Radiolaria Stories

Radiolaria is a spoken word community collective that holds monthly poetry and storytelling events. Community is is invited to gather to hear and hold space for one another, as we witness and share our craft and expressions. There is an open mic, open to all, a limited amount of spots each night and sign up is on arrival at the door. Originally part of Girls on Key, Radiolaria continues to prioritise featuring women and gender diverse poets.

Radiolaria Storytelling started in 2025, a sister event to the traditional poetry stage where community is invited to share stories on a theme, our first theme for this event is WONDER AND AWE.

The storytelling stage open mic holds space for up to 7 stories and stories can be up to 7 minutes, stories can be true stories of your lived experience, fantasy, dreams of how you wish it could be, fictional tales or outright lies, whatever the story is we want to hear it. It doesnt need to be polished, poetic or any of that simply a story, as if you were telling a friend about that something that happened or something you want to make happen, for 7 minutes the stage is yours to share. Being witnessing telling your story is connective, this is the mortar of community building.

Speaking our stories in a safely held space is a radical act of community building, one that works to empower our voices, to remind us of the connections and resonances that exist in our shared human-ness as we witness one another, and to align us, toward our forward facing purpose, which is to create, connect, express and share our truths and our dreamings.

OUR FEATURE ARTIST IS KENDRA KELLER, also known as LADY LONGDROP.

Kendra is a submerging artist who has enjoyed fleeting moments of infamy as a poet and performance maker, her essays and poetry have been wheedling their way into the hearts from the stage and the page for well over a decade. 

Her show "YAY For Cane Toads!" was nominated for the "Best Theatre" and won "Spirit Of Fringe Award" for it's premiere season at melbourne Fringe Festival, 2019.

Kendra was born on Kulin country, from a line of cheeky Swiss matriarchs, and raised of Kabi Kabi country by bohemians and seekers who all spent a lot of time sitting around reading poetry.