Spoken Word

Rania Ahmed, winner of the MSW Prize People's Choice Award 2018, and feature performer at the 2019 Melbourne Spoken Word and Poetry Festival, is our guest this week.

On this week's Spoken Word show, we air the brand new 7" vinyl single from Drmngnow, Australia Does Not Exist, which was released at Northside Records ahead of NAIDOC Week 2019.We speak with poet, Laniyuk, about truth-telling, treaty, funding and accessibility in the arts, and the great value of spoken word for people often marginalised from traditional publishing media. The page/stage dichotomy.Also featuring is musician, spoken word performer and film-maker, Allara, who talks about connection to country, the responsibilities of artists, climate justice activism, and the process of documenting her re-connection with family through the film, Beautiful Sunshine.

Sydney poet, Omar Sakr, reads from his new book, The Lost Arabs and reflects on life and identity in contemporary Australia. Interviewed by Di Cousens.

George presents the final episode of Spoken Word's live Radiothon show at Bar 303 this year, with performers Michael Reynolds and Sigrun Mikula.

In this week's show, we talk with two of the poets featuring in the 2019 Melbourne Spoken Word & Poetry Festival, Arielle Cottingham and Tariro Mavondo.00:00 - Arielle Cottingham21:20 - Tariro MavondoTexas-born Afro-Latina artist, Arielle Cottingham, is now living in Tasmania and joins us on the phone to talk about the body and performance, microphone and stagecraft, differences in the US and Australian "slam scene", and the confluence of dance and poetry. She also talks about performer self-care, and the lasting friendships she has made in the Melbourne poetry community.Tariro Mavondo is an awarding winning spoken word performer, actor, dancer, voice over artist, theatre director and educator. She is a Co-Founder of Still Waters African Women’s Storytelling Collective and Centre of Poetic Justice. Tariro talks about "embracing the shadow", her workshops with young writers, the anxieties that young people face and the role that the arts can play in affecting social change. She also discusses decolonisation as a poetic and practical life practice.Tariro has been admitted to an International Summer School Seminar on the subject of decolonisation in Barcelona for a week starting on July 8th, and is raising money to help meet the costs.The Melbourne Spoken Word and Poetry Festival begins on 12th July and runs until the 28th.

The 2019 Radiothon Show, featuring poetry by various artists, and thank yous to all the listeners who phoned in or donated online!

George O'Hara presents the second of a series of recordings from the 2019 Radiothon Fundraiser live gig in May this year. This episode features Alan Pentland and Michael Reynolds.

George O'Hara presents the first of a series of recordings from the 2019 Radiothon Fundraiser live gig in May this year. This episode features Claire Gaskin and Alan Pentland.

George O'Hara presents a live recording of Michael Reynolds, featuring at The Dan O'Connell Hotel.

Awale Ahmed is our guest this week, fresh from his stint as resident poet and storyteller in Queenscliff!Awale shares some brand new poems, and some old favourites, and speaks about his childhood journey from Somalia to Saudi Arabia, and eventually to Australia, where he discovered and fell in love with the vibrant spoken word scene. He talks about casual and systemic racism, his favourite poetry gigs, and his great love of the shared humanity of telling and hearing stories.