Freed Verse: Poetry and Transformation
Kaveh Akbar has described one of his early adolescent encounters with poetry as profound and possibly fate-changing.
‘It was a total epiphany. Like, practically an angel playing its trumpet in my face. Just a miracle moment of clarity and perfect vision.’
How does poetry do this? How can poetry transform personal perspectives, or even lives? And how can non-traditional means of sharing poetry bring the form to new audiences?
Akbar is one of the brightest rising talents in American poetry. His work has appeared in the New Yorker and Best American Poetry and in two acclaimed collections, Calling a Wolf a Wolf and Portrait of the Alcoholic. For this event, hosted by Neil Morris, he’ll be joined by four accomplished, and very different, local poets – including Morris, Sista Zai Zanda, Abdul Hammoud and Hawiine – each with their own perspectives on teaching, performing and publishing poetry.
Join them for this unique event at the Wheeler Centre – part performance, part discussion – as they explore the spells poetry can cast.
Drinks available for purchase on the night.
Readings will be our bookseller at this event.
Featuring
Neil Morris is a Yorta Yorta yiyirr. A poet, musician, community based activist, broadcaster. Known notably for his music project DRMNGNOW and indefatigable advocacy work around First Nations, rights, culture and country. Morris has made a significant mark within the decolonial movement in so called... Read more
Kaveh Akbar’s poems appear recently in the New Yorker, Poetry, the New York Times, the Nation, and elsewhere. His first book, Calling a Wolf a Wolf, was recently published by Alice James in the US and Penguin in the UK. He is also the author of the chapbook Portrait of the Alcoholic. The recip... Read more
Sista Zai Zanda is a storyteller, educator and curator of the Pan Afrikan Poets Cafe – an Afro-Literary matinée of beats, performance and poetry. Since 2015, Zai has spoiled audiences in Melbourne and Sydney with over 100 performances by African and First Nations storytellers including feature pe... Read more
Abdul Hammoud is a spoken word artist based in Melbourne by way of Lebanon. He teaches writing classes and workshops for schools and organisations that are looking to explore new avenues of expression and identity. His art has taken him as close as New Zealand and as far as the United States, as wel... Read more
Hawiine, known in equal fondness as Soreti Kadir, is a multidisciplinary artist. Most well known for her expression as a performance poet, writer, musician, organiser and speaker, her practice is always developing to better communicate her message. A lover of storytelling, Hawiine recently release... Read more
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