Hello again! Two bit of news:
Last Friday and Saturday (13th and 14th November 2009) was the Canberra Spring Poetry Festival. I was able to attend the Friday evening and Saturday morning sessions and had a ball. I particularly enjoyed the launches of Alan Gould’s and Susan Hampton’s new books (Folk Tunes and News of the Insect World, respectively) and the Saturday session on ‘Bringing Poetry to the Masses’ with John Foulcher, Geoff Page, Lizz Murphy, Harry Laing and Paul Magee. It was also a chance to catch up with some genuine ‘fans’, still a very new experience for me but not an unpleasant one :-). The event also made the social pages of the local rag – move over Angelina Jolie, just how much more famous is it possible for me to get ?!
Secondly: for those of you who like to get stuff for free, I have four poems in this month’s Quadrant magazine, and they are all available free online. They appear in two groups of two, thus:
At least two of them (Addiction Song and Last Orders) I think I read out at my August 2009 reading at the Gods - so those who were there may remember them vaguely.
All for now – over and out
Melinda
I was priveleged to be guest speaker last night at a set of readings from Undertow, the University of Canberra student creative writing anthology for 2009.
The venue was Smith’s Alternative Bookshop (no relation 
) and the event went very well. There was wine, sushi, wonderful music from Cathy Petocz and of course engaging performances from the half a dozen students who read their work.
I recommend giving Undertow a read, the standard is very high and there are several pieces I cannot get out of my mind. The 29 short stoires and poems were chosen from almost 200 submissions so it really is the cream of the crop. Check out the Facebook page for Undertow, or buy your copy at Smith’s Alternative Bookshop or the Co-op Bookshop.
For the record, my part in proceedings was limited to words of encouragement and ‘tips for young players’. It felt quite strange to be cast in the ‘elder stateswoman’ role for a change but I suppose my prematurely grey hair does give me some cred in that department Anyway, a fine time was had by all, and do check out Undertow if you get the chance.
Cheers
Melinda
Hi there, long time no blog!
Thanks to everyone who came to the packed-out Gods reading in August! By all accounts the punters were well entertained – and some of the drunker ones swore blind they’d been converted to genuine fans by the experience
I have had a few poems published or accepted for publication recently. One of these is Falling, published in Blue Dog a couple of months ago and posted separately. I also have four upcoming in Quadrant (probably the November or December-January issue) – I will post these when Quadrant hits the stands.
In other news, my poem Mother Love has found another new fan and will be published soon on the PoemPig blog.
A brown and slimy autumn leaf
was mashed into the floor. I said
‘Who didn’t wipe their feet?’, and spread
the shopping bags around it. Grief
was hiding in the food again:
the pumpkin, the bananas too
brought me to tears. That’s nothing new:
last week it was the multi-grain.
My flailing mind begins to thresh
its blighted no-hope harvest. May
this season end. I need to say
when planting can begin afresh.
published in Blue Dog (poetry magazine of the Australian Poetry Centre), July 2009
Reading this Tuesday
Where: The Gods Cafe, ANU Campus, Acton ACT
When: Tue 11 August from 8pm (dinner available from 6.30pm)
Cover charge: $5 (dinner extra)
Extra info: I am reading on a triple bill with P.S. Cottier and my dear friend Suzanne Edgar. Suzanne and I will be doing a bit of a ‘duelling banjos’ thing, reading poems back and forth with each other on similar themes. We figure we could keep people awake a bit longer that way. Should be fun – would love to see you there.
Mt Majura Wines Reading 12 July
I read in the barrel room at Mt Majura Wines last month, on a quadruple bill with Michael Byrne, Elizabeth Lawson and S.K. Kelen. A fine time was had by all. I did mostly funny ones – you can’t expect Sunday afternoon listeners who’ve been tasting excellent wine to wade through anything too heavy At least one punter enjoyed it so much she blogged about it: http://sandsmackenzie.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html
‘The weather comes from Adelaide’, they say.
I thank them for the forty-one degrees
they kindly sent to stifle us today.
The grey lawns thank them also. And the trees.
So many nicer things they could have sent -
an Oval, or a Festival; some Hills.
I’m sure the oven-blast was kindly meant
but eggs were frying on our window sills.
The Bureau tells us to expect a change
and, tongues lolled out like dogs, we pant and wait
and fixate on the temperature range
for points far west of where we dehydrate:
if Adelaide today had twenty-three
please God (please, God!), tomorrow so will we.
published in The Canberra Times, March 2009
Any day now, it will lift.
Under your mask of howls, I see
Two knowing eyes reproaching me,
Incensed that I should try to shift
Some blame, for this, our hell, to you.
Mummy feels like howling too.
Published in Quadrant, Volume LIII, No.4, April 2009
I’ll be doing a couple of readings during the long Canberra winter. Why not come along when you get sick of hibernating? Both venues serve wine, and at least one also serves hot chocolate…
Please note the change of date and time for the ‘Poetry in the Vines’ reading.
- ‘Poetry in the Vines’ at Mount Majura Wines, Majura Rd, ACT. 2pm Sunday July12 2009 [POSTPONED FROM ORIGINAL DATE OF JUNE 14]
- ‘Poetry at the Gods’ at The Gods Cafe, Australian National University, Acton, ACT. 8pm Tuesday August 11 2009
