry Lawson, Rosaleen Norton and the energy of contemporary protest on the corner of Balfour and Queen streets, Chippendale. It will be a feature of a night of pathos and revelry, art and light at Chippendale’s annual BEAMS Festival. Free. Further info: (02) 9896 6956.

Monday 19 September, 7.30 pm – Poetry at the Pub will present poet, actor, dancer, singer, song-writer and teacher Bee Perusco, plus an open mic session at the Wickham Park Hotel, cnr Maitland Road and Albert Street, Islington (5 minutes’ walk from Hamilton station). Gold coin donation requested.

Tuesday 20 September, 6.30 pm – Poets at the Petersham Bowl, hosted by Mark Marusic and Barry Sargent. Open mic format (mainly poems, but also short stories, anecdotes, jokes, acoustic music). Bar and bistro open. 77 Brighton St Petersham. Info: Mark 0410 054 756. Free entry.

Friday 23 September - Registrations and submissions close for Red Room Poetry Object. A poetry competition for students and their teachers - $10,000 prize pool, open to Australia and New Zealand schools from Grades 3-10. Find out more: http://redroomcompany.org/projects/poetry-object/

Friday 23, September, 6.00 pm – Luke Fischer will launch Peter Boyle’s /Ghostspeaking,/ the follow-up to the multi-award winning Apocrypha at Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. Free entry, but RSVP on (02) 9660 2333 or at events@gleebooks.com.au for numbers.

Saturday 24 September, 2.00 pm – There will be a poetry reading at Sawmillers Reserve, Munro Street, McMahons Point, featuring Tug Dumbly and placegetters in the Sculpture at Sawmillers poetry competition (entries closing September 18). Details at www.sculptureatsawmillers.com.

Sunday 25 September, 2.00–3.30 pm –Poetry Sydney and WestWords will present poets representing a range of voices from Greater Western Sydney at the Brett Whiteley Studio, 2 Raper Street, Surry Hills. Free entry, thanks to sponsorship of J.P. Morgan.

Sunday 25 September, 2.00 – 4.00 pm – Manly Art Gallery and Museum will present Spirit of the Collection: poetry alive, 20 poems that draw inspiration from artworks in the gallery’s collection in what will be a unique event celebrating the spoken word and the Manly: Art from the Vault exhibition. Selected poets will perform their pieces, and there will be an open reading section. Manly Art Gallery and Museum, West Esplanade, Manly. (Turn left when you leave the ferry wharf and walk a couple of hundred metres.) Gold coin donation (refreshments served). Further information at artgallery@manly.nsw.gov.au or on (02) 9976 1421.

Wednesday 28 September, 6.00–8.30 pm – The launch of Poems for Birds, Poems on cards illustrated by Studio Connect Canberra at the opening night of Filling the sky with feathered motion exhibition, featuring collaborative works of art on the diversity of birds and human responses to them. Poets include Susan Hampton, Dael Allison, Christopher Kelen, Charlotte Clutterbuck, Veronica Lake.107 Projects, 107 Redfern St, Redfern. Free entry (but donations always welcome)..

Wednesday 28 September, 7.00–9.00 pm – RhiZomiC Poetry will present editor and widely-published poet Tricia Dearborn and winner of the andUniversity of Canberra Vice-Chancellor’s International Poetry Prize (and recent immigrant from Adelaide’s Friendly Street Poets) David Adès. Upstairs at Mr Falcon’s, 92 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. Free entry.

Wednesday 28 September, 7.30 pm (doors open) – Live Poets will present When London Calls. In which Danny Gardner will re-enact his poet's journey to seek fame in 1980s London with songs from the time played by 'slick-licks' Dirk Kruithof. Bee Perusco will present her new show: Homeless: a Sea Creature Speaks, backed by music from Allan Gannaway. PlusLiterata Eccentria, often-saucy tales of the writing life in the Old Dart. Plus the usual open section for anyone to recite, sing, tell a story or play an instrument. Live Poets @ Don Bank, 6 Napier St North Sydney. $7 entry includes supper and drinks. Further info/bookings: Danny Gardner (Convenor) (02) 9896 6956 Mobile 0422 263 373 ordannylivepoets@yahoo.com.au.