Poetry Sydney and Verity La are delighted to welcome you our monthly open literary arts event in the heart of Kings Cross.

Lyric Assembly is an open performance evening celebrating contemporary poetry, spoken word and literary writing in all its forms, held on the second Thursday of month commencing in August.

Whether you're an emerging voice, an established writer or simply someone who enjoys listening to great writing, you're warmly invited to be part of the inaugural gathering.

Want to read?

Performance registrations are strictly taken on the night.

• Maximum 15 readers
• Five-minute reading limit
• Places allocated on a first-arrived basis

No advance bookings for readers will be accepted.

Lyric Assembly is a performance night dedicated to literary spoken word—an open forum for poets, writers, and thinkers to share work in progress or fully formed pieces. Expect a room that listens closely and is open to a range of styles and approaches. The emphasis is on language, presence, and the live encounter between voice and audience. This is a space to test work, take risks, and be part of a literary culture shaped in the room and built in real time.

Come early, sign up, enjoy a drink and settle into an evening of thoughtful listening and generous literary exchange.

Venue: El Rocco Bar
Doors open ... Till late

Doors open 6:30pm, commencing 7:30pm. The main event wraps up at 9, but the venue stays open as long as the conversation flows...

Note: bars sales are CASH ONLY

Food can be purchased from Pizza El Rocco next door and brought into the venue.

Accessibility: The upstairs bar area has good street-level accessibility; the downstairs performance space is accessed by a flight of stairs.

Spoken Frequencies, our curated literary salon featuring invited guests, will be announced soon for Thursday 12 November 2026.

Calendar and Save Dates:

Sydney Speakeasy: Spoken Frequencies
7:30pm Thursday 12 November 2026

Sydney Speakeasy: Lyric Assembly
7:30pm Thursday 10 December 2026

Sydney Speakeasy design by The Salons. All rights reserved.

Poetry Sydney and event partners acknowledge First Nations peoples as the sovereign custodians of Country, and pay respect to Elders of past, present and to future generations. We value the distinct culture, customs and practices present in the many and diverse tribal nations across Australia.

Stay in touch with poets and poetry @poetrysydney #poetrysydney

poetrysydney.org

Contact the host of Sydney Speakeasy presents: Lyric Assembly - OCTOBER