ALL ACCESS PASS | Perth Poetry Festival 2024

Perth Poetry Festival 2024: All-Access Pass

We are excited to announce the release of only 30 limited ALL-ACCESS PASSES for the Perth Poetry Festival 2024. These passes offer unparalleled access to all festival events, ensuring you won't miss out on any poetic magic.

The time to get your ALL-ACCESS PASS in NOW!

We can only block out 30 seats across events, as we are obliged to offer individual event tickets for every event. Some venues like the Centre for Stories and Jonesway Theatre have very limited capacity, and we have high-demand events at these venues. If events sell out, they will have to be removed from the all-access pass offerings. Now is the time to secure your spot and experience full festival.

Here’s a glimpse of what’s included:

WA Poets Presents: WAPI Awards Night

• Date: Thursday, 22 August 2024
• Time: 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
• Venue: SLWA Theatre

Join us for an elegant evening celebrating poetic excellence. We’ll celebrate the outstanding contributions of poets from across Australia and beyond with the Haiku on Hay Awards Ceremony, Ros Spencer Poetry Award, and Creatrix Awards. Mingle with distinguished poets and enjoy captivating live performances from awardees. Hosted by the charming Gillian Clark.

THE GALA NIGHT

• Date: Friday, 23 August 2024
• Time: 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm
• Venue: Perth Town Hall

The Perth Poetry Festival Gala Night is set to be an unforgettable evening of poetic brilliance, captivating performances, and never-before-seen acts bringing together poetry, visual media, music, and more. Held at the historic Perth Town Hall, this event features a multimedia presentation by Yael Harris, the keynote speech by Festival Patron Charmaine Papertalk-Green, 'Somewhere under the Sun' poetry act by Josephine Clarke, Rose van Son, and Nandi Chinna alongside musical interpretations of Tagore's poetry. And the awards and launch of Poetry d'Amour 2024. This enchanting evening promises to delight poetry enthusiasts and leave a lasting impact.

Perth Poetry Club

• Date: Saturday, 24 August 2024
• Time: 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
• Venue: The Moon

Join us for a Saturday afternoon like no other at the iconic Moon Cafe. Perth Poetry Club will host an array of festival guests and features and a chance for you to be at the mic! Yes, there’ll be open mic! Bring your poetry and passion to our amazing poetry club and share the stage with our star features. Enjoy the company of one of Australia’s oldest and longest-running poetry clubs.

Grains of Sand: A Multicultural Soiree

• Date: Saturday, 24 August 2024
• Time: 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
• Venue: SLWA Theatre

Celebrate cultural diversity through poetry at Grains of Sand: A Multicultural Soiree. This exclusive event features voices from all corners of the globe, including Bengali poet Tanmoy Chakraborty and Sudanese-Australian playwright Afeif Ismail in collaboration with Vivienne Glance. Hosted by Asha Rajan, the evening will explore themes of international poetry, language, motherhood, and the migrant experience. For the first time, the Motherhood Collective, a star-studded cast of Perth’s most prolific 'mum-poets,' will put on a new act. This is an evening that offers a vivacious, vivid, and vibrant tapestry of cultures and genres.

Saturday Night Poets

• Date: Saturday, 24 August 2024
• Time: 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
• Venue: SLWA Theatre

Step into a night where poetry pulsates with life at Saturday Night Poets. This electrifying soirée features performances by exceptional poets such as Gabby Everall, Alicia Sometimes, Paul Kohn, and Willo Drummond. Adding to the allure is the Young Poets Showcase, coordinated by Zac Cawdron, which introduces fresh and innovative voices to the stage. Hosted by the charismatic Samantha Melia, this night will deliver brand new poets and perspectives that will captivate and inspire, redefining the boundaries of contemporary poetry.

Book Launch – John Kinsella & Dennis Haskell

• Date: Sunday, 25 August 2024
• Time: 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
• Venue: Great Southern Room, State Library of WA

Join us for the dual book launch of two titans of WA poetry. John Kinsella will present "MINIMALIST: A FIELD JOURNAL OF MUTABILITY AND LOSS," while Dennis Haskell will introduce "WHO WOULD KNOW?" This event offers a rare opportunity to hear from these esteemed poets and celebrate their latest works, sure to stun, delight, and inspire.

Voices of WA – Panel Discussion

• Date: Sunday, 25 August 2024
• Time: 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
• Venue: Great Southern SLWA

Immerse yourself in the Voices of WA Panel Discussion, a transformative experience featuring distinguished poets like John Kinsella, Emma Trelles, Lucy Dougan, and more. Held at the esteemed Great Southern SLWA, this event focuses on the topic of the creation of Western Australia’s inaugural Poet Laureate position. Voice your opinion and have your say at the Q&A session. Hosted by Emeritus Prof Dennis Haskell, this is a rare opportunity to influence an evolving national cultural milestone and ensure the diverse poetic landscapes of Western Australia are represented on a new platform.

