WAPoets is pleased to present the 19th annual Perth Poetry Festival with a host of free and low-cost events to inspire and encourage you to develop your poetry.
These events take place on Whadjuk Noongar land. WAPoets acknowledges the traditional custodians of this land and extend our respects to Elders past, present and future.
For details of the Festival Workshops click here
For Biographies of the featured guest poets click here
To download a pdf of the draft program, click on the link below:
WEDNESDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER
—- Lisa Collyer Book Launch
SATURDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER
—- WAPoets Presents
SUNDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER
—- In Conversation with Srijato
MONDAY 11 – FRIDAY 15 SEPTEMBER
—- Poetry Residencies
TUESDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER—-
—- Caitlin Maling Book Launch
WEDNESDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER
—- Searching for Uglieland
THURSDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER
—- Poetry Gala
FRIDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER –
—- OUTspoken; Queer Poetry
—- Womens Poetry
SATURDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER
—- Perth Poetry Club
—- Crossing Borders: A Multicultural Poetry SoiréeFloetry
—- Floetry
SUNDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER
—- ReVERBerations
—- Finale
To be part of the audience, book your tickets for:
Searching for Uglieland: https://www.trybooking.com/CJXAO
Gala Launch/Queer Poetry/Women’s Poetry/Multicultural Poetry/Floetry at Planet Royale: https://www.trybooking.com/1088084
WAPoets Presents/In Conversation with Srijato/ReVERBerations/Finale at Switch Theatre: https://www.trybooking.com/1088098
ZOOM: to participate in events via Zoom
For WAPoets Presents ZOOM: https://www.trybooking.com/1088392
For all other PPF2023 ZOOM events: https://www.trybooking.com/1088398
Your Zoom Link will be in your ticket email.
A booking fee applies to all ticket purchases. Limited Door Sales unless the event is sold out (cash or EFTPOS)
For the latest updates, visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/wapoets
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WEDNESDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER
Lisa Collyer Book Launch
6.00–8.00 pm
Centre for Stories
This is a free event
How to Order Eggs Sunny Side Up is a conversation in poems on the taboo and abject bodies of women. Lisa Collyer disrupts selflessness, tackling the disquieting dilemmas of feminine space with erotic and comic freedom.
SATURDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER
WAPoets Presents
6.00–9.00 pm
Switch Theatre
This is a free event
Due to space restrictions, we ask that attendees register for this event at: https://www.trybooking.com/1088098
To participate in this event via Zoom click on the link: https://www.trybooking.com/1088392
POETRY D’AMOUR AWARD AND ANTHOLOGY LAUNCH: The winners of the 2023 Poetry d’Amour Poetry Contest announced by Glen Philips with readings by the successful poets plus the launch of the Poetry d’Amour 2023 Anthology.
ROS SPENCER AWARDS: the winners of the 2023 Ros Spencer Poetry Contest announced by Colin Young with readings by the successful poets.
CREATRIX AWARDS: the winners of the 2023 Creatrix Poetry and Haiku Awards are announced by Kevin Gillam with readings by the successful poets.
SUNDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER
In Conversation with Srijato
1.00–3.00 pm
Switch Theatre
Tickets $15 Regular/$10 WAPoets/Concession. https://www.trybooking.com/1088098
To participate in this event via Zoom ($10) https://www.trybooking.com/1088398
Come and join Lakshmi Kanchi as she converses with Srijato about living, writing and reading between languages and cultures. Kolkata is a city of poets and Srijato is one of its most popular and critically acclaimed writers. He has been described as a magician of rhyme, and an alchemist of rhythm. Alongside more than 30 volumes of poetry (all of which have sold thousands of copies) he has also published several novels, and has recently finished his first film as a director. Srijato writes mostly in Bengali but like many Indians, is fluent in a number of other languages including English. His works draw playfully on classic works of Bengali, Sanskrit, Urdu, Hindi and English. An English translation of his new novel The House of Rainand Snow is due to be published by Penguin Random House in October 2023.
