Ruby Street

The Emerging Writers Festival will be running from 21 May until 30 May this year in Melbourne. The program is now up on the website. I'll be around for part of the festival as one of the ambassadors , me - for poetry. I'll also be 'stuck in a lift' with Scott-Patrick Mitchell on Saturday 29 May, 1.45pm in the Swanston Hall at Melbourne Town Hall. I presume we emerge from the lift at some stage.

I’ll be back in Sydney this May for the following events at the Writers' Festival. 1. Poets Paint Words at the Wharf Paintings from the Newcastle Region Art Gallery and the poems they inspired will be projected in the Heritage Pier Cafe during Sydney Writers’ Festival. The poets include Robert Adamson, Judith Beveridge, Judith Bishop, Michael Brennan, Luke Davies, Kate Fagan, Michael Farrell, Jane Gibian, Keri Glastonbury, Robert Gray, Martin Harrison, Ivy Ireland, Jill Jones, John Kinsella, Anthony Lawrence, Kate Lilley, Peter Minter, Les Murray, Dorothy Porter, Jaya Savige, John Tranter and Mark Tredinnick. Paintings from the Newcastle Region Art Gallery collection include Arthur Boyd, John Brack, Grace Cossington Smith, Grace Crowley, William Dobell, Margaret Olley, John Olsen, Gloria Petyarre, Imants Tillers, Albert Tucker, Brett Whiteley and Fred Williams. Poets Paint Words is curated by Peter Minter and Lisa Slade, in conjunction with Sydney Writers’ Festival. When: Thursday,...

I`ve been in Trois-rivière for just over a week at the poetry festival . I am amongst francophone poets with my very bad French but everyone is forbearing. They tell me they love my accent, which I find hard to believe. Truly, an Australian accent is attractive? I don`t think so. But it is a great festival. It's quite hot here, unseasonably, I'm told. So much for all the layers of clothes that are taking up room in my suitcase.

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 ...