Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Gaol gig was bonkers!

Just home from the Castlemaine State Festival. I had the pleasure of reading at the Old Gaol up there which was a perfect setting for ‘ghost poetry’. I featured with two blow-your-mind poets, Ian McBryde and Karen Knight, who just happened to blow my mind.

So I get up there, the lights go down and I start shouting at the audience who are surrounded by cells, sitting just beneath the gallows.

Who was there to shout back at me from the second storey?

The kick-arse-wonder-poet, Ross Gillett. This guy handled the call-and-response poem like the true professional he is, helping open my set to perfection. Ross is a total inspiration to me, and I’ve learnt so much from his lyrical poetry over the last few years. Thanks mate! You really do put the ‘la’ in Ballarat ;)

And was extra-chuffed too with the poets & peers who turned out to listen and support the evening. It makes me feel very encouraged and well, just plain gooey-ectoplasm-special. Ta. Ross Donlon, you rock!

So, the gig was friggin ace! You could have heard a pin drop (or a condemned man) through each of the readings. Now if anyone else has a gaol they want me to read at, just send me a line. The Ghost Poetry Project will be launched in August. Can't wait!

Check out one of my ghost poems here on Stylus, written about the 'haunted' Quarantine Station at Spring Cove. Friggin spooky!

http://www.styluspoetryjournal.com/main/master.asp?id=920

Now a big shout-out to my kiss-and-a-punch poetry star, Alicia Sometimes. Check out her super new book, Soundtrack, plus she’s working on a new spoken word spectacular at the Melbourne Planetarium. How cool will that be? Check out the details here…

http://www.aliciasometimes.com/page13.htm

So after all this festival action I had the pleasure of running into Australia’s Rummikub champion. Yes the game of Rummikub is played at the highest level, and before long she found herself on an all expenses paid trip to Holland to battle it out with the best… placing ninth in the world! Not bad for someone who’d only ever played the game once before. I am so in the wrong game!!! But with a bit of enthusiasm you too could be off to the next competition in Spain. Bizarre.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Poetry Thread

Hey

I hope you wanna check out this new thread of poems. From four exciting Aussie writers (and a new poem of mine at the end). I was chuffed just to be invited.

http://grahamnunn.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/guided-by-poets-queensland/

might see you at Castlemaine this weekend.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Speedos & Silver Bullets

Just back from another weekend in Melbourne.

I spent Friday night drinking Silver Bullets with the Dream Technologist. Turns out that neither of us are Werewolves.

Saturday morning and I was swimming laps at Brunswick pool in tight Speedos. I know, I don’t know how that ended up happening either. I haven’t worn Speedos since I was ten! But I slipped them on and loved every second of it.

Then I went and had a coffee with my friend and shit-hot director, Greg Carroll. He said:

Yeah I’ve known a lot of poets. I’ve looked after them. They’re all dead now. ;)

Next was a recording session for Going Down Swinging at RRR. It was great to catch up with my Melbourne posse who helped me lay down my 8 min track. Sean was on the studio floor belting the crap out of Lisa's leather handbag at my feet. I guess you'll just have to hear it. They even gave me some fashion tips before I went off to a wedding. They said: Nathan, no bandana! Which turned out to be good advice.

The wedding went well and I finally met Joel Deane, poet, novelist and the Premier’s speech writer. Joel and I have been published in a number of journals together, including in the Best Aust Poems 08. So we had a chat about the difference between poetry and political rhetoric (in which I think I said some dumb things) then we covered Peter Garrett, community groups and the bizarre world of Doncaster Shoppingtown.

Check out his blog here. http://joeldeane.blogspot.com/

Monday, March 2, 2009

Progress?

So here's a poem I didn't write but that was published with my name beneath it... in a literary hoax that I'm only just catching up on. How slow am I?

I guess this is the poetry equivalent of being 'punked'. But my main objection is that the hoax wasn't more creative... a computer came up with stuff and they just stuck names to it. So here is my first computer generated poem that i didn't even have to generate.

Progress

Right rights and left
.earrings
A glass
A shore
A delay
A delay

Glory

Serenity written inside hardihood
A kind of champaign
Confronted
Throwing
Singleness
Progress
High desires and
.sure places