Sappho Poetry Nights are held the first Tuesday of every month, and have become known for their welcoming atmosphere and great poet readings. The night generally features two poets reading their own work, followed by open mic. readings (max. 2 minutes each.) Our host is Sydney poet Toby Fitch, who has his own poetry book in the works. The wine and tapas bar is open for fine wines, beers, and coffee as well as a great selection of bites. Make sure to keep checking back here or our facebook page for next month's events.
New Poetry Readings & Open Mic for 2012
Hosted by Sydney Poet Toby Fitch
Sappho Poetry Readings:
"Avant Gaga II", a gala night of experimental poetry.
Peter Minter, Kate Fagan, Chris Edwards and Mathew Abbott
Febuary 14th, 7pm sharp.
Sappho's Poetry Night returns in 2012 on Valentine's Day with the second instalment of "Avant Gaga" — a gala night of experimental poetry. 4 poets plus the usual open mic section. Bring a date and your maddest poem. This affair will be hosted by Toby Fitch. And these are our 4 guest poets:
PETER MINTER
Author of at least 137 books of poetry, Peter Minter is a leading contemporary Australian poet, editor and scholar. Since 2010 he has held the Passionate Shelby Chair in Poetry at the Newtown School of Hillbilly Studies, and is currently the Clive James fellow at the "Australian Boomer Redux" Centre for the Liberal Arts. His poetry, often described as "quirky yet poignant, and vivid", has been translated into 63 languages and is widely nationally and internationally anthologised, most recently in the groundbreaking landmark publication "Australian Poetry Has Been The Same Since 1988". His new collection of ecocritical essays "A Frogpondian Antipodes: Transcendentalism Before We Croak" is recently forthcoming from the Pantaloon Press.
KATE FAGAN
Clive James once wrote about Kate Fagan's poetry: "Get six balls of wool. Take six kitchen chairs and wind the wool in and out, all round the legs and backs of the chairs. Competitors have to sit on the chairs and disentangle the wool, winding it into a ball as they do so. The first to get all the wool off the chair without a break is the winner." Kate's new book First Light is out with Giramondo in March 2012.
CHRIS EDWARDS
According to Google, Chris Edwards is a Personal Performance Coach who specialises in leadership and business communication. According to Wikipedia, however, he is the California-based godfather of aggressive inline skating, bassist for Kasabian, a British flyweight boxer, and an Oregon State Senator. He is a model, a sculptor, a folk singer-songwriter, a film writer and producer, a real estate agent from North Carolina, a Tasmanian participant in National Youth Week 2012, and Associate Professor of Ocean Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He may once have given financial advice to George W. Bush. He also writes poetry, and last year published People of Earth, his first full-length collection.
MATHEW ABBOTT
Mathew Abbott lives in Queanbeyan, a small city that prides itself on how different it is from Canberra. Think of Queanbeyan as the Moon to Canberra's Earth: it revolves around it, but is not of it; you're still allowed to smoke at the bowlo. A few years ago the river rose so they renamed Riverside Plaza to Riverinside Plaza. Mathew's first collection will be published soon by Australian Poetry.
As usual the Wine and Tapas bar will be serving up soup, tapas, and a fine selection of wines. Entry is free and things kick off from 7pm.
Come and have some fun, read or just listen -- all poetry is good for the soul. Hope to see you there!
To read your work in the open mic reading, just turn up on the night and put your name on the list. It must be your own work and is time limited to 2mins so we can fit everyone in.
The wine and tapas bar will be open so you can have a meal and glass of wine while you're there if you fancy it.
Starts at 7.00 pm in the garden at Sappho's wine and Tapas bar. Great food, great poetry! Look forward to seeing you all there.
Facebook page : Poetry Nights at Sappho
This is an information and update group for poetry nights at Sappho Books. Become a friend to be kept up to date. Alternately, just keep an eye on this page as it is updated monthly.
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November 8 2011 Poetry Reading was : David Malouf and Stuart Cooke
We're incredibly excited for November's readings and to have both David and Stuart reading here. If you make it to one Poetry Reading this year make it this one.
