A Poetry Gig at Portarlington
from Wendy
Occasionally in the Geelong region a poetry afternoon draws writers and friends to the Portarlington Hotel upstairs ballroom (now carpeted). Janine McGuiness and Brendan Ryan organise these gigs.
Last Saturday the writers featured were Richard Kakol, Yvonne Adami, Kevin Densley, Jackie Hosking and Annie Barclay. Then we had violin music and a narrative by Astrid van den Akker-Luttmer. A blackboard list encouraged readings from members of the audience adding spice to the planned program.
I enjoyed the variety – serious, literary, political, smart one-liners, a fractured fairy tale of the Three Little Pigs. I probably laughed at the wrong times as well. Poetry can be so introverted at times and unreadable, but spoken words at a gig like this is a good way to test the sounds and whether the words do communicate. Richard Kakol, using his Braille laptop, read stunning poems about the Antarctic and climbing Everest, poems very visual as well as layered with insight into human behaviour.
The pics include Annie Barclay, Richard Kakol, Maurie Murphy and a group sunning in the balcony of the hotel.
posted by Peceli and Wendy's Blog at 11:29 PM
2 Comments:
Sounds like fun!
I've rarely had an opportunity to display, let alone express, any of my poetry in a public forum...unless you count song lyrics.
I have mixed feelings about poetry gigs because though it is important to hear the spoken word, many poems need re-reading a few times. Some of the poems at that gig were difficult to understand just on one reading, and also some people throw away their words by speaking too quietly or rushing.
It's good when the organizers put a few printouts of the texts on the tables as we drink our coffee/beer/wine. Well, it's wine mostly - though not for this wowswer.
W.
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