Sydney Poetry Lounge and Launch of Audrey Molley and Anthony Lawrence's Ordinary Time.
A couple trips to Sydney this week for some marvelous events. The first was for a feature reading along with Mark Tredinnick at Sydney Poetry Lounge ath the Friend in Hand Hotel, Glebe.
it was a great night, made better for the wonderful poets on the open mic and the lyrical work of Mark Tredinnick. It was an honour to read alongside him, five years after walking as a young poet into one of his classes. The crowd was warm and many were exceptional poets themselves. It was a treat to see Audrey Molley, Rico Craig, Alan Holley, Linda Adair, Mark Roberts, JR Grogan, Jonathan Cant, and Daragh Byrne in the audience. We were in great company and were treated to some wonderful performances. Rico read from his recently released Nekhau with Recent Work Press, which was wonderful, considering we'd missed each others launches because of their proximity. There was a little bit of a Student/Teacher theme to the evening as five of my past students, from seven years ago, banded together to surprise me with their attendance. This was a very special moment—I signed a copy of Waterlines for all of them, some with some old classroom jokes that still ring true. #Where'sRhys.
Mark read from his many new collections Walking Underwater and A Beginner's Guide.
The second event was the extraordinary evening of Audrey Molley's and Anthony Lawrence's Ordinary Time, with Pitt Street Press. To sit and hear about such a rare collaboration was an inspiration and speaks of the power of poetry to go beyond the constraints of time, space, and the barriers we can manufacture.
Thank you to Roaring Stories for putting the event on at the Royal Oak Balmain. I had the pleasure of meeting one of my long time poetry heroes/heroines in Judith Beveridge who chaired the launch. All were incredible, as Anthony put it, 'there's magic in the way it all came together.' The audience was wowed and many stayed for hours afterwards enjoying each other's company, books signings, and the great cake that was provided—iced with the illustration of the front cover.
Two marvelous events in Sydney. It's great to see the art world together again, after the last few years.
