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Melbourne has lost one of its core public poetry events. After years of monthly poetry events at Beer DeLuxe for years, Poetry@ Fed Square has come to an end.
The loss has been mourned by the literary community but is also being used as a guide to running successful poetry events.
In a farewell to Poetry@fedsquare, online poetry community Melbourne Spoken Word said: ‘It’s also especially sad when a gig has to wrap up. Dimitris Troaditis has been running poetry@fedsquare for the past two years, where he hosted a monthly poetry gig, inside the Atrium at Fed Square or upstairs at Beer DeLuxe, and was especially encouraging of poetry in other languages, himself writing and performing poetry in Greek.
‘Unfortunately, Fed Square have chosen to discontinue to the event from this year and so we’ve lost this treasure,’ wrote Benjamin Solah.
The wider community also voiced concern about the cancellation: ‘This event has been running for many years, an integral part of the poetry and literary scene, offering encouragement, support, nurturance and an important platform for emerging and established poets and the valuing of poetry readings in the broader cultural context.
‘This decision on the part of Federation Square Management is such a blow to poetry, to art, to culture.’
Matt Lyndon Jones, Program Manager, Federation Square told ArtsHub the decision not to renew the individual contractor for Poetry@ Fed Square came down to low attendance and a need to diversify the literary programming.
‘From our perspective, it’s just about judging on the merits and juggling the prioritising of individual sub-strands of priorities and programming annually, and making calls on that year in year out,’ said Jones, ‘It’s nothing against the provider of that and it’s nothing against poetry more generally.’
Jones said Federation square welcomes new initiatives in the poetry and literary space. ‘Running a monthly poetry club for a relatively small set of participants is certainly not a bad thing, but equally it’s not the only possible worthwhile manifestation of poetry or supporting the poetry community in Melbourne at Federation Square.’
For those considering a new poetry initiative, what can be gleaned from this cancellation in terms of what makes poetry in a pub a success?
Bronwyn Lovell, Programs and Publications at Australian Poetry told ArtsHub successful poetry events are often dependent on who is performing
‘Poets these days are expected to do their own marketing and kind of have their own followers and it depends on who is performing and I guess what else is on that weekend,’ she said.
Lovell also noted that Beer DeLuxe perhaps wasn’t the right home for poetry, ‘It was more of a bar and probably wasn’t as at home as poetry is at the pubs … Poetry has a long history with pubs and I don’t think an inner city bar has got the same connection.’
Poetry belongs in a pub as it makes it accessible to a wide audience and variety of participants, said Lovell. ‘You never know what you’re going to get, it’s like a variety show. It can be absolutely amazing and it can be bloody awful!”
Andrew Galanm co-founder and organiser of Bad!Slam!No!Biscuit! poetry night at the Phoenix Pub in Canberra said that accessibility and openness is integral to creating a successful poetry event.
‘At the most basic level, writing down what you want to say and performing it, there is a very low bar and I think that’s a good thing,’ said Galanm.
The objective of the monthly event is to create space where anyone can sign up, perform and develop their poetry and have a fun night.
‘There hasn’t been a poetry slam since 2009 where a new poet hasn’t signed up to do a reading, which is a source of pride that such openness has been maintained.’ For both audiences and partipants alike, Bad!Slam!No!Biscuit! attracts diverse age groups, acts, gender and ‘a very mixed crowd.’
The poetry slam format also takes a side step away from sit-and-listen approach and encourages feedback and interaction between audiences and participants.
‘People feel they just have to clap polite, and then the next poet gets up and everyone claps politely and it can be a bit boring, to be honest,’ said Galanm.
‘I think with the poetry slam people are allowed to voice what is going on whether they like it or not and the role of the MC is to make it open for people to do that but keep that understanding there… That while someone might be vocal about not liking your poems, it’s up to you whether you take that on as a poet.’
Galanm attributes the success of the poetry slam event – which attracts on average an audience of 60 or more – to planning and passion.
‘When you are setting up a poetry event, it’s useful to understand what you want to achieve with it and what tools you are using for that.
‘We regularly have a sit down and a chat about how the night went and what worked and what didn’t, so if we are having issuers or feel we need to change something we can be open to that and not precious about it,’ said Galanm.
Also a testament to poetry’s place in public spaces Woollahra Council’s annual Poets’ Picnic now in its 26th year. Event Manger Jenn Martin told ArtsHub poetry should be accessible and most of all heard.
‘I think poetry is one of those things, like other reading, we can all share lines of poetry because we know them and we are familiar with them but there is something really special about sharing them together in a public space’
Martin said Poets’ Picnic is much loved by the community with people attending for decades. Success of the event is attributed to community involvement, with high school students invited to share poetry alongside some of Australia’s most well-known poets.
Involvement with locals school is a great way to promote the event, as are partnerships, said Martin. Poets’ Picnic partners with Pop Up Picnic and also promotes through writers centres.
‘We try and find organisations that have likeminded audiences and we promote with them as well and we get a bit a feedback about who is interested but there is no RSVP process.
The annual event is run by the library, which Martin says a fantastic way to engaged with the community, who said ‘that’s the great thing about running events in libraries, you have the already community there.’
Martin is glad to see the success of the event, as well as that of poetry pub nights around the country. ‘Poetry opens up new worlds when you read a poem to yourself privately but there is something really lovely about it being shared and the laughter and the responses to poems,’ said Martin.
For Galanm, there is always room for more poetry. ‘In terms of the future of poetry in pubs or poetry in public places, I’d want more of that where they can engage, and enjoy it but also understand that they can do it, too. “
‘It is all about providing that avenue for people to engage and talk with each other even when it’s strangers. So what I’d like is more of that. Less passive audiences that sit and clap – and I don’t just mean poetry I mean anything, music gigs – I want to see people that are interactive and engaged.
Woollahra Council’s annual Poets’ Picnic will be held on 24 February 2015 in Blackburn Gardens.
