Ruby Street

I recently put together a sequence of poems around the idea of rivers and memory for two friends of mine, the sound artists and composers Solange Kershaw and Damian Castaldi, who were working on a project called Memory Flows . The result is a sound installation using contact and gravity, where the words of my poem flow randomly in time with the swinging back and forth of three diamond shaped acrylic water pendulums, each filled to a different capacity with a blue toxic liquid, triggering a different memory, dripping into the muddy waters of the Parramatta River. Damian and Solange have put up some visuals of the installation on their website, which includes mp3s of their interpretation of my poem . The installation can be seen at The Newington Armory, Sydney Olympic Park, Newington NSW, until 20 June 2010.

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...

no smooth requirements step rocks, or words during pressure within twilight or rain, the fine moon into the winter or as vagabonds untied where weeks wander tapes of memory in the ignition in lines of information wake up in the morning that is not a conclusion to heavy nights a dove sprinkles other movements of birds

in shade, surface shakes skins cold, deep closed under curves and covers degrees key to clouds fresh air releases you a dreamy target for memory and lines of work become music within a footstep

As well as taking part in events at the Sydney Writers Festival next week, I'll also be doing a quite different gig in Sydney on Saturday 22 May, at the Carriageworks. I will be part of some readings organised by The Red Room , at an event called TEDx, which is taking place in Sydney at CarriageWorks on Saturday 22 May 2010 and featuring, as the website claims, a selection of Australia's leading visionaries and storytellers showcasing their Ideas Worth Spreading LIVE to a group of thinkers ... as well as ONLINE to the world at large"." It's part of something called TED which is described as "a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design" . As for the poetry part it will include Johanna Featherstone from the Red Room making a presentation about the role of poetry in Australian society. To complement Johanna's talk will be rea...

Monday 17th is International Day Against Homophobia . One focus this year is on homophobia in sport. In conjunction with this, there's going to be a reading of poetry (not a sports event) hosted by Friendly Street Poets on Sunday 16 May, here in Adelaide (amongst other events, including a rally for same sex marriage on 15th). So, here's the details: The Sport of Anti-Homophobia Poetry Event - Speaking the Silence Hosted by Friendly Street Poets Guest poet: Jill Jones + FSP poets + open mic Sunday 16th May Aids Council of SA 64 Fullarton Road, Norwood. 2-4.30pm $4 conc/$5 waged, wine & nibbles

Some fresh new things to dive amongst at Snorkel . Includes Jenny Bornholdt, Kate Fagan, and Tricia Dearborn, among others. Otoliths is breezy and suitably autumnal. (It was reportedly 6 degrees here this morning.) Includes Michael Farrell, Adam Fieled, Tim Wright, Kristen Kashock, Michelle Cahill, and many more, plus special features, including poems by Michael Rothenberg & David Meltzer. On the northern side of the world, it's spring, so there's a big new issue of Blazevox for delectation. Includes Stacy Kidd, Jim Bennett, Sam Silva, Geoffrey Gatza, and many, many others. There's a new issue of Mascara online. Includes Cath Vidler, Indran Amirthanayagam, Greg McLaren, James Stuart, Adam Aitken, Jenny Lewis, Eileen Chong, Anindita Sengupta, and Johanna Featherstone, amongst many others. And last but absolutely not least, here's a new journal, Polari , which features writers with affiliations to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) co...