TUESDAY 5 – WEDNESDAY 13 SEPTEMBER
Poetry Residencies
10 am–2 pm
WAPoets Office
Visit the WAPoets office and discuss, share and explore poetry with the resident poet.
Jake Dennis on Tues Sept 5 exploring the city through the perspective of a person of colour, using a variety of different poetic forms.
Kerry Greer on Tues Sept 12 exploring Sacred Streetscapes through fragmented poems.
Gillian Clark on Wed Sept 13 exploring old eateries and the places where we people congregate to share meals.
TUESDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER
Caitlin Maling Book Launch
6.30–8 pm
Orient Bar Fremantle
This is a free event
Come join Caitlin Maling as her latest collection with Fremantle Press, Spore orSeed, is launched by Catherine Noske, MC’d by Georgia Richter. A fresh poetic look at parenting, pregnancy and place, Spore or Seed is a playful interrogation of what it means to be a human adult in the world now. Books for purchase by New Edition.
WEDNESDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER
Searching for Uglieland
9.15–11.30 am
London Court Clock
60 St Georges Terrace
Tickets $10 Regular/$5 WAPoets/Concession. https://www.trybooking.com/CJXAO
Did you know that there used to be an amusement park right in the centre of Perth? Who were the Ugly Mens Association? Where was Perth’s first poetry cafe? And why is there an obscene statue in the centre of the city?
Join Perth Poemambulism on a two-hour walk through some of Perth’s history with poetry performances and writing opportunities.
Searching for Uglieland will be guided and narrated by Mar Bucknell
Featuring contributions from members of Perth Pop Up Poets:
Mar Bucknell Born feet first / The city is hollow
Jennifer Catalano a poem for a place not visited
Davina Edwards frottage (letter lifting)
Tim Parkin the unpredictable unspeakable
Neil ‘Brilo’ Patterson spontaneous HaaR Coooo performances
Jaya Penelope details to come
and, of course, anything that comes from the audience, culminating in an open Poets Lunch (byo) at the Allendale Square food court.
Presented by Perth Poemambulism in association with Perth Pop Up Poets and Two Feet and a Heartbeat. Wear comfortable shoes. The entire route is wheelchair accessible. Please contact us in advance if you have any particular mobility or access issues and we will do our best to accommodate you.
THURSDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER
Poetry Gala
7.00 – 9.30 pm
Planet Royale Tickets $30 Regular/$25 WAPoets/Concession. https://www.trybooking.com/1088084
To participate in this event via Zoom ($20) click on the link: https://www.trybooking.com/1088398
Cash bar and food available
Features the Key Note speech by Festival Patron Glen Phillips and poetry readings by Featured Festival Poets; Arianne True (USA), Juan Garrido Salgado ((SA), Indrani Perera (Vic), Jean Kent (NSW), and WA poets Lisa Collyer, Caitlin Maling, Talya Rubin and Luoyang Chen. Plus a feature appearance by young poets;
FRIDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER
OUTspoken; Queer Poetry
7.00 – 8.00 pm
Planet Royale
$20 Regular/$15 WAPoets/Concession. https://www.trybooking.com/1088084
To participate in this event via Zoom ($15) click on the link: https://www.trybooking.com/1088398
Cash bar and food available
Join us for an evening of LGBTIQA+ poetry as we celebrate the diversity of queer verse here in Perth … and beyond. Poets appearing at OUTspoken include: with Scott-Patrick Mitchell as MC for the evening. OUTspoken is an LGBTIQA+ inclusive safe space.
Womens Poetry
8.30 – 9.30 pm
Planet Royale
$20 Regular/$15 WAPoets/Concession. https://www.trybooking.com/1088084
To participate in this event via Zoom ($15) click on the link: https://www.trybooking.com/1088398
Cash bar and food available
“What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would break open” writes poet Muriel Rukeyser. This event places women’s voices at the centre, as women poets and musicians step up to the mic. All welcome as audience members. This event will feature Tineke Van der Eecken, and a music/poetry collaboration by singer/songwriter Sophie Moleta and poet Jaya Penelope, other artists TBC. This event takes place on Whadjuk Noongar Country. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and acknowledge that this is, was and always will be Aboriginal Land.
SATURDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER
Perth Poetry Club
2–4pm
Moon Cafe
Cash bar and food available
Entry by donation
A smattering of poetry from all of the Festival Featured Poets; Arianne True (USA), Juan Garrido Salgado ((SA), Indrani Perera (Vic), Jean Kent (NSW), and WA poets Lisa Collyer, Caitlin Maling, Talya Rubin and Luoyang Chen. This is a combined WAPoets/Perth Poetry Club event and includes limited open mic.
Crossing Borders: A Multicultural Poetry Soirée
7.00–8.00 pm
Planet Royale
$20 Regular/$15 WAPoets/Concession. https://www.trybooking.com/1088084
To participate in this event via Zoom ($15) click on the link: https://www.trybooking.com/1088398
Cash bar and food available
Join us for an enchanting evening of poetic beauty at the “Crossing Borders: A Multicultural Poetry Soirée” at the Perth Poetry Festival 2023. This inclusive and accessible event is dedicated to celebrating the rich tapestry of diverse voices that thrive in Western Australia’s multicultural landscape.
Prepare to be transported on an extraordinary journey as we showcase a fine line-up of five featured poets, each hailing from unique cultural backgrounds, including a distinguished poet laureate from Washington, United States. Their verses will weave tales of their homelands, shed light on shared human experiences, and explore the beauty of cultural diversity.
This soirée is designed to be a warm and welcoming gathering, welcoming individuals from all walks of life. Whether you’re a seasoned poetry enthusiast or someone just discovering the power of words, this event promises to leave an indelible impression. Our commitment to accessibility ensures that everyone can partake in the magic of poetry, regardless of physical abilities or language barriers.
Embrace the mosaic of cultures as you immerse yourself in an evening of rhythmic cadences, evocative imagery, and thought-provoking narratives. Engage with the poets and fellow attendees, fostering connections that transcend borders and bridge divides.
Mark your calendars for this remarkable evening of poetic exploration. Together, let us embrace the beauty of multiculturalism and multilingualism, and embark on a poetic journey that knows no bounds.
Featured Poets: Arianne True, Tineke Van Der Eecken, Jerome Masamaka and Elizabeth Lewis.
MC: Lakshmi Kanchi.
Open Mic: Limited open mic will be available. Multilingual poetry is encouraged for open mic.
Floetry
8.30–9.30 pm
Planet Royale
$20 Regular/$15 WAPoets/Concession. https://www.trybooking.com/1088084
To participate in this event via Zoom ($15) click on the link: https://www.trybooking.com/1088398
Cash bar and food available
An Evening of Flute Music and Eco-Poetry Floetry is a contemplation of the beauty and fragility of our ecosystems explored through poetry and music. It is a unique collaboration between Leeming Flute Ensemble and award-winning poets living and writing on Whadjuk Nyungar Boodjar. Each poet will read a selection of carefully curated poems on the theme of environment, interspersed with evocative musical pieces selected and performed by Leeming Flute Ensemble. The works will allow the audience to reflect on the significance of our irreplaceable natural heritage, to lament its degradation, and ultimately feel inspired to uphold our collective environmental wealth with renewed resolve. The performance will culminate in a suite of poems specific to wetlands, interlaced with exquisite musical motifs.
Lisa Collyer is a poet living and working on Whadjuk Nyoongar Boodja. She writes poetry with a focus on women’s bodies like the jagged edge of a can opened up. Recently, she was short-listed for The Dorothy Hewett Award for her unpublished manuscript, How to Order Eggs Sunny Side Up.
Elio Novello writes poetry when he has something to write about. He became interested in poetry when reading his older brother’s school poetry books as a youngster. His subject matter tends to revolve around religion, mathematics/physics, the environment and other social issues.
Lakshmi Kanchi is an emerging Western Australian poet of Indian descent. She is a Centre for Stories’ fellow and the recipient of the 2021 Pocketry Prize for Unpublished Poets. Her work appears in – “Social Alternatives”, “Portside Review”, “Burrow Journal” and more. She is the current Poet-in-Residence at The Wetlands Centre Cockburn.