DAVID MALOUF
David Malouf needs little introduction. He is a world famous Australian novelist of Lebanese, English and Portuguese-Jewish descent. He has published 9 novels, 5 collections of short stories, and 8 volumes of poetry. He has also published non-fiction, plays and libretti. His was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 2000, his novel Remembering Babylon won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and he won the inaugural Australia-Asia Literary Award in 2008. Australian critic Peter Craven described David in this way: "No one else in this country has: the maintenance of tone, the expertness of prose, the easeful transition between lyrical and realist effects. The man is a master, a superb writer, and also (which is not the same thing) a completely sophisticated literary gent". David reading his poetry in public is a rare occasion. He will be reading poems from his forthcoming collection.
http://www.randomhouse.com.au/authors/david-malouf.aspx
STUART COOKE
Stuart's poems, translations, and essays have been published widely in Australia, the USA and UK. In 2011 he completed a PhD in Indigenous Australian and Chilean poetics at Macquarie University. His chapbook, Corrosions, was published by Vagabond Press in 2010 and his translation of Juan Garrido Salgado's Eleven Poems "September 1973" was published by Picaro Press in 2007. His first full-length collection, "Edge Music," is forthcoming from IP. Since mid-year he has been living near Valparaiso in Chile.
http://redroomcompany.org/poet/stuart-cooke/
October 18 Poetry: Judith Beveridge and Stephen Edgar and the 2011 Dorothy Porter Prize Winner
Tuesday October 18 Sappho Books Cafe and Wine Bar will play host to two of Australia's leading poets, Judith Beveridge and Stephen Edgar. As well as Judith and Stephen reading their own works, the open microphone competition will return. We also have the honour of hosting the 2011 Dorothy Porter Poetry Prize.
The 2011 Dorothy Porter Poetry Prize is awarded to the best poem of the year published in Meanjin magazine, one of Australia's leading literary journals. The winner will be announced on the night and read their winning poem.
JUDITH BEVERIDGE was born in London, England in 1956 and migrated to Australian in 1960. She has published four books of poetry all of which have won major prizes. Her most recent collection is "Storm and Honey" (Giramondo, 2009.) In 2005 she was awarded the Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal for excellence in literature. She is the poetry editor for Meanjin and teaches poetry at Post Graduate level at The University of Sydney. Her poems have been translated into several languages and have been studied at HSC and University level. She has served on the Literature Board of the Australia Council and has attended many literary festivals both in Australia and overseas.
http://www.poetryinternational.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=676
STEPHEN EDGAR is the author of seven collections of poetry, the most recent being "History of the Day" (Black Pepper, 2009) which was awarded the William Baylebridge Memorial Prize. His next book, "Eldershaw," should appear in 2012. He is the inaugural winner of the Australian Book Review (now Peter Porter) Poetry Prize in 2005, and in 2006 was awarded the Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal. Poetry Chicago says of him that "he achieves, overall, a supple classicism that earns him a place next to the best twentieth-century American formalists." Writing in the Times Literary Supplement, Clive James said of him: "Models of plain speech even at their most eloquent, his poems are more sheerly beautiful from moment to moment than those of any other modern poet I can think of."
http://stephenedgar.com.au/
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Sappho Poetry Readings: "Avant Gaga", a gala night of experimental poetry with Michael Farrell and troupe: Tuesday October 4, 7pm
A special evening at Sappho featuring...MICHAEL FARRELL (Melb)
Michael grew up on a dolphin farm where he and his siblings regularly shot each other with animal tranquilizers, or so he recollects. He coedited Out of the Box: Contemporary Australian Gay and Lesbian Poets with Jill Jones. His most recent publication is thempark from Book Thug. He is working on an Australian tribute to John Ashbery. Michael won the Barrett Reid Prize for a 'radical poetry manuscript' with open sesame: an expanded version of that manuscript will be published by Giramondo in 2012. His poetry has been described as 'muppet lyricism'.
TIM WRIGHT (Melb)
is a poet living in Melbourne and a member of the recently founded school of 'relaxed proceduralism'.
ELLA O'KEEFE (Melb)
is a PhD candidate at Deakin University, School of Communication and Creative Arts. She also makes radio, organises festivals, soaks lentils and writes poems (sometimes). She lives in Melbourne and has a terrible sense of direction.
OSCAR SCHWARTZ (Melb)
After forgetting how to speak at the age of 19, Oscar took up the study of poetry. Now, at 23, he realizes that cliches are the only valid form of communication.
ASTRID LORANGE (Syd)
is a grammar machine. She is also an occasional homebrewer and a staunch defender of opacity and ambiguity. She is writing a number of things simultaneously, mostly concerned with the constructive capacities of thinking through language.
