Glen Phillips read last Saturday at Perth Poetry Club

Each Saturday, from 2pm to 4pm, the Perth Poetry Club flaunts its wares at The Moon Cafe, 323 William Street, Northbridge. Fine poetry, food and drink. Open mic for aspiring writers, plus at least one guest poet a week. The founder and continuing force behind the scenes is Janet Jackson, poet, singer and mother.

Damn - Forgot the Camera!

The Perth Poetry Club reading this afternoon at The Moon Cafe went well. It was poetry all sorts with improv poet Belowsky vying with the attractive young lady Caitlin; Mike T and Steve in the traditional bag with Ron Okely; there was Frances reading her well turned verses and a young lady who read in public for the very first time, reading her Bi-Centenary poem and signing up for more information; there was the convener and first half compere, Janet Jackson, happy to be back at PPC for 2010, followed by Neil Pattinson, compere of the second half and final poet on the afternoon, with rhythmic rants that work well as performance pieces. And in among it all I read two ten minute sets, mainly from my current title, Beyond City Limits (ICLL @ ECU, 2009). My long time friend Maggie Van Putten also read, one of her two poems from the corner of Jack Kerouac Lane - great to see friends from times gone by, isn't it. And that includes Shane Macauley, eminent poet and co-editor of Indigo magazine.

Nobody but nobody had a camera. Awk! How frustrating. My camera sat at home, forgotten. So no recording of this afternoon's show but great memories for us who were there. And there were at least thirty people there, in the hot back room at The Moon.

Today @ 2pm - I am reading at The Moon

Grab a couple of friends, or make a couple of new ones, and come to the Perth Poetry Club's first reading for 2010 at The Moon Cafe on William Street, Northbridge. The enthusiastic Janet Jackson will be compering and reading, and I will be doing a couple of spots. There will be Open Mike and probably some music - with drinks, food and conviviality available.

Entry fee? Zilch, nil, nought, nothing. You can't beat that ...

Andrew Burke reading at Perth Poetry Club this Saturday 2pm

Perth Poetry Club resumes on Saturday 9 January 2010 and our featured reader will be well-known, entertaining Perth poet ANDREW BURKE. Andrew has just published his latest slim volume 'Beyond City Limits'. He'll be happy to sell you one on the day for $15.

Plus open mike, with professional sound. 2-4pm at The Moon, 323 William Street, Northbridge. Come and listen!

Coming up:
16 Jan: JAN NAPIER + MIKE T
23 Jan: DENNIS GREENE + JOHN MCBAIN
30 Jan: DEANNE LEBER + RON OKELY

More info: http://www.perthpoetryclub.com; mail to:perthpoetryclub@gmail.com;

Big High Song for Somebody by Philip Whalen, read at Perth Poetry Club @ The Moon

As I said in relation to the poem Tides which I posted recently, I am keyboarding in the full text of an old book of mine, 'Mother Waits For Father Late', the purpose of which (this activity) will become apparent in time.

The actual close reading of each word and each line, the punctuation and setting out on the page, is very interesting to me. Poem by poem, I can see the influences in my life at the time of composition, and can feel the memory of some of my editing decisions. It is like walking through and meeting again ghosts of those creative moments passed in a completely different frame of mind, a completely different frame of physical reference.

Yesterday I went to a reading at The Moon Cafe by Amanda Joy for the Perth Poetry Club. The audience was a lot smaller than such an interesting and talented poet deserved, so I am glad I attended. When they asked me if I'd like to read, I at first said no because I had not brought any books or typescripts with me, but then I thought of the poems I know by heart from those early days of discovery of modern American poetry, changed my mind, and said yes. So, with a pseudo-American accent which wouldn't have fooled an intern customs officer, I performed Big High Song for Somebody by Philip Whalen, one of my all time favourite poets. I had real fun performing like that, so I have resolved to work on my own work in a more performative way, to express the rhythm and pace of the poems with more vitality than simply reading them.

But it did bring back to my mind, again like the keyboarding instance, the poetic influences and passions of decades gone by, all of which stream into my creative practice today, for good or bad.

The Collected Poems of Philip Whalen is edited by Michael Rothenberg, and published by Wesleyan University Press, Connecticut, in 2007.

Go to http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=7347 for more about Whalen.

Thanks to Amanda Joy for the photo above, clicked with an iPhone - the wonders of today's technology. In times gone by, just decades ago, we would have been waiting for the chemist to open tomorrow morning to place our roll of film in for developing, and then waiting for some days before the prints returned. As for showing them to all of you in the many countries where you reside, I would have been - pleasantly - travelling for weeks.

Rethinking Readings

There is an interesting article on Poetry Readings at http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2009/11/13/poetry-poem-poems-reading/

Check it out before this afternoon when Amanada Joy and others will be reading 2-4pm at Perth Poetry Club which is now performed at The Moon Cafe, 323 William Street, Northbridge (near the corner of Newcastle Street).

Perth Poetry Club presents ANDREW TAYLOR Saturday 31st October

Perth Poetry Club entertains you with spoken word every Saturday.

This Saturday at The Moon Cafe, 323 William Street, Northbridge (near the corner of Newcastle Street). 2-4pm. Open mike and featured guests:

31 Oct: the illustrious and entertaining Andrew Taylor

7 Nov: the insightful words of Lily Chan + Terry Farrell

14 Nov: the poetic pleasure of Amanda Joy (venue TBA)

More info at http://www.perthpoetryclub.com.
Enquiries: perthpoetryclub@gmail.com or Janet 0406 624 578.