Finale

• Date: Sunday, 25 August 2024
• Time: 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
• Venue: Jonesway Theatre

Join us for an unforgettable evening as we bid adieu to the Perth Poetry Festival 2024 with an extraordinary finale at the intimate and amazing Jonesway Theatre. Featuring final performances by poets such as Alan Fyfe, Kerry Greer, Morgan Yasbincek, and Gabby Everall, this event will present poetry by our Micro-Residencies program stars on MUSIC OF THE CITY. Don’t miss the night that will end the Perth Poetry Festival 2024 on a poetic high that will let the festival spirit live on.

Secure your All-Access Pass now and be our exclusive festival guest with priority-boarding rights to each and every one of our incredible poetry events this Perth Poetry Festival.

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And you can choose 2 workshops to attend from

Concurrencies – Poetry & Ekphrasis*

A workshop by artist Tineke Van Der Eeken

• Date: 22/08/2024 (Thursday)
• Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
• Location: Alister Yiap Gallery
                  6/191-199 Bulwer Street Perth

Description: This two-hour ekphrastic workshop will stimulate the imagination and feed your senses. 'Concurrencies' presents objects in fine metal including jewellery, poetry and corrosion castings of marine animal vasculatures. There will be an opportunity to write and to share your writing with others. Tineke Van Der Eecken invites you to dive into a world of complexity, gut and heart, grief and loss, joy and wonder in CONCURRENCIES. Tineke's intricate sculptures bring a poetic nuance to the natural marine world. Her storytelling, fine lacework, exquisite jewellery and works created through corrosion casting evoke an interconnectedness.

Bio: Tineke Van der Eecken is a Belgian-born, Australian artist whose practice explores narratives of place. From her geographical and biological roots in Belgium to her home in Western Australia on the rim of the vast Indian Ocean, the scope of her narrative takes in oceans, wetlands and ancient reefs then delves deeply inward to the internal places of physical bodies. Her concepts are articulated through exceptionally crafted jewellery and sculptures, and objects that sit between these categories, as well as poetry and photography.

Writing Vulnerably

Paul Kohn

• Date: 22/08/2024 (Thursday)
• Time: 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
• Location: WA Poets Inc Office, Level 2, Room 23 Bon Marche Arcade, 80 Barrack St Perth

Description: This workshop seeks to be accessible to writers of any age and stage in their career.
The intention of this session is to give attendees an appreciation and deeper understanding of what vulnerability means working through some examples of vulnerable writing and learning why writing vulnerably is important to both the writer and the readers/listeners. This workshop aims to assist writers to think and practice vulnerability and authenticity in their own writing style and voice. It aims to provide resources skills and tools to help them continue writing and sharing vulnerably and authentically in a way that is safe for them. In this interactive workshop poet Paul R Kohn will take you on a journey of how readers and listeners connect with vulnerable writing how writing vulnerably helps us be more real with ourselves in our day-to-day life and as writers and how it helps us as individuals to be authentic with those who read and hear our words.

Bio: Paul R Kohn is a writer of poetry and short stories performer of spoken word and creator of music and lyrics. Residing in South Australia he’s featured at local and national events sharing words from his debut poetry collection ‘Soul Refraction’ (Dragonfly Publishing). His words have also been published in a number of national and international anthologies both online and in print. Paul writes as a way of processing understanding healing and growing and shares his written and spoken word poetry all over Australia and the world in the hope that it helps others too.

Etc.

Beth Kirkland & Maree Dawes

• Date: 24/08/2024 (Saturday)
• Time: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
• Location: NW Room SLWA

Description: Etc. will be creating collaborative poems. Maree produces intuitive prose poetry through stream of consciousness writing. The work is then passed to Beth who finds another layer of meaning and highlights this with water colour. This highlighting may magnify the original intent of Maree’s work or spark off in a different direction. This process creates multiple finished works that are stacked or hung for others to read. The pieces may be spoken if the venue permits. This work is suited to cafes quirky corners and other public spaces.

Bio: Etc. comprises Maree Dawes and Beth Kirkland. Etc is interested in improvisation and in the risk and edginess this process can evoke in both the creators and audience.
Beth lives in Kinjarling-Albany W.A. A painter for many years she has turned her creative energy to writing poetry and flash fiction. She has had work published with Night Parrot Press and in Westerly. Maree is a Kinjarling-Albany poet with three published poetry collections. As Etc. Maree and Beth respond to themes narrative visual art and music to create performance poetry. One previous theme was paper and its role in the creative process.

