Spoken Word

Lizz Murphy talks to Di Cousens about her new book of poetry, The Wear of My Face. She is an Irish-Australian poet who lives outside Canberra in New South Wales. The matters that have concerned Murphy poetically in the past persist in this collection - especially social justice and the lives of women: girls, vulnerable to predation, but also older women, or poorer women, or women displaced. Murphy's interest in finding poetic inspiration in found texts and visual art is again apparent, and the collection includes an arresting ekphrastic series responding to photographs of refugee children by photojournalist Magnus Wennman. There are also a number of reflective poems in the collection that touch, tangentially, upon the health system, poems set in waiting rooms, or on the road to and from appointments, or in carparks - the liminal spaces where individuality is strangely set aside, but where poetry may be found.

Grace de las Nieves reads poetry from her debut collection, La Gracia de las Nieves. The book is published in Spanish, with English translations. Presenter, Brendan Bonsack, reads the English versions. Grace chats about coming to Melbourne from Chile, women's power and poetry as a language of revolution, the translation process, and the untranslatable concept of saudade.

Our guest this week is multi-disciplinary artist, Sasha Čuha, talking about his new projects, a podcast exploring the visibility of mental health within the arts scene, and a spoken word album of gothic horror stories.To listen to episodes of The Candle Melbourne podcast, go to www.thecandlemelbourne.com. ** Please note that this episode contains course language and discussion of mental health and family violence. ** Photo by Michael Reynolds

This is the second part of a two part series on Old English wisdom poetry. Translator and commentator Bob DiNapoli discusses his new book, Reading Old English Wisdom, the Fetters in the Frost. This poetry is the work of ancient English pagan poets which was fortuitously preserved by monasteries more than a thousand years ago.Interviewed by Di Cousens, photo by Di Cousens.

This week's guest is Nikki Vivicca, poet, actor, comedian, burlesque and improv performer, among many other talents!Nikki's work was recently performed in an online theatre show, Body Uncertain, she was a performer in the green room award nominated show, Gender Euphoria, and winner of both the Midsumma Poetry Slam and Trans Poetry Slam, as well as being a runner up for the 2019 Melbourne Spoken Word Prize.Nikki will be a co-feature with Lish Skec, at Girls on Key on 6 October.

This is part two of a two part series. Robert DiNapoli is a translator of Old English poetry. His new book, Reading Old English Wisdom: The Fetters in the Frost, translates and interprets wisdom poetry from the ninth century. Interviewed by Di Cousens. Photo by Di Cousens.

Poet, podcaster, and all round maker of beautiful things, Indrani Perera, is our guest this week on Spoken Word.Indrani is the author of eight books including two collections of poetry published by Ginninderra Press (Defenestration and Pas De Deux). Her poems have been published in Cordite, More Than Melanin, Not Very Quiet, Rochford Street Review, and many more.She is editor of The Pocketry Almanac, a nod to the printed pamphlets of the 1700s and the sci-fi zines of the 1950s. Each issue features poetry from up to six different poets plus original artwork. It is handmade from a single sheet of paper of A4 and fits easily into a pocket.

This is part one of a two part series. Robert DiNapoli is a translator of Old English poetry. His new book, Reading Old English Wisdom: The Fetters in the Frost, translates and interprets wisdom poetry from the ninth century. Interviewed by Di Cousens. Photo by Di Cousens.

On this episode, our guests are Chae Paterson and Geoffrey Prince, talking about their new book, Lines in the Sand. Hear tales of the 1970s and the Whitlam dismissal, and the similarities in  the social anxiety of those times and now, of mental health, and "going bush", and finding healing in the natural world and writing. Lines in the Sand is published by Papyrus Publishing. You can also obtain a copy directly from the authors by emailing [email protected].

About 1,000 years ago a collection of formerly oral wisdom poetry was preserved in the Old English language by monk scholars. In this program Bob Dinapol discusses his translation and explication of these works in his new book, 'Reading Old English Wisdom - The Fetters in the Frost'. This is Part 1 of two programs. Interviewed by Di Cousens.