Perth Poetry Festival 2026

Dual Book Launch – Giles Watson & Karen Lowry

Two Books. Two Poets. One Launch.

Date: Sunday, 30 August 2026

Time: 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Venue: Mattie Furphy House, Swanbourne WA 6010

Perth Poetry Festival brings together two distinctive new books by WA poets Giles Watson and Karen Lowry.

These are very different works, but both are grounded in close attention: to place and the living world, to memory and the body, and to what poetry can make visible when we are willing to look closely. Join us for readings, conversation and the launch of two deeply considered books.

Giles Watson – Eungedup: A Wetland Summer Diary

Published by Fremantle Press

‘A work of unfailing attentiveness; Watson’s poems not only give us a lens to love a wetland, but his witness becomes a way to belong.’ Reneé Pettitt-Schipp

About the book

Nestled between Albany and Denmark in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, Eungedup is brimming with vibrant life, yet also threatened by developers. Drawn to this biodiverse wonderland, Watson’s immersion in the wetlands mirrors his own path to healing. His diary entries through the hot Noongar seasons of Kambarang, Birak, and Bunuru record life as the wetlands await seasonal renewal and the coming of rain.

‘Both a luminous testament to the healing power of place and a homage to the fragile beauty of a cherished landscape.’ Gail Simmons

‘This work contains an intimate and urgent message: that we need places like Eungedup to continue to be – we need them as much they need our protection.’ Nandi Chinna

About Giles Watson

Giles has a long-standing fascination with natural history, medieval texts, folklore and mythology, and has worked as a volunteer in wildlife rehabilitation, specialising in orphaned and injured owls. He is the author of the novel that inspired Mimma: A Musical of War and Friendship, a book of essays on the folklore of natural history, A Witch’s Natural History (Troy Books), and a large body of poetic work, both self-published and in literary journals.

Karen Lowry – This Fragile Thing

“Relentless in pursuit of a feminist form, This Fragile Thing is virtuosic in its blending of visual and textual poetics to ask: how can poetry hold the body in all its glory and all its trauma?”
CAITLIN MALING

About the book

WHEN KAREN LOWRY was 16, her grandfather was convicted of sexually abusing her. This poetry collection is a raw, unflinching testimony created from the wreckage. Darkly funny, vulnerable, and often confronting, Karen blends memoir, poetry and collage to give language back to the unspeakable. This Fragile Thing is Karen’s own act of witness: what breaks us leaves evidence.

“Lowry’s book is arresting, both visually and poetically. An exorcism, a bloodletting, and a testament to the hard-won courage it takes to speak up. Fans of Laurie Halse Anderson and Tracey Emin will find a bracing new voice in This Fragile Thing.”
ELOISE GRILLS

Poems from this collection have been published in Cordite, Australian Poetry Journal 14.2, Australian Poetry Digital 2025, Jacaranda Journal, Creatrix Poetry 73, Writer’s Victoria’s The Streets are Darker Without You Here, and Hunter Writer’s Centre Grieve volume 10.

About Karen Lowry

Dr. Karen Lowry is an experimental poet known for her collage poetics. Her intimate poems, personal essays, and fiction have been published in Cordite, WritingWA’s the little journal and Australian Poetry Journal. She has been shortlisted for the QUT digital literature award and the new media writing prize. Karen has a PhD from Curtin University where she currently teaches. More: www.kazzalow.com

Content note: This Fragile Thing contains references to childhood sexual abuse and trauma.

Hosted by

Elio Novello

Books

Copies of both books will be available for purchase and signing at the event courtesy of our official festival bookseller, Rabble Books & Games.

Accessibility:

This event is wheelchair accessible. Please contact us if you have specific access requirements and we will assist wherever possible.

Acknowledgement of Country:

We wish to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we are operating on, the Whadjuk people and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We wish to acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region. We pay our respects to them and their cultures; and to elders both past and present.

Join us to celebrate two remarkable new works and hear directly from the poets who made them.

Visit perthpoetryfestival.com for the full festival program and more information.

Reserve your seat for the Dual Book Launch.

Contact the host of Dual Book Launch | Perth Poetry Festival 2026