Love Poetry Under the Stars

Saturday 11 February 2023 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM (UTC+08)

FAAWA Amphitheatre
Claire Copse, Swanbourne. WA

Bring a picnic and enjoy an evening of romance, music and poetry with your special person in an unique setting. Featuring SoulReserve, Ian Reid, Miranda Aitken (accompanied by Rachel Armstrong), Rita Tognini, Rhian Healy, Kevin Gillam and Gillian Clark. PLUS open microphone opportunities (register on the night) and interactive online poetry (participate with your phone). Gates open at 6pm, event commences at 7pm. Please note: this is an outdoor venue so bring a rug, cushions (or low chairs), mosquito repellent, etc.

Cost: $20 Regular/$15 WAPoets members and Concession Card holders (plus booking fee).

To Purchase tickets, click on the following link: https://www.trybooking.com/CFDYA

Limited door sales and Poetry d’Amour anthologies available for purchase (EFTPOS available).

If you are concerned about Covid or are unable to attend in person, you can participate in this event via Zoom. To book your place click here (tickets are $20/$15 plus booking fee).

Featuring:

SoulReserve

SoulReserve (Lakshmi Kanchi) is an emerging Western Australian poet of Indian descent. Her poetry explores love and its tremulousness, fantasy and zest in nature, and allegories that provoke thought and evoke tender feelings. She is the current Poet-in-Residence at The Wetlands Centre Cockburn and the recipient of the 2021 Pocketry Prize for Unpublished Poets. Her poem ‘The Sacred Place of Lotus’ was “Highly Commended” in Poetry d’Amour Contest, and ‘1064°C’ was “Commended” in Ros Spencer Poetry Prize—announced at the 2022 Perth Poetry Festival. Her published works appear in—Social Alternatives, Portside Review, Burrow Journal, The Saltbush Review, Blue Bottle Journal and more.

Ian Reid

Ian Reid’s poems appear in many Australian magazines (e.g. Burrow, Cordite, Meanjin, Quadrant, Saltbush Review, StylusLit, Unlikely, Voices) and anthologies (e.g. Poetry for the Planet, Ear to Earth), and internationally as well. Book-length selections of his poetry have been published in Australia, Canada and the USA, and translated into Korean. He is also the author of five novels. His awards include the Antipodes prize for poetry.

Miranda Aitken

Miranda Aitken is a WA poet and musician who writes intimate stories of human fragility, deep connection to nature, and the need to protect wild places.  Her poetry has been published in journals and anthologies, including Poetry d’Amour and Australian Love Poems, and features in several public arts works in the southwest.  Raised by the Warren River in Bibbulmun country, Miranda Aitken lives and writes by the Wooditjup Bilya (Margaret River) in Wadandi country.   She will be joined by Fremantle writer and musician, Rachel Armstrong, on violin and mandolin.  

Rita Tognini

Rita Tognini is a WA writer of poetry and short fiction. Her work has won commendations and prizes. Her poetry has been published in collections and journals, including: Poetry Anthology; Cordite; Creatrix; Eureka Street; Cuttlefish; Imago; Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language; Overland; Revista Interdisciplinar de Literatura e Ecocrítica (RILE); The Enchanting Verses; Uneven Floor; Westerly andWritpoetryreview. In 2018, Rita was selected for the Four Centres Emerging Writer Program. She is preparing a poetry collection and has completed a short fiction collection.

Kevin Gillam

Kevin Gillam: is a West Australian born poet, ‘cellist and music educator. He has had 4 books pr poetry published, the most recent being the moon’s reminder, 2018 Ginninderra Press. He has won numerous poetry awards including the Tom Collins Poetry Prize in 2021.

Gillian Clark

Gillian Clark is a WA based poet, writer and performer with a sensitivity to nature, drama in art, and a love of performance poetry. With a National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) acting background, her love of words has led her to poetry and literary writing. She was a Katherine Susannah Pritchard Writers Fellowship recipient, had an inclusion in Letters To Our Home environmental poetry anthology, Ros Spencer poetry anthology 2021, Creatrix publications, Poetry d’Amour anthology 2022 and WA Poets Pathways chapbook 2022.  Gillian has been a featured poet at Perth Poetry Club and performed at Storytellers Guild of WA showcase night, she is also a committee member of the WA Poets. In 2022, she was a Melville Midwinter festival contributor, poetry workshop facilitator, poetry performer and facilitated Poetry in the Pub for Melville Storylines.

Rhian Healy is a WA based poet with an interest in the absurd. In 2022, Rhian’s poetry won the Philippa Holland Award for poetry, came 2nd in the Ros Spencer Award for poetry and was longlisted in the 2022 Peter Porter Prize.