Forming/Transforming:
Using Lyric Encounter to Draft New Work

Willo Drummond

• Date: 24/08/2024 (Saturday)
• Time: 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
• Location: NW Room SLWA

Description: This masterclass will explore ways of ‘reading-and-writing’ in the intersubjective space of lyric encounter. Participants will engage in activities that combine reading and writing as a unified practice using responsive techniques to generate drafts for new poems. The workshop aims to provide a space where participants can develop their poetic craft by exploring themes such as transformation eco-poetics and queer writing.

Bio: Dr Willo Drummond is a queer poet who lives and writes on Dharug and Gundungurra land. Her poetry is published in Cordite Poetry Review Australian Poetry Journal The Canberra Times and elsewhere. Willo has been the recipient of a Career Development Grant for poetry from the Australia Council for the Arts (2020) runner-up in the Tom Collins Poetry Prize (2021) and shortlisted for the Val Vallis Award (2022). Her debut poetry collection MOON WRASSE (Puncher & Wattmann) recently featured in the Aesop Queer Library (2024) and was Commended in the Five Islands Poetry Prize for a First Book of Poetry (2023).

Poetry in Motion

Sari Bennett

• Date: 25/08/2024 (Sunday)
• Time: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
• Location: NW Room SLWA

Description: Poetry in motion workshop explores the stories held within our bodies and behaviours our lives and lineages. Participants are guided through a series of activities aimed at cultivating embodied expression through the physicality of performing spoken word.

Bio: Sari Bennett is a WA based writer and performance poet who lives on Molloy Island. She is a collector of moments and a seeker of the sacred hidden within the mundane. Her writing style is unique in the way it weaves whimsical imagery with hard hitting concepts challenging the status quo and questioning human behaviors. with a background in dance martial arts acrobatics and physical theatre Saris embodied performances breathe life into her heartfelt poetry. Over the past 6 years she has performed at various festivals and events including the Denmark Festival of Voice Nannup Music Festival Wild Village women's festival and Nanga Music Festival.

Writing as an Act of Hope

Reneé Pettitt-Schipp

• Date: 25/08/2024 (Sunday)
• Time: 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
• Location: NW Room SLWA

Description: In this workshop Reneé will explore how writing can help keep us in touch with the joy of living on this wondrous planet we call home by writing into the confronting times we are living in. Reneé will share the way poets through the decades have steered us toward joy and connection as well as strategies that have supported her to write hope-ward. There will also be plenty of opportunities in this session for writers to draft poems that attempt in big and small ways to navigate both darkness and light.

Bio: Reneé Pettitt-Schipp’s work with asylum seekers in detention on Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands inspired her first collection of poetry The Sky Runs Right Through Us. The Sky Runs Right Through Us was shortlisted for the Dorothy Hewett manuscript prize the CHASS Australia prize and in 2019 won the WA Premier’s Literary Award for an Emerging Writer. Reneé’s non-fiction work about the islands was released in June 2023 by Fremantle Press. Reneé currently lives in WA’s Great Southern where she is working on her second poetry collection entitled 'All the Stories We Do Not Know'.

Coming to Nothing:
Poetry as Practice

Morgan Yasbincek

• Date: 25/08/2024 (Sunday)
• Time: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
• Location: NW Room SLWA

Description: Within her robust and delicate collection “Coming to Nothing” Morgan Yasbincek simultaneously explores and invokes a constellation of poetic voices that all ultimately resolve into the nothing which gives them birth. Presence gives way to absence and absence hints at something beyond a restoration of presence something her poems take seriously and ground through disruption ‘the vowels of silence’ and the truth of life lived grieved and continued.
Ever becoming and eternally un-becoming and with Sappho as compañera and the Fragment pointing to what always is Morgan’s crafting of words awakens a world we have always known and always failed to name.
Morgan will showcase works from her collection to discuss themes of impermanence and transformation. This will segue and delve into engagement with writing practices providing participants with insights and techniques to enhance their poetic craft.

Bio: Morgan Yasbincek has published four collections of poetry and one novel most recently the poetry collection Coming to nothing in late 2023.
Her first collection Night Reversing won the Anne Elder and Mary Gilmore awards. Her second collection Firelick was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s C.J. Dennis Award. Her third collection White Camel was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Kenneth Slessor Award. Her novel liv was shortlisted for the ASAL Gold Medal Award and highly commended by the Victorian Premier’s Award. She lives on Whadjuk-Noongar Boodja works in library services and continues to develop her writing practice.