To provide feedback on any Festival event click here
A range of free and low-cost events including workshops, discussions and poetry readings that will inspire you and encourage you to develop your poetry.
These events take place on Whadjuk Noongar land. WAPI acknowledges the traditional custodians of this land and extend our respects to Elders past, present and future.
Note: Sections in grey have been postponed to a later date. Program subject to change without notice. Please check closer to the day for updates.
To download a copy of the program click on the following: 2020 Festival Events V1.4 A
WAPI follows Covid requirements at venues. Guest poets appearing via Zoom will be projected onto a screen.
Perth Poetry Club. Note venue changed to Moana Hall
Towards a Tradition of West Australian Poetry
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Big Screen
Piazza & Cultural Centre, Perth
21–27 September
WAPPI is collaborating with the City of Perth to project poetry and related content on the big screen, at random times from 21–25 September, in James Street outside PICA and at the Piazza, corner James and Lake St.
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Poetry Doctor
Monday & Wednesday, 21 & 23 September
10am-1pm
WAPI Office, Bon Marche Arcade
$20 per 30-minute session. To book click here
Andrew Burke will be available for one on one, 30 minute “consultations” with poets to provide constructive criticism of any of their poems that need diagnosis, analysis, revision etc. Up to 3 poems (or 6 haiku) can be emailed to Andrew beforehand.
Andrew Burke has published thirteen poetry collections, one novel and a smattering of short stories, book reviews and literary criticism.
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Poetry Surgeon
Tuesday, 22 September
10am-1pm
WAPI Office, Bon Marche Arcade
$20 per 30-minute session. To book click here
Rose van Son will be available for one on one, 30 minute “consultations” with poets to provide constructive criticism of any of their poems that need diagnosis, analysis, revision etc. Up to 3 poems (or 6 haiku) can be emailed to Rose beforehand.
Rose van Son has been published in Westerly, Cordite, Australian Poetry, Grieve and more. Her prizes include places in the Tom Collins and Ethel Webb Bundell contests. Her collections are in Sandfire, Three in the Campagna, Three Owls and a Crescent Moon and Cloak of Letters.
Friday 18 September
Outspoken
7 – 9.30pm
This is a Zoom event
$10 waged/$5 un-waged To book click here
Funds raised will be donated to supporting the LGBTIQA+ radio show, Rainbow KINection.
Join us for an evening of LGBTIQA+ poetry as we celebrate the diversity of queer verse here in Perth… and beyond. As always, OUTspoken is a fundraising event. This year we will be raising funds for Noongar Radio’s first ever LGBTIQA+ radio show, Rainbow KINection.
You will hear poetry from the likes of Fable Goldsmith, Ysadora Alexander, Zenatalla Ibrahim, Bron Bateman plus special guests from near and far. Be sure to dress up fancy because award winning photographer Marla Bishop will be documenting the entire evening. Open mic will be available.
OUTspoken is an LGBTIQA+ inclusive safe space.
Saturday 19 September
Young Poets
2-4pm
Moon Café
Entry by donation
This year has been dire for everyone because of the dreaded Covid. It has impacted on our lives in many ways. For Year Twelve students who work under enormous pressure in their final year of school. Covid has added an extra dimension of stress. Will there be official examinations, won’t there? Will school be online, or normal as in bodies on seats? Nonetheless, the young poets reading out their work today, have still found time to be creative and in this most special of genres.
All of the poets who are reading for this segment are still at school and just about to begin their final school examinations. They have made time away from study to be with us here today in order to read out their poems. While talking to the group they confessed that some of their work was for school ‘assessment’ and that they had drawn inspiration from studied poets including Eliot, Plath, Cummings and Heany. They found poetry allowed for interpretation of life events as well as diverse thinking about what it means to be human in this day and age. All of them believed that the creativity involved in writing poetry brings individuals together, allows for wider thinking and invokes a disciplined manner of trying to say something worthwhile.
The young poets this year are, Lily Arbuckle. Ella Miels and Sophie Michael. Their young and enthusiastic voices bring us a new generation of poets. Listen and appreciate what it is they have to say.
This is a combined WA Poets/Perth Poetry Club event and includes limited open mic.
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Experimental Poetry
This event has been postponed to a later date. Please check
our website and Facebook page for updates.
Bam! Crash! Wow! We’re back again with our Experimental Poetry Showcase for another year with more weird and wonderful experimental performance poetry. This year, our three commissioned works will examine the intersection of inventive poetics and culture. Expect a layering of voices, a celebration of community and a touch of the new, the unfamiliar and the exploratory.
Not to be missed, this is an opportunity to witness how innovative and inspiring Perth poets can be. Limited open mic will be available.
