Ruby Street

I'm off to Sydney tomorrow to take part in, and taste the harbour-side salt of, the Sydney Writers Festival . I'll be involved in the following events, so would be great to see any of you who'll be around, at one or more of them: Late Nights at Number One Thursday, 20 May 2010 9:30 - 11:30 pm At Number One Wine Bar , Goldfields House, 1 Alfred Street, Circular Quay, Sydney Enjoy a drink or bite and listen to Jill Jones, Lionel Fogarty and Pasha Malla read their poetry at the Quayside wine bar, Number One. Your host: Patrick Muhlen-Schulte. Poems To Share Friday, May 21 2010 6:00 - 7:30pm Heritage Pier, Upstairs Pier 2/3, Hickson Road Walsh Bay Eleven Australian poets – Kate Fagan, Lachlan Brown, Adam Aitken, Lindsay Tuggle, Greg McLaren, Elizabeth Allen, Fiona Wright, Joanne Burns, Judith Bishop, Andy Quan, Keri Glastonbury (plus a surprise guest - hint, hint) – come together to celebrate the work of the Red Room Company . The audience is seated at tables with poets, to hea...

Later this month I will be off to Auckland for Part 1 of the Home & Away 2010 poetry symposium (details below). It will be my first time to the North Island (unless you count one hour in transit through Auckland airport). I have spent some time on the South Island over the last few years and am always ready to return. It will be interesting to see what I make of the north. HOME & AWAY 2010 The New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre - nzepc - will hold a two-part poetry symposium in Auckland, New Zealand, and Sydney, Australia in 2010. The first part of HOME & AWAY 2010 will feature readings, launches and forum-style talks with trans Tasman colleagues at the University of Auckland, 30-31 March. For details of the program visit this site . And just to note, that the night before the symposium, on Monday 29 March from 7pm, there will not only be a pot luck dinner at Michael King Writers’ Centre, but from 8-9 pm Michael Farrell and myself talk about and read from our anthology ...

I'm heading over east this week, first to do some things in Sydney and then heading up to Newie, en train, so to speak, to do a panel discussion and a reading for the critical animals gigs at TINA. Sat 3 Oct: 9.30am – 11.00am CONTEMPORARY POETICS (LOOKING IN): THE PLACE OF THE EXPERIMENTAL IN CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIAN POETRY City Hall: Banquet Room Is experimental poetry now the norm in Australia and what does experimental mean in 2009? Who makes up the audience for experimental poetry? Does the diversity in Australian poetic practice entail a progressive, permissive playing-field? This engaging and exploratory panel discussion includes readings by the panellists. Featuring: Stu Hatton, Derek Motion, Michael Farrell, Jill Jones Facilitator: Aden Rolfe Sun 4 Oct: 9.00 – 10.00am BREAKFAST POETRY COLLAGE READING City Hall: Banquet Room A selection of Australia’s most interesting experimental poets read their collaged and cut-up works. Come and join us for coffee, a croissant and some r...

The LEE MARVIN READINGS continue this October in Adelaide at Gallery de la Catessen. OCTOBER 7th o LEE MARVIN RUES THE DAY Peter Pugsley Heather Taylor Johnson Kahil Jureidini Shannon Burns Rachel Hennessy OCTOBER 14th o LEE MARVIN IN ROCKABILLY HEAVEN Brian Castro Linda Marie Walker Cathoel Jorss Patrick Niehus Cath Kenneally OCTOBER 21st o LEE MARVIN IN YO-YOs WITH MONEY Aidan Coleman Ken Bolton Jill Jones Kyriaki Maragozidis Simon Robb It all happens at 9 Anster St, Adelaide (off Waymouth at the King William end). 7.30 for a prompt 8 PM start. Price $5. It's the place to be!

Later in August I will fly to Melbourne to read at the Australian Poetry Centre. Here are the details of this event. Sunday August 24th Australian Poetry Centre,’Glenfern’, 417 Inkerman St (corner Hotham Street), East St Kilda. Poetry Reading and Discussion: 4.00 - 6.00 with Jill Jones (SA), Ken Taylor (VIC) & David Brooks (NSW). Cost: $7 members, $10 non-members Champagne, savoury food, wine and cake will be served. Soiree with a group of Singaporean poets : 6.00 - 7.00 Featuring Alvin Pang, Prof Edwin Thumboo, Yong Shu Hoong, Madeleine Lee. This event is presented by Ethos Books, Singapore with the Asia and Pacific Writers Network and the Australian Poetry Centre. So, might see some of you there. One day I'll fly away - back to Sydney for a visit, but this is as close as I'll get for a leetle while.

The Lee Marvin readings are happening again in Adelaide this August at 9 Anster St, Adelaide (off Waymouth at the King William end, not far from the Union Hotel). Ken opens up at 7.30 for a prompt 8pm start and it's only $5 for the readings and a glass of wine. On Tuesday August 26th the readings will feature: Linda Marie Walker Anne Bartlett Naomi Horridge Jill Jones Raoul Du Plicit-The Circus 4 Might see some of you there.

I know this is getting silly but I'll also be in Trois-Rivières, Canada, in a couple of weeks for a seriously big poetry festival, Festival International de la Poésie 2007 , which runs from 28 September until 7 October. There's a huge bunch of poets taking part, including 23 non-Canadian poets including my good self representing Australie, and others from places as such as Bulgarie, Congo, La Guadeloupe, Venezuela and Espagne. If you're in the area ...

I've just been in Newcastle to read as part of Poets Paint Words. Thirteen Australian poets were commissioned to write a poem inspired by an Australian painting in the Newcastle Region Art Gallery collection. The poets include Robert Adamson, Judith Beveridge, Luke Davies, Kate Fagan, Keri Glastonbury, Martin Harrison, Jill Jones, John Kinsella, Peter Minter, Les Murray, Dorothy Porter, Jaya Savige and John Tranter. The exhibition was curated by Peter Minter and Lisa Slade, in conjunction with Sydney Writers’ Festival. You can read an article in The Australian about this or go to the Newcastle Region Gallery's site to read some of the poems . The weather was good and a lot of people came and listened at the various sessions. I lingered for most of the weekend, though my gig was over by Friday night. I caught some kind of flu bug but luckily it didn't strike till Saturday. As someone said, it was a 'boutique poets' event'. And a cool idea.

Of course, next month is the Sydney Writers Festival , and as part of it there's Poets Paint Words , which is curated by Peter Minter and Lisa Slade, who commissioned a number of Australian poets to write a poem inspired by a painting in the Newcastle Region Art Gallery collection. Their choice, not ours. Poets involved include Luke Davies, Martin Harrison, Keri Glastonbury, Kate Fagan, Jaya Savige, Les Murray, Dorothy Porter, John Tranter, Judith Beveridge, Jill Jones, Peter Minter, John Kinsella, Robert Adamson. The exhibition runs until 17 June and during the Writers Festival there will be readings by a number of the poets.