Sunny Blundell-Wignall is grateful to have lived and grown up on Whadjuk Nyoongar Boodja. He writes to stand with hope, rage and remember. His poetry is published in the anthology Becoming Known: Emerging Poets 2020, Poetry d’Amour 2015, ekphrastic poetry anthology Creative Connections, online journal Recoil and his chapbook These Reeds.
Gillian Clark is a WA-based poet with a sensitivity to nature and a love of performance in poetry. With a NIDA acting background, inclusions in “Letters To Our Home” anthology, “Creatrix” issues, and “Poetry d’Amour” anthology, she has facilitated and performed with the Storytellers Guild of WA and at Melville Midwinter Festival.
Samantha Melia has always had a deep passion and love for the written word, especially poetry. She writes about her travels, childhood, self-discovery, birth, death, and experiences that shape the conscious and subconscious mind. Read more of her work in her first collection, Love and Loss.
Leeming Flute Troupe is a project of Leeming Area Community Bands (LACB), a not-for-profit community music organisation with multiple concert bands, smaller ensembles, and a big band. LACB exists to create opportunities for musicians and music students alike to rehearse, develop, and perform together.
SUNDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER
ReVERBerations
3.00–6.00 pm
Switch Theatre
Tickets $15 Regular/$10 WAPoets/Concession. https://www.trybooking.com/1088098
To participate in this event via Zoom ($10) click on the link: https://www.trybooking.com/1088398
ReVERBeration is sound poets and poets working with sound. This features a huge variety of sound from classical cello to found sounds, from sweet viola to the noisiest electronic cacophony, and poetry from modern classics to contemporary textual experiments, via haiku and early modernism, to dionysian mania.
ReVERBeration features
- MC Chris Arnold, introducing —
- Catastrophe, Two Uneasy Pieces,
- texts and sounds by Mar Bucknell and Ray Grenfell
- Natalie D-Napoleon with Cathi Olivieri on viola, Voices of the Broken Butterflies
- bozo vs subaware, bozo and subaware’s delightful sonic journey into ecocide:
- an artificially intelligent exploration of environmental destruction
- text and electronica by Allan Boyd with Tonja Boyd on vocals
- Chris Arnold, Vox Haul
- Coral Carter and Marcus John, Trainspotting from the Bedroom Window, found text, photographs and found sounds by Coral Carter
- Susanne Harford and Micheli Maszniew, No More Petrol, haiku and sounds by Susanne Harford with paintings by Micheli Maszniew
- Mar Bucknell, The Drunken Boat by Arthur Rimbaud in a new translation by Mar Bucknell, vocals and electronics
- Liana Joy Christensen, Tap Rap C.D., Tap into this whirlwind tour of the origin and evolution of Charles Darwin’s famous theory
- Sage, barbarous words
- Kevin Gillam, Bach and Inbetweens, Bach cello suites with poetic interventions on vocals
- Splodge, SOS.:)xxx, Apocalyptic Sounds n Noises Giggles n a Smiggen of Splodge wrapped in the freedoms shared when melodic memories n thorts to bee had R aired out to dry hugged by the wind n teased by the hope of one’s daily practice of . . . . . . ???
Festival Finale
6.30–9.00 pm
Switch Theatre
Tickets $20 Regular/$15 WAPoets/Concession. https://www.trybooking.com/1088098
To participate in this event via Zoom ($15) click on the link: https://www.trybooking.com/1088398
A celebration of everything about the festival with final performances by the guest poets; Arianne True (USA), Juan Garrido Salgado (SA), Indrani Perera (Vic), Jean Kent (NSW), and WA poets Lisa Collyer, Caitlin Maling, Talya Rubin and Luoyang Chen. Finishing with a special presentation by the Festival Poetry Residents; Jake Dennis, Gillian Clark and Kerry Greer.
The 2023 Perth Poetry Festival receives funds from Creative Partnerships Australia through the Australia Cultural Fund and is supported by;