Sunday 20 September
When Things Change
OOTA Poets
2–4pm
Moana Hall
This is a free event
Cash Bar available
Join OOTA poets for an afternoon of poetry pleasure. Featuring readings by Jackson, Rita Tognini, Yvonne Patterson, Laurie Smith, Rose van Son, Kevin Gillam, Gail Williams, Fran Graham, Vivienne Glance and Tineke Van der Eecken.
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Anti Slam
This event has been postponed to a later date. Please check
our website and Facebook page for updates.
A reaction to conventional slams where the worst/most humorous poetry performance wins. Cash prizes for winners. Sign in at 6.15pm, limited slots so be prompt.
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Book Launches
7-9.30pm
Moana Hall
This is a free event
To participate in this event via Zoom click here
Cash Bar available
Join WA Poets Publishing, Andrew Burke and KSP in launching
Creatrix 3 an anthology of selected poetry and haiku from the Creatrix issues published 2017–19.
New & Selected. Peter Holland will launch Andrew Burke’s latest publication. This new selection ranges over many books from 1970’s until the present, covering the highs and lows of life in the cadence of everyday speech. Books available throughout the Festival.
Of Moon & Sea Jan Napier will launch the Poet’s@KSP anthology followed by select readings by contributors.
All books will be available for purchase.
Monday 21 September
First Nation Poets
This event has been postponed to a later date. Please check
our website and Facebook page for updates.
Join us for an evening of First Nation poetry which will feature the likes of Cassie Lynch, Daniel Hansen and many more as they explore Language, Country and decolonisation.
Open mic on the evening available for First Nations poets.
Tuesday 22 September
Emerging Poets
This event has been postponed to a later date
to coincide with the launch of the Emerging Poets Anthology.
Please check our website and Facebook page for updates.
Over the past two years, our Emerging Poets Program has seen a team of Perth’s brightest emerging poets go from strength to strength. With the Program coming to a close, this evening is a culmination of their talent, their ability, their voices. Be here to see how bright they can shine and to join us in congratulating them and all of their accomplishments.
Appearing on the night will be Josephine Clarke, Ruari Jack Hughes, Sunny Wignall, Colin Young, Mel Knight and our two PPF Emerging Poets Taonga Sendama and Fable Goldsmith.
Wednesday 23 September
Lunch Poets
12–1pm
Northbridge Piazza, cnr James & Lake St. Perth
This is a free event
Come for a mega open mike. Register on the day for a 3 minute slot and read your poetry to an open crowd.
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Spoken Word Perth
7-9.30pm
Moana Hall
$10 waged/$5 un-waged.
Cash Bar available
It’s time to dust off the mic, lift yourself out of your covid bubble and thank the universe we don’t reside in Victoria or USA. For our first event since the pandemic began, in these uncertain times as every “news” outlet ever will have you know, we have an amazing feature poet who can breathe life with their prose and knock you from stable sensibilities with their creative spirit – it’s STAS! As our last event featuring STAS was cancelled due to the pandemic we would love to hear what magic you came up with for that theme, however in these tumultuous times we also relish you being “STRONG”.
For more information click here
Thursday 24 September
Poetry Gala
7 – 10pm
Moana Hall
$15 waged/$10 un-waged. To book click here. Limited door sales
To participate in this event via Zoom click here (cost $10)
Cash Bar available
Featuring key note speech by Festival Patron, Andrew Burke and a taste of what is to come from guest poets Michael Dylan Welch, Anne-Marie Te Whiu, David Stavanger, David McCooey, Fable Glodsmith, Samantha Melia, Taonga Sendama and Mike Williams plus the Creatrix Poetry and Haiku Prize presentations.
Friday 25 September
Wellness Poetry
11am for a 11.30 start. 1pm finish
Holyrood Pavilion
This is a free event
Lunch, tea and coffee are free; soft drinks are $1.50
For the sixth year running, the Festival will travel to the Lorikeet Centre/Clubhouse to enjoy the poetry of Rose van Son, Allan Padgett and Leonard James. The emphasis in work will be positive and focussing on the journey to mental wellness. Everyone is invited to perform in the Open Section, as long as pieces stay on topic. This is your chance to enjoy the supportive and friendly atmosphere of its members and share in the power of words to address mental wellness.
Rose van Son has been published in Westerly, Cordite, Australian Poetry, Grieve and more. Her prizes include places in the Tom Collins and Ethel Webb Bundell contests. Her collections are in Sandfire, Three in the Campagna and Three Owls and a Crescent Moon. Cloak of Letters and Nature’s Warehouse are her most recent publicatins.
