By Bronwen Beechey
MELBOURNE — A mix of established and unknown writers, poets and songwriters will be featured at the Writers Festival, held from August 29 to September 19 in conjunction with the Melbourne Fringe Arts Festival.
Ken Smeaton, one of the festival organisers, says this year's festival is the biggest yet. "There seems to be a real groundswell of a need for people to express themselves", he says, adding that this is not confined to Australia alone. In English-speaking countries at least, there is an explosion of independent publishing ventures and poetry reading venues. Smeaton feels this phenomenon is largely a reaction to the monopolisation of mass media and "the banality and corruption of the language that goes along with it".
Smeaton was one of the writers responsible for beginning the popular Saturday afternoon poetry readings at the Perseverance Hotel in Fitzroy 18 months ago. These sessions will continue through the festival, and will include open sections for anyone who wants to try their work out on a friendly audience.
Other features popular at previous festivals will be Radical Poets at the Punters Club Hotel on September 13 and 20, Women Writers in Performance at the Footscray Community Arts Centre on September 12, and the Spring Slam poetry and performance contest at the Prince of Wales Hotel on September 2.
A high point will be Mega scribes, described as a "literary and performing extravaganza" at which a host of writers from every genre will strut their stuff on September 4.
The festival's international guests will be David Eggleton, the "mad Kiwi ranter" who has previously impressed Australian audiences with his hard-hitting political poetry and energetic performance, and Scottish "busking poet" Malcolm Brodie, who will perform daily in Swanston Walk. Other writers and poets include Kristen Henry, John Ashton, cartoonist Judy Horacek and Graeme Merry, who will launch his first collection of poetry, Two interpretations from Central Paris.
Those of us whose desire for literary delights usually exceeds our budgets will be pleased to learn that few of the events on the program will cost more than $5, with a number of events free.
The belief of Smeaton and other poets in shifting poetry "from the open page to the open stage" to make it more accessible to ordinary people has obviously caught on in a big way. As Smeaton says, "Get a good egalitarian idea and it will grow".
For programs and further information, ring the Fringe Festival Hotline on 686 2142.