Spoken Word

Today's show featured audio from the 2019 Melbourne Spoken Word Prize, recorded at The Collingwood Town Hall on December 6, 2019.

Melbourne poet, Caz Masel, talks about and reads poetry from her new book, Moorings. Interviewed by Di Cousens.

George O'Hara plays a tribute to the much-loved poet, James Jackson, who sadly passed in November 2019. This archival recording is from a performance at The Dan O'Connell Hotel.

Tune in to Spoken Word on 3CR 9am Thursday 21st November to hear Antony Riddelll in conversation with Carmen Main.Antony shares excerpts of his novel 'Animalcule' ahead of his book launch Saturday 23rd November 2pm at the Dan O' Connell Poetry Readings in Carlton (225 Canning St, Carlton).  We hope to see you there!---------Join Write-ability and The Dan Poets to celebrate the launch of Animalcule by Anthony Riddelll. Anthony, a 2018 Write-ability Fellow, is a well known poet at the Dan, and performs around Melbourne with Weave Theatre. Anthony' s exhilarating, jarring and surrealist stories and his weird and irresistable characters,combined with his unique line illustrations have created their own genre - Speculative Non-Fiction. Dedicated fans will be delighted by this new addition to his work. Published by In Case of Emergency Press www.icoe.com.au/2019003.html, Animalcule follows the adventures of Bladderland, Strawberrie, Dr Bing-Bang and Ichabod Schnell, across an extraordinary landscape of small pink domes, spherical rocks, herds of roaming furry televisions, laminated cardboard animals and the dreaded Grinhorn. ---------Anthony Riddell - ResumeI am a writer and performance poet of twenty-seven years standing, regularly appearing with the Dan Poets at the Dan O’Connell Hotel. My artistic output spans four decades and includes my involvement in the punk and fringe music industry in Sydney and Melbourne, including with the bands Nada and Volvox, and my years performing with and writing for Weave Movement Theatre.In 2018 I was awarded a Writeability Fellowship through Writers Victoria to develop my manuscript “The Sun is not Fun”.In 2019 I was highly commended for Writers Victoria’s Publishability fellowshipsMy most recent publications include ‘Love and Eftpos,’ published on the Writers Victoria Website in December 2018. https://writersvictoria.org.au/node/3457 and ‘Egg’ published in in Westerly’s Special Edition ‘DisAbility’ in May 2019. https://westerlymag.com.au/issues/westerly-disability/My Chapbook, ‘Animalcule, will be published by In Case Of Emerency Press later this year.I have self-published sixteen earlier written works and artist books. My writing has been described as “uncanny and irrational stories marked by surrealist wordplay.” In 2013, Australian poet Andy Jackson wrote in US journal Wordgathering of the “wildness and excess” of my work. He says: “Riddell’s aim is to disorient, to call into question our common assumptions about meaning and literature, and to entertain...(his) surreal and humorous prose (is) always exhilarating and jarring…he writes what he has always been interested in – absurd and provocative alternate realities.”In 2015, my art exhibition “Fingerprints on the Surface of the Brain” ran at Blindside Gallery, and that same year I was interviewed by Matthew O’Shannessy in The Fanzine. He described my earlier works as “strange drawings of microscopic organisms, animals and brains with chunks of type-writer text…absurd, meandering adventures where characters and situations operate on an obscure internal logic, like a DIY Raymond Roussel”

Thabani Tshuma shares some of his award-winning writing and performance skills this week on Spoken Word!A shortlist nominee for The 2019 Melbourne Spoken Word Prize, Thabani's work explores mental health, addiction, generational trauma and time travel, captivating audiences with its raw honesty and humour.Winner of the 2019 Slamalamadingdong! Poetry Slam, Thabani has recently returned from the Individual World Poetry Slam in the USA, where he represented Melbourne. * Note: this show contains some course language, and discusses themes of drug addiction.

Anne M. Carson's new book of poetry, 'Massaging Himmler', takes us into the life of Dr Felix Kersten. He worked as a masseur to the notorious Nazi Heinrich Himmler during World War 2. Through this exclusive access he was able to obtain the freedom of thousands of inmates of Germany's concentration camps. Interviewed by Di Cousens.

Phu Linh Tran's new chapbook, Adventures in P-Minor, is featured in this programme, presented by Santo Cazzati. Linh addresses a range of issues - belief in a higher being, body fascism, ethnicity, jazz, and the mechanics of writing and performing poetry - in a striking, direct and witty style.

George O'Hara speaks with Lady Longdrop about her Melbourne Fringe Show, Yay for Cane Toads!

In this week's show we explore the intersections of hip hop and spoken word, through artists, Class A and EmKew. Inspired by a similar event in the UK, Class A has started "Speak on It", an event in Melbourne that offers a supportive and safe space for artists to come together to discuss mental health through A Capella hip hop and Spoken Word Poetry. The next event is on 17th October at 7pm in Coburg.The two rap MCs talk about the special vulnerability of performing lyrics without music, and to a hushed, still and attentive audience. EmKew and Class A emphasise the importance of artistic communities sharing truth and providing care for one another. "Speak On It" is a rare spoken word gig that has a clinical psychologist on hand.We also hear an A Capella performance of EmKew's work, "Third Culture".

Our special guests this week are US touring poet, Desireé V. Dallagiacomo, and Surf Coast poet and artist, Camille Barr.00:00 - 22:30Desireé will be in Melbourne as part of her Australian book tour, doing two shows, and a workshop. She chats with Brendan Bonsack on the phone from NSW, about marriage equality, the importance of poetry communities for mental wellbeing, the role of connective technologies in making poetry accessible, the role of capitalism, racism and the patriarchy in violence, and how simply being is political.Details of the events can be found at http://www.melbournespokenword.com, and book, https://www.desireedallagiacomo.com.22:30 - 49:00Camille has just released her second book of poetry, RISE (Democratise), which explores the possibilities of happiness in a capitalist society. Her book and art is available from http://www.sparrowpoetry.com.au. Camille shares some the work from her book, and talks about the power of language, climate change and justice, the erosion of community in Western culture, and finding a sense of optimism. She describes her research approach to writing poetry, intersecting economic and social theories with the personal, and "knowing the night". This show also contains music by Alice Night and Kelsey Berrington.