Queensland Poetry Festival 2017: Distant Voices

QPF 2017 kicks off next week and I’m thrilled to be attending and to be involved in a number of events.

These will be co-presented by Verity La and will introduce the journal’s Clozapine Clinic mental health writing project to the Festival. A huge thanks to Festival co-directors Anne-Marie Te Whiu and David Stavanger for inviting us to take part and help shine some much needed light on the critical issue of mental health.

At 10-11am on Thursday 24 August at Brisbane Square Library there will be readings by me, Tim Heffernan, Alise Blayney and Ariel Riveros Pavez along with members of Words on the Street (from Brisbane’s School of Hard Knocks), performing work that draws upon lived experiences in the mental health system.

At 11 30am-12 30pm I’ll be chairing ‘Thieves of Fire’, a panel discussion with Tim, Alise and Ariel about how mental health has shaped their work and how the power of poetry can assist in reclaiming one’s voice in times of psychological distress.

At 6-7 30pm my co-judge Nathan Sherperdson and I will be presenting the Philip Bacon Ekphrasis Award at the Festival’s Opening Night in the Judith Wright Centre. There’ll be drinks and music in the foyer from 5 pm – woohoo!

On Friday 25 August, 12-1pm, I’ll be appearing with Haider CatanAriel Riveros and Max Ryan in Before the Sky: Poetry Readings.

This will be followed at 2pm by Pray Ho’tell, where poet and mental health advocate Alise Blayney will screen a short film and talk about the work of her former partner, and late surrealist poet, Benjamin Frater, exploring the relationship between automatic writing and the schizophrenic vernacular.

These are FREE EVENTS, as are 75% of the other exciting things on offer over the four days of the Festival. So if you’re within hollering distance of Brisbane and love your poetry, spoken word and music, come along, say hi, and join the festivities!