Tag Archives: poetry

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Amir Sulaiman in Australia – 17 December

A message from our friends at the Naxariis Foundation Inc

presenting…

Amir Sulaiman’s ‘The Meccan Openings’ Melbourne Tour

Come along and witness DEF Jam Poet Amir Sulaiman’s first ever Australian tour as he takes Melbourne through his poetic pilgrimage.

Amir Sulaiman is an accomplished poet, activist, recording artist and a 2 time HBO Def Poet. Host and performer for national Breed Love Odyssey Tour with Mos Def and Talib Kweli and special guest on KRS-ONES Hip Hop Lives Tour there is a steady but ever increasing buzz building around Amir quickly gaining the attention of everyone from Kanye West and Russell Simmons (who referred to Amir as “blessed”), to Dave Chapelle. In addition, organizations such as the ACLU, Amnesty International and Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition have used Amir’s poetry and voice to bring life to multiple campaigns dealing with social justice and art. Consistently working across the United States and Canada, Amir has shared the stage with artists such as Kanye West, Lauryn Hill, Common , Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharoah Monch, Floetry, Black Thought of The Roots, Goapele, Stevie Wonder, The Last Poets, Dead Prez, Ghostface of Wu-Tang Clan, MOP, and more.

Hosted by Luka Lesson and featuring a line up of amazing Melbourne based, talented poets:

Alia Gabres
Nour Abouzeid
Sara Mussa
Xaamud Aden
Zoe Hendrix Newport
Abshir Ahmed
Salim Mohamed

Poetry and art are historically significant part of East African and Somali culture and to highlight the strength and perseverance of the East African people we aim to positively inspire the youth and showcase their talent while raising funds for the drought stricken victims in East Africa. This night will also feature elements of East African culture such as dance, story telling, and so much more.

Proudly brought to you by the ‘Strength Not Silence’ campaign

Saturday 17 December
Carrillo Gantner Theatre
Sydney Myer Asia Centre
761 Swantson St (cnr Monash Rd)
Parkville

For info on tickets, or reservations email bookings.naxariis@gmail.com, or call Ahmed Shide on 0401 876 778 or  Halima Fiqi on 0401 124 670

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Closing Night

New Shane web

So this is it. The moment we’ve all been waiting for. Is it possible to have two of the most amazing nights in Overload history on the same weekend? I’m sure it is.

It’s an absolute pleasure to host what will be an unbelieveable night of poetry and performance by the cream of poetry in this country, with a very special overseas guest. A truly stellar lineup:

Canadian spoken word virtuoso Shane Koyczan sits at the crossroads between fine writing and superstardom. Authentic, genuine and powerful, he navigates his audience through social and political territory with a furious honesty and a tender humanity that has brought audiences to their feet in New York, London, Edinburgh, Sydney and Los Angeles.

Sean M Whelan and the Interim Lovers – a post-rock/spoken word collaboration. Their album Softly and Suddenly is a mysterious love story written by Whelan inspired on Lewis Carroll’s Hunting of the Snark, beautifully instrumented by the Interim Lovers.

Emilie Zoey Baker – an internationally acclaimed poet and slam champion, winner of the Nimbin Performance Poetry World Cup, the Berlin International Literature Festival’s International Slam Review, and a guest of literary festivals in North America, Europe and Asia.

Eleanor Jackson – a poet of poignant, conversational style and the creator of a unique experiment in poetic storytelling, the Melbourne Poetry Map.

Allan Boyd and Maitland Schaars – The Antipoet and The Enforcer, described as 21st century performance poets in your faces. Raw and political spoken word by two seasoned performance poets from WA.

Lapkat (Lisa Greenaway) works with multilingual spoken word and minimal global beats in DJ sets featuring spoken word artists