The Power of Poetry

As part of the 2024 Warrnambool Storytelling Festival, come hear poets recite their works and share evocative stories through the power of poetry:

Paul Venzo (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer in Writing and Literature at Deakin University. He was the recipient of a Dorothy Sargent Memorial Poetry Prize in 2005 and shortlisted for the Melbourne Lord Mayor’s Poetry Prize in 2012. In collaboration with local composer Karien Sinclair, in 2022-3 he recorded and performed The Venetian Sonnets, a musical work based on a collection of sonnets. His PhD project included a manuscript of poetry in translation across English and Italian, soon to be published by Spineless Wonders press. He is also the co-author of the children’s picture book The Great Southern Reef (2022), published by CSIRO.

Aloma Davis' award-winning poetry is concerned with social justice, beauty and kindness. In 2022, she was a national finalist in the Australian Poetry Slam; in 2023, one of her poems was featured in the International Human Rights Art Festival in New York; and in 2024, she has been awarded a prestigious Red Room Poetry Fellowship. Despite her best efforts, birds frequently fly into her poems. She divides her time between living in Melbourne, Australia, and living in her head, where she has a library with one of those sliding ladders, Haast's eagle as a pet, and work-life balance.

Ray Liversidge's latest book is …of a sudden published by Ginninderra Press. His other books are: Oradour-sur-Glane; no suspicious circumstances: portraits of poets (dead); The Barrier Range; Triptych Poets: Issue One; The Divorce Papers; Obeying the Call. His verse novel The Barrier Range was adapted for stage and performed as Seeking Fabled Waters at the 2010 Melbourne Writers Festival. He is the winner of the 2010 Bruce Dawe National Poetry Prize. You can read more about Ray here.

Angie Hoskins is a 47-year-old mum of 4 and nanny of 3 who has been writing poetry since she was 12. She is also a singer/songwriter who is enjoying furthering her talents. Outside of writing, she runs her own Disability Support business.

James Laidler is a writer, poet, novelist, spoken word performer, teacher and founder of the digital platform, Litpoetry, whose work has been featured throughout Australia. He has written two novels, 'Pulling Down the Stars' & 'The Taste of Apple', which won the 2010 IP Picks Award for Best First Book. In 2009, James won The Australian Poetry Centre's ‘Poetic Monologue Competition’ and his short one-person monologue, ‘Before the Fall’ was funded by The Australian Poetry Centre and performed on stage at the 2010 Melbourne Writer's Festival.