My Saturday began at the National Portrait Gallery for ‘Mornings at the NPG : Mani Rao and Alvin Pang’. I hadn’t read either of these poets before and I’m now excited to explore their work further. Mani and Alvin talked about where the inspiration comes from for their writing. We were all reminded of the importance of brushing your teeth twice daily and of showers – not just for hygiene reasons but because it is in these daily routines that many poets get their ideas. The meditative state we can enter when brushing our teeth allows our minds to be open to images.
I followed Mani and Alvin’s session with a wander around the Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia which was fabulously political. There were works that explored issues around climate change and that celebrated sex (which is highly controversial given Indonesia’s recent plans to outlaw gay and pre-marital sex).
The next Poetry on the Move session was ‘When they come for you: Poetry that resists’. Bronwyn Lovell, Kei Miller, Jen Webb and Alison Whittaker all had incredibly interesting stories to tell. Kei talked about his mixed emotions on being asked to sit on a panel about resistant poetry. He said that he is sometimes referred to as a spoken word poet which he feels is a racialised label and though some of his works have a performative quality he does not view himself as a performance poet. Alison spoke passionately about acknowledgment of country, stating that she feels it has become a blackwashing, making people feel happy with themselves for acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land. She said that until we start doing something, giving more land back, it isn’t enough. Bronwyn’s feminist poems were inspiring and I can’t wait for her to have a collection out so that I can read more of her work. Jen is, of course, an accomplished poet and her stories of growing up in South Africa were harrowing.
‘The texture of truth’ was another great panel with Louise Crisp, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Alyson Miller and Jessica Wilkinson. I had a lovely chat with Ali afterwards about my experience teaching her poetry and the powerful response that a young Gamilaroi man in my class had, particularly to her poem ‘Unearth’. During the panel discussion, Ali spoke about the need to do more about Aboriginal deaths in custody. She reminded us that our taxes paid for the commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody. She said that more of the recommendations that came out of that commission need to be put into place and that, as tax payers and voters, we need to insist on action.
Alyson said that her nieces and nephews are warned not to ask her what she is writing about, because it’s probably not something appropriate. She likes to write about the taboo, the things that no one else is writing about. Louise writes about the environment and Jessica writes biographies in verse.
I ended the day with ‘Poetry@Smith’s: Saturday night’, listening to readings by Judith Beveridge, Katharine Coles, Angela Gardner and Kei Miller. All of these poets were inspiring. They read in such an engaging way. I had a great catch up with Judith and met Anne Elvey.
Rhiannon Hall - Teacher - Poet - Reader 