Poetry Events in NSW, August-September.

A new feature for The Red Room Company 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.

 

Saturday 15 August, 2.00–4.00 pm – Writers’ Playgroup, a small gathering open to poets and other writers. Read your work, receive feedback or just listen. Please have a few copies to share around. Community Room, Marrickville Library, Corner Marrickville and Petersham Roads, Marrickville. Information: John Egan on 9799 3077 or 44641719. Free entry.

Sunday 16 August, 2.30 for 3.00 pm – John Watson will launch Ground, Martin Langford’s first new book of poetry since 2009 in the Benledi Room, 186 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. Free entry.

Thursday 20 August, 9.00 am–5.00 pm – Mark Tredinnick will lead The Poetry Workshop. talking through matters of form, prosody and poetic practice. Topics covered will include poetic forms, the nature of the line and the uses of enjambment, the place of punctuation and the use of syntax, tone, voice and point of view. Participants will have the chance to workshop a poem they bring along or write in class. Open to everyone. Centre for Continuing Education, University of Sydney. Venue to be announced. Bookings and enquiries at www.cce.sydney.edu.au. Enquiries on (02) 8999 9608. Fee $340.

Saturday 22 August, 10.00 am–4.00 pm – Lisa Jacobson will lead Crafting Poetry, a workshop that will cover the essentials as well as the quirkier aspects of poetry writing in an exploratory and evolving way, delving into the challenges of rewriting and editing it. Suitable for writers of all levels. NSW Writers’ Centre, Callan Park, Balmain Road, Rozelle. Details and bookings at www.nswwc.org.au or on (02) 9555 9757. $180/$125 (members)/$110 (concession members).

Sunday 23 August 2.00–3.30 pm – Sydney Poetry @ 2 will present poet and editor Nigel Roberts, a participant in Sydney’s 1960s and 1970s poetry revolution best known for his satire at the Brett Whiteley Studio, 2 Raper St, Surry Hills. Free entry thanks to the sponsorship of J.P. Morgan.

Wednesday 26 August, 7.00–9.00 pm – RhiZomiC Poetry will present Adam Aitken, writer of four collections of poetry and three chapbooks and co-editor of Contemporary Asian Australian Poets, and Elizabeth Allen, writer of one collection of poetry and one chapbook and winner of the Anne Elder Award. Upstairs at Mr Falcon’s, 92 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. Free entry.

Wednesday, 26 August, 7.30 pm (doors open) – Live Poets will present performance poet Yarie Bangura, fresh from performing with the Baulkham Hills African Ladies choir at the Sydney Opera House and South Bank, London. Plus the 2015 Short Fiction Cup (one A4 page limit). Plus open section. Live Poets @ Don Bank, 6 Napier St North Sydney. $7 entry includes hot supper and drinks. Further info/bookings: Danny Gardner (Convenor) (02) 9896 6956 Mobile 0422 263 373 ordannylivepoets@yahoo.com.au.

Friday 28 August, 8.00 pm – Word Travels will present Def Poetry Jam star Mayda Del Valle, who will combine spoken word, hip hop, poetry and song in a visceral experience at the Sydney Dance Lounge, Walsh Bay. Tickets $20 (+2.19 booking fee) at www.eventbrite.com.au or $50 (+ 3.19 booking fee) if you’d also like to participate in a Wordshop on Thursday 27 August at 12.30 pm.

Saturday 29 August, 5.30–7.00 pm – Brook Emery will launch Frank Russo's poetry collection In the Museum of Creation at the Stanley Street Gallery, 1/52-54 Stanley Street, Darlinghurst. Free entry.

Tuesday 8 September, 6.30–9.30 pm (and the following 5 Tuesday evenings) – Mark Tredinnick will lead A Leaf that Tells a Tree, a six-week masterclass that will explore and exemplify the disciplines of beauty entailed in fashioning a poem. Suitable for beginners and experienced poets. NSW Writers’ Centre, Callan Park, Balmain Road, Rozelle. Details and bookings at www.nswwc.org.au or on (02) 9555 9757. $600/$420 (members)/$360. (concession members).