Universal within the Local 2025: Poetry of Resilience
Event description
Poetry Sydney partners with the Australian Romanian Academy to present the Universal within the Local, a bilingual literary arts event that celebrates Romania's National Culture Day, and poet Mihai Eminescu.
This is the third reitration, which is exponential in providing the antipodean community an opportunity to connect and strengthen relations in Sydney, Australia and Romania. The Romanian Parliment introduced a National Culture Day in 2010, on the day of the birth of Eminescu, January 15th. The homage is emblematic of the universality of his Western European influences and his deep national connections.
The 19th century Romanian poet and writer, Eminescu is considered a romantic poet who wrote on a wide range of themes from nature to love, to deep social commentary. In the years after his death, his poems and writing continue to have a profound impact. This year's theme draws on
Daniel Ionita is the curator and President of the Australian Romanian Academy, who draws on Eminescu and Romanian poetry to challenge this year's participants with a universal theme of relisence in a polarised world.
"There is much in the world, today, to make many people, myself included – despondent, discouraged, ready to give up. Yet, what keeps us alive, and still productive and positive, is resilience. This has many sources and manifests itself in a multitude of conditions. It is not the aim of this event to exhaust the subject, nor would it be possible even if we tried."
Performances responding to this year's theme of 'Resilience' with more to be announced include:
| Mona Zahra Attamimi is an Arab-Indonesian poet. She lived as a child in Jakarta, Washington DC and Manila, before settling in Sydney at age nine. Her poems have appeared in Southerly, Meanjin, Cordite, Westerly and local and overseas anthologies. She was the recipient of the Asia Link Arts 2019 Creative Exchange in Indonesia. | "I lived in different social and political contexts over the years: they all require resilience. Sure, the nature of it might change, but you cannot afford to let it slip.” | |
| Charles Freyberg is a Kings Cross (Sydney) poet and performance artist. His book Dining at the Edge is published by Ginninderra Press. He alternates writing about inner city eccentrics and bush landscape – both threatened with destruction in our times. He performs his work widely around Sydney. His new book The Crumbling Mansion was released in 2023. | "Resilience enables me to be myself, who I am, and not having to pretend or hide!” | |
| James Gering is an Australian diarist, poet and short story writer. He has received various international awards and prizes for his stories and poems and was the Australian Society of Authors Emerging Poet of the Year, 2018. His publication credits include Meanjin, Cordite, Rattle, The Rockvale Review, and San Pedro River Review. James lives in the Blue Mountains, where he climbs the cliffs and rappels the canyons in search of Rilke’s genius, Chekhov’s humility, and escape in general. His published poetry collections include Staying Whole While Breaking Apart, and Tickets to the Fall of Icarus. | “Climbing is my passion. As I hang on the cliff-face by my fingertips, I cannot help but think about what makes me wish to hang on.” | |
| Anișoara Laura Mustețiu born in Timișoara (Romania) Anișoara lives in Sydney and holds a Bachelor of Creative Writing and Communication (Griffith Univeristy, Australia, 2017). Her poems were published in magazines such as Literary Confluences, Logos & Agape, Pro Diaspora. Anișoara published the volumes Travel in Time, A Life Story in Poems (2020) and Yarran, Stories from Australia, Children’s Book (2020). She is currently the producer and presenter of the Program: Emotions of Light for Radio ProDiaspora. | "The right choice between “head” and “heart” is not uniform; it depends on each circumstance. Sticking to the right choice requires not just wisdom, but also resilience." | |
C Northey (the author name of Jo Corinna Northey) is a poet and visual artist committed to developing a philosophically informed creative arts practice, who lives and works on the Guringai land, north of Sydney. Jo holds a Masters of Creative Writing from University of Sydney and is currently completing an MA in Literature, Language and Culture with Freie Universität, Berlin, where she lived for three years. Jo has published poetry in the FU Review and various university journals, performed in poetry events in Berlin and Sydney. | "What we do creatively, is informed (consciously or not) by our world view. If not, it is disingenuous in one form or another." | |
| Adrianna Paul was born in Bucharest, Romania, and based in Sydney since her adolescence, Adriana Paul has successfully combined a musical career (as a lyric soprano, trained at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music) with a scientific one (PhD Physiology – Université Laval, Canada). Fluent in several languages, Adriana has a passion for literature, and an affinity for translating poetry and song lyrics. She has recently participated in the translation of the anthology Testament – 400 Years of Romanian Poetry (Minerva, 2019). | "Suffering can stifle creatvity. It can also inspire it." | |
| George Roca is a Romanian writer living in Sydney, Australia. Roca is one of the most significant promoters of Romanian culture outside Romania, chief-editor to publications international literary publications, in print and online, such as Clipa, Observator Cultural, Literary Confluences. In poetry, he published the volumes Escape from the Virtual Space, Seeking the Island of Happiness and Coded Poems, being included in numerous anthologies. Among the many distinctions received, he was awarded by the Minister for Romanians Abroad for his contributions to Romanian culture overseas (2019). | “Above all else, to thine own self, be true…” (W.S.) | |
| Paul Scully is a Sydney-based poet with two published collection, An Existential Grammar, Suture Lines, and The Fickle Pendulum. His work has been commended and short-listed in major Australian poetry prizes, including the ACU and Newcastle Poetry Prizes, and has been published in print and online journals in Australia, Ireland, the UK and USA. |
About the presenting organisations:
The Australian-Romanian Academy for culture and science aims to enhance cooperation between Australians and Romanians.
Poetry Sydney is an independent literary organisation committed to a presence for poetry our culture. We advocate the social benefits of poetry experiences to connect and strengthen creative thinking. For more information please visit our website: poetrysydney.org
Poetry Sydney gives respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation,
the traditional owners of the land we live, create, meet and work.
@poetrysydney
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