TOM LEE (Syd)
When Tom Lee, coming along the passage, walked into the open doorway, he saw that it was raining. It was not raining very much.
NICK WHITTOCK (Melb)
started pumping iron a year ago. You can really notice the results.
UPCOMING READINGS:
Tues October 18: Judith Beveridge and Stephen Edgar (and open mic)
Tues November 8: David Malouf (and open mic)
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September's Poets: Nicolette Stasko and Greg McLaren
For this September's Poetry Readings we will be hearing from Nicolette Stasko and Greg McLaren, two published Australian poets.
NICOLETTE STASKO
Nicolette Stasko is an Australian poet, novelist and non-fiction writer of United States origin. She was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, to Polish and Hungarian parents. Nicolette’s poetry is well known and widely anthologised. She is a recipient of the Anne Elder Award and has been short-listed for the National Book Award and the NSW Premier’s Prize. Nicolette has published five volumes of poetry, the most recent of which is Glass Cathedrals: New and Selected Poems (Salt 2006). She is currently completing her sixth collection and will be reading all new work for us.
http://users.vic.chariot.net.au/~bpepper/stasko.html
GREG MCLAREN
Greg McLaren was born and grew up in the coalfields of NSW's Hunter Valley but has lived in Sydney now for over twenty years. He has a PhD in Australian Literature from Sydney University for his thesis on Buddhist influences on Australian poetry. His collections include Everything Falls In (Vagabond, 2000), Darkness Disguised (Sidewalk, 2002), The Kurri Kurri Book of the Dead (Puncher & Wattmann, 2007), and the forthcoming After Han Shan and other poems (ASM). He's currently working on several manuscripts, including a series of poems "about" museums.
http://redroomcompany.org/poet/greg-mclaren/
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In July we had the very special Robert Adamson and Devin Johnston, and in June our reading was by Geraldine McKenzie who is an internationally acclaimed poet. Thanks to Geraldine for such a special evening!
We loved the reading by Rhyll McMaster on 10/5/11, she is an accomplished reader who has a very personal and welcoming style. Her poetry conveys the beauty and transcendence of the everyday. Thank you Rhyll, it was a real privilege.
The winner of the poetry competition for May was: Caitlin Elisabeth Still
with Stella Rosa McDonald highly recommended.
The Judge's comments were: that she admired Caitlin's clear and considered reading of the work and that Stella's was strong and thoughtfully presented.
Thanks to David Brooks for his wonderful reading in April and the 100 or so people who came to hear him and helped make it such a fabulous evening.
Congratulations to Paul Giles who won the open section with his poem 'Sydney'!
Previous guest poest include:
| Joanne Burns | Martin Langford | |
| Stephen Edgar | Nicolette Stasko | |
| Sheung Wai Chan | Noel Rowe | |
| Noel Tointon | Mark Mordue | |
| David Ritchie | Stephen Oliver | |
| Mark Marusic | Kate Forsythe | |
| Judith Beveridge | Rudi Krausmann | |
| Kerry Leves | Maureen Ten | |
| Bill Tibben | Danny Gardner | |
| Susan Hampton | Stuart Rees | |
| Peter Boyle | Brook Emery | |
| Angela Stretch | Kate Fagan | |
| Martin Harrison | Peter Minter | |
| Charlotte Clutterbuck | Kate Lilley | |
| Rhyll McMaster | Adrian Heathcote | |
| Andy Quan | David Brooks | |
| Les Murray | Carolyn van Langenberg | |
| Robert Gray | Ed Wright | |
| Kevin hart | Anna Kerdijk Nicholson | |
| Paul Kane | Pam Brown | |
Come and have some fun, read or just listen -- all poetry is good for the soul. Hope to see you there!
To read your work in the open mic reading, just turn up on the night and put your name on the list. It must be your own work and is time limited to 2mins so we can fit everyone in.
The wine and tapas bar will be open so you can have a meal and glass of wine while you're there if you fancy it. The Soup season at Sappho has started so there will always be a hearty hot homemade soup available.
Starts at 7.00 pm in the garden at Sappho's wine and Tapas bar. Great food, great poetry! Look forward to seeing you all there.
Facebook page : Poetry Nights at Sappho
This is an information and update group for poetry nights at Sappho Books. Become a friend to be kept up to date. Alternately, just keep an eye on this page as it is updated monthly.
David brooks 12th April 2011.
Meanjin Magazine Launch 2006.