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Overload day 4

Happy Monday!

Life goes on – work shmerk – big yawns and coffee. What a good thing there’s some fantastic poetry to look forward to.

First up, the world premiere of Shelton Lea: A Life in Poetry, directed by Robert Price. An intimate view of the legend through his poetry and those who knew him. Presented by the director himself and with readings by Jen Jewel Brown and Ian McBryde.

The path then splits in two directions: one takes you down to St Kilda, where four women give free reign to their poetic passions in La Femme Erotica: Alicia Sometimes, Emilie Zoey Baker, Leah Kaminski and Lee Koffman.

North of the river, one of the longest running readings in the Melbourne Poetry scene – Passionate Tongues. The Overload edition of this Brunswick regular are Paroxysm
Press’s GM Walker and Kerryn Tredrea (from Adelaide), Mel Hughes and Koraly Dimitriadis featuring Nick Tsiavos.

Very important: we screwed up! The original time that Passionate Tongues was advertised is incorrect. The gig starts at 8.30 folks. Sorry about any confusion.

See you around.

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Overload Day 3

Pulling up all right? Got enough energy after a crazy Opening night, a full afternoon of poetry at an Irish pub, and an intense competition? All this poetry had better recharged your batteries, because you have a full seven days of poetry left!

But seize the day as the saying goes and today on your plate:

Free, made-to-order poems provided by Norwich poets Tim Clare and Luke Wright, with special Melbourne guest Ezra Bix at the Rose St Artists Market from 12 – 3pm

An exploration of Concrete Poetry at the Heide Museum of Modern Art, with the launch of Voiceprints 11, an audio compilation of poetry close to the edge and beyond.

Westword, Footscray’s favourite poetry reading, featuring Stephen Brock and Kerryn Tredrea from Adelaide.

UK Triple bill to farewell our splendiferous guests from Norwich in style – this is the last chance you’ll have to see them, so get on down to The Wheeler Centre at 5.00 pm for a 5.30 start

Get out there and amongst it!

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…and another blog

Make sure you also check out Sam van Zweden’s Little Girl with a Big Pen. Sam will also be blogging throughout Overload. Here’s what she had to say about our super duper special guest Shane Koyczan:

This is the big one. Shane Koyczan. If you know the fellow and hadn’t yet heard, I apologize if I just made you wet yourself. He’s doing a few gigs in Melbourne – one is some sort of science and rationalism conference at Jeff’s Shed on the 18th, tickets are about $300 and his set is only half an hour. I’m sticking with the two other gigs he’s doing, with Overload. He’ll be at the Tell It Like It Is on Friday 16th September, and also at the Overload closing night at the Fitzroy Town Hall on the 17th. Tickets for the closing night are available online, so get onto it, you don’t want to miss this man – the closing event also has a huge lineup of our own Melbourne poets.

If you don’t know Shane Koyczan, try this on for size. Sorry about the uncontrollable crying you’re about to do. Let’s remedy that with some uncontrollable laughing from this one. And just for good measure, this one is one of my favourites. If you watch these and feel as strongly as I do about the man’s brilliance, I’ll catch you at the gigs on the 16th and 17th. (We can talk about how we *completely* dig Degrassi!)

 

 

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Slam Up Blog gets Overloaded

Over the next few days – actually it’s already started – Maxine Clarke’s cooler than your freezer blog will be virtually squatted by five reviewers who’ll attend every event in the Overload Poetry festival, flirting with poets and getting them to answer some hard hitting questions about the state of affairs of poetry in this celebration we call Overload.

Do you want to get the honest truth and the occasional controversial opinion about what worked, didn’t work, or went over reviewers’ heads? Yes I hear you say. Then why don’t you head on over to slamup.blogspot.com

Your reviewers are: Maxine Clarke, Karen Andrews, Koraly Dimitriadis, Lian Low and Amy Bodossian.

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29 events, 81 poets, 10 years, one little festival that could

The beauty of putting a program online is that you can literally watch a few events grow into a fully fledged festival. The final count has Overload 2011 at 81 poets and 29 events over 10 days. You can explore it all yourself by clicking on the 2011 Festival Program link, or view how pretty all our poets are on the Poets menu.

Is it too much to remember? Wish you had something to hold in your hands, scribble and highlight your favourites on? For those of you who still hold on to the idea of a printed program, we’re making available quick guide for you to print out in the confort of your own home – check it at the bottom of the events listing on this page. If you don’t have a printer at home, don’t despair. We’ll have a stack of these at every event you come to.

Look forward to catching you on Friday 9 September for our opening night. Doors open at 6.00 pm for drinks/nibbles before some poetry and I thoroughly recommend you buy tickets online.

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Overload on the radio

From August, and going all the way through the festival, Radio Monash and Overload will be running a weekly radio show on poetry and the spoken word. The show will be hosted by Radio Monash’s Miki McLay and Yusur Al-Azzawi. Each week a different guest programmer will take over the airwaves with Miki and Yusur. Guests will range from up and coming Melbourne artists to established international veterans.

Click here to find Inverse’s Facebook page, were you’ll find links to recorded shows and letting you know which artists will be playing when!

And tune in tonight from 7 pm to hear this fantastic program online at radiomonash.fm

 

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Overload Poetry Festival looking for Festival Vollies!

ACHTUNG!  Do you like poetry?  Are you an arts worker who loves working for free?  Then man, have we got a gig for you! The Overload Poetry Festival has been kicking strong with the help of volunteers for the past 10 years, so it’s only appropriate to the spirit of the Festival that we find the most delightful Front of House volunteers Melbourne can offer up.  As a FOH Volunteer, you will be the first face of Overload at all Festival events.  If you think you can hack it and got a purdy smile, please email Ashley at enquiries@overloadpoetry.org for further details.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

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You can now buy tickets online

And you should hurry up and book for Opening and Closing Nights. You won’t want to miss out on some of the best poets from Australia and Overseas.

Luka Lesson, Ken Smeaton, Alia Gabres, Emilie Zoey Baker, Jen Jewel Brown, Steve Smart, Sean M Whelan and the Interim Lovers, Luke Wright, Tim Clare, Hannah Jane Walker, Eleanor Jackson, Allan Boyd, Shane Koyczan and many many more!

Book tickets for our opening night on Friday 9 September

Book tickets for our closing night on Saturday 17 September

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One day left…

….Until submissions for this year’s Electric Text project close.

Electric Text is an unusual publication put together by Overload Poetry Festival in association with Federation Square. Over the 10 days of the festival, 9 – 17 September, short poetry will be displayed on the electronic tickers on the East Shard building, close to the corner of Flinders and Swantson Streets, making the building one tall publication.

We need you to send us one line poems, haiku, short prose poems, micro poems. This is your opportunity to have all those little gems published on one of the busiest corners of the Melbourne CBD. It’s like sanctioned poetic digital graffiti. How about that!

Send your submissions in to electrictext@overloadpoetry.org by 20 August.

This is what last year’s looked like:

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Collected Works benefit

A benefit for Collected Works Bookshop is being held on Friday, August 19, 6:30 for 7 pm. Over 50 of Melbourne’s finest poets are donating their services for free, and there is no charge to the public for admittance. The only thing being asked of people is that they purchase a book or two on the night…the powers-that-be raised Kris and Retta’s rent early in the year, and this is a unique chance to attend and help support Melbourne’s best bookshop to endure and flourish.

The line-up of poets is truly amazing:

Jordie Albiston, Connie Barber, Tony Birch, Lyn Boughton, Eddy Burger, M.A.Carter, Jennifer Compton, Alison Croggon, Dan Disney, Meg Dunn, Michael Farrell, Susan Fealy, Wendy Fleming, Lee Fuhler, Claire Gaskin, Luis Gonzalez Serrano, Tim Hamilton, Libby Hart, Lyn Hatherly, Susan Hawthorne, Kristin Henry,  Andy Jackson, Komninos, Michelle Leber, Geoff Lemon, Lish Skec, Ray Liversidge, Earl Livings, Kerry Loughrey,  Myron Lysenko, Bronwyn Manger, Emily Manger, Felix Nobis,  Anthony O’sullivan, K.F. Pearson, PI O, Judith Rodriguez,  Josephine Rowe, Robyn Rowland, Gig Ryan, Kerry Scuffins, Tom Shapcott, Steve Smart, Jenny Strauss, Fiona Stuart, Peter Tiernan, Lyndon Walker, Chris Wallace-Crabbe,  Cecelia White, Petra White, Lauren Williams

Plus
Jennifer Harrison (Reading Dorothy Porter)
Ken Smeaton (Reading Mal Morgan)
Ian Mcbryde (Reading Barbara Giles)

So please, mark the event on your calendars, and we hope to see
you on the night.