It was three months ago, but better late than never ... I just wanted to write a note about my inspiring weekend at the Tasmanian Poetry Festival in Launceston in March 2021. So great to get to know the northern poetry community a bit better - they are a brilliant bunch. I was a last-minute inclusion in the program after another guest poet had to pull out. I missed the lead-up events and the launch but made it to all the Saturday and Sunday events and performed a set at each. I read some poems about climate change, domestic violence, infertility and parenting. A few poems were from my book Undertow but most were new ones, including from my verse novel manuscript.
I was in the company of some very talented poets, including
Kim Nolan, Geoffrey Miller, Jane Williams, Joy Elizabeth and Rebecca Young. It
was fabulous to be there when Kristen Lang launched Jane’s new book “points of
recognition”, and over the weekend I was also lucky to be at the launches of
Joy Elizabeth’s new book “Fragile Friday”, Nancy Corbett’s collection “The
Longest Conversation” and Kristen Lang’s book “Earth Dwellers”, launched by
Ralph Wessman from Walleah Press. I’m all stocked up and have been enjoying
exploring the new work in these books since I came home.
Rebecca Young, a young woman from northern Tasmania, bravely
performed some powerful poetry covering themes of trauma, sexual abuse and
fraught family relationships. Geoffrey Miller impressed with his gentle style
and subtle humour, and won over the crowd to win the coveted Launceston Poetry
Cup. Colin Berry did a fabulous job of directing and MC’ing. There had been a
lot of rain beforehand and I managed to fit in a walk along Cataract Gorge to witness
the water thundering through. A very nourishing weekend.
Photos below of the festival guest poets, me reading at the Sunday session in the Albert Hall and some of the books I brought home to enjoy. More pics in the gallery tab of this blog.