Allan Padgett is a WA poet, published in a number of journals. Allan was second in the 2012 Creatrix Poetry Prize and joint winner of the 2018 Creatrix Occasional Poetry Prize. He had two poems shortlisted and published in the 2017 Australian Catholic University Prize for Poetry.
Leonard James is a writer born and currently residing on Whadjuk Noongar Boodja. They have volunteered helping organise open-mic event Perth Poetry Club and experimental art space Clear Your Throat. In 2019, Leonard was one of three judges for the WAPI Creatrix WA Prize, and in 2018 participated in presenting anti-war poetry for the centennary of WW1 armistice at the Mattie Furphy House.
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Instagram Poetry Arvo
This event has been postponed to a later date. Please check
our website and Facebook page for updates.
Much of the poetry that appears on Instagram is a new and innovative form of visual poetry. Here poets explore concrete, erasure, collage and other forms to create striking and concise visual and written pieces. Rupi Kaur, Austin Kleon, erasure poets and visual artists have utilised insta-poetry to share their poetry and images to a wider audience, popularising poetry with a young audience.
This afternoon we will present 15 poems from each Instagram poet, the poets will read their poems as well as having their words and Instagram poem images projected alongside. There will also be an open mic for insta-poets and internet poets – bring your Instagram handle to share! Our first feature poet will be @SoulReserve among others.
This promises to be an exciting event that explores experimental and visual forms of poetry that engage with social media and current topics. For many young poets this will be the first time they have read their work to an audience.
Come along for an engaging night of emerging and innovative poetry.
Hosted by Ellie Creedy and co-ordinated by Natalie D-Napoleon and Ellie Creedy.
Poets can apply to be a part of this event by submitting poems with the hashtags #instapoetsarvo #perthpoetryfestival before August 25th.
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Under a West Australian Sky: Eco Poetry Evening
This event has been postponed to a later date. Please check
our website and Facebook page for updates.
In the era of climate change our relationship with nature is continually being re-written, re-examined and revisioned. Poetry has the power to express our views on the climate crisis as well as our love for and relationship with the environment.
On this evening we will feature West Australian poets Amanda Joy, Josephine Clarke, Jackson, Vivienne Glance, Jennifer Kornberger and Allan Boyd, who each examine ecopoetry and the topics of climate and environmental change from unique viewpoints. The event will include readings from feature poets and an open mic, so bring along your best work which explores your personal and our collective relationship to the environment, and your views on the future direction of humanity’s relationship with the earth which sustains us.
This evening will be hosted by Natalie D-Napoleon, an award-winning WA poet who examines the legacy of farming upon the environment, West Australian flora, and the relationship of women’s bodies with the land.
Saturday 26 September
Perth Poetry Club
2-4pm
Moana Hall NOTE change of venue
Entry by donation
Drinks available from the bar, card only
A smattering of poetry from all of the festival guest poets; Michael Dylan Welch, Anne-Marie Te Whiu, David Stavanger, Fable Glodsmith, Samantha Melia and Taonga Sendama.
This is a combined WA Poets/Perth Poetry Club event and includes limited open mic.
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How to be Published
(10 Lessons Learned from a Year of 101 Rejections)
This event has been postponed to a later date. Please check
our website and Facebook page for updates.
In this open discussion workshop session Natalie D-Napoleon delves into her own writerly anxieties and self-doubt to deliver to some insights on rejection. After reading an article on Lit Hub about seeking rejection rather than acceptance D-Napoleon found a way to break through with her writing career. This culminated in her book publication and Bruce Dawe Poetry Prize win. In this workshop you will examine your own fears and doubts and walk away with real world techniques to improve your writing and banish your fears.
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Perth Slam 2020 Allstars
4.30 – 6.30pm
Rosemount Hotel
459 Fitzgerald Street, North Perth,
Entry: $10 or $5 Concession.
Sign up to SLAM @ 4:30pm
Slam event starts at 5pm.
16 slam spots are available.
Please read our rules: http://www.perthslam.com/rules
“Perth Slam 2020 Allstars – the winner is poetry!” Featuring the WA finalists and heat winners of the 2020 Australian Poetry Slam and more… Checkout this city’s top performing stage poets. No Judges! This is not a competition! Just a chance to witness short sharp bursts of linguistic fitness. In the flesh! Limited open mic. $10/5 entry. Presented by Perth Slam.
More information at https://www.facebook.com/events/2628880540773784/
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Multicultural Poetry
7 – 9.30pm
Moana Hall
$10 waged/$5 un-waged. To book click here. Limited door sales.
To participate in this event via Zoom click here (cost $5)
Drinks available from the bar, card only
Join us for a fascinating evening of poetry and conversation!
Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests have shaken the complacency of many and opened up a conversation around who needs to be heard, and who needs to listen. Creativity is on display at many BLM rallies and protest in many ways, such as performance actions, artwork, and songs.
How can poetry respond to this moment? What do we offer as writers who reflect the lived experiences of our community and culture have to say about racial injustice in Australia at a moment in history? What does spoken word, that very act of breathing lyrical words, have to say?
Maitland Schnaars, Taonga Sendama (PPF guest poet), Alexander Te Pohe, and Yahye Sheihk-Abdi, share their poetry and their thoughts with MC Vivienne Glance.
Plus, Anne-Marie Te Whiu (PPF guest poet) and Xolile Mabuza (Sth Africa) will appear via Zoom.
Open mike spots available of 1-2 poems, max time 4 mins, register on the night at the door.
The Mobility Fund is supporting Xolile’s involvement in this event.
Sunday 27 September
Towards a Tradition of West Australian Poetry
This event has been postponed to a later date. Please check
our website and Facebook page for updates.
Given that our State now occupies a highly significant place of independent and economic vitality in so many fields, it is timely to examine the thousands of years of Dreamtime songlines and performed poetry alongside two hundred years of written text generated by colonial settlers and multicultural migrants as well as the solid emergence of vital indigenous writing.
In the digital deluge that has beset WA POETRY it has been easy to forget our poetic forebears that have laboured over the years to bring about our wonderful poetry season and this festival.This session, generated by five elders living most of their lives in local poetry and a noted anthologist aims to highlight six poets who might form a convenient basis of a tradition of WA POETRY that celebrates our history and craft.
Peter Bibby leads with the poetry of RANDOLPH STOW who, as a prodigy novelist had him ranked alongside Patrick White before he went into literary exile overseas. His early poetry was often ‘outsider’ themed, and later his embrace of Tao philosophy generated his tragic elegy on the Australian POWs who laboured on the Burma Railway.
FAY ZWICKY, much loved UWA mentor and nominated as one of WA’s ‘Living Treasures’ will have poems and comment by her anthologist and keynote lecturer Lucy Dougan.
Famed for his novels on Guildford Grammar and the Cowra Breakout and his highly sensuous poetry SEAFORTH MC KENZIE will be appraised by Glen Phillips who has studied him closely.
Andrew Burke will remember his friend the controversial DOROTHY HEWETT through her poems that rival the great range of plays, memoir and novels she wrote in her eventful life.
JACK DAVIS, who with his newsletter for the Aboriginal Advancement League and subsequently with AWOLDA done so much for the emergence of indigenous writing will be presented by Peter Jeffery as a poet of merit rather than his fame as a playwright and one of the keystones of Australian theatre.
Finally the remarkable DOROTHY MC GOWAN who was the winner four times in succession of the Tom Collins Poetry Prize and her final book that was so well received at its launch by several of us presenters as friends will have comments and poems by Shane McCauley.
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Festival Finale
7 – 10pm
Moana Hall
$15 waged/$10 un-waged. To book click here. Limited door sales.
To participate in this event via Zoom click here (cost $10)
Drinks available from the bar, card only
A celebration of everything about the festival with final performances by the guest poets; Michael Dylan Welch, Anne-Marie Te Whiu, David Stavanger, Fable Glodsmith, Samantha Melia and Taonga Sendama plus the presentation of the Ros Spencer Poetry Contest Prizes.
Monday 28th September
Voicebox Bookcase Showcase
7–9pm
Navy Club
$12 waged/$6 un-waged at the door.
The Voicebox collective hosts a showcase of WA poetry publications from the last 12 months, and introduces new collective members to you. Books will be on sale. Poets include Dennis Haskell, Rose van Son, Rachael Petrides, Veronica Lake, Coral Carter, Natalie D-Napoleon, Andrew Burke and more.
Big Screen Cultural Centre, Northbridge
Holyrood Pavilion 8 Holyrood St., West Leederville
Kings Park Wildflower Pavilion near Boab Tree
Mattie Furphy House Claire Copse, Swanbourne
Moana Hall 618 Hay St Mall, Perth (corner of Hay and Barrack Sts).
Moon Café 323 William St, Northbridge (near Newcastle St)
Navy Club 64 High St., Fremantle
Northbridge Piazza Cnr James and lake St., Perth
Tom Collins House 80 Wood St., Swanbourne
WAPI Office Level 2, Rm 33 Bon Marche Arcade. 80 Barrack St. Perth
The 2020 Perth Poetry Festival acknowledges the support of the Western Australian State Government, through BE Perth, and receives funds from Creative Partnerships Australia through the Australia Cultural Fund. This Festival is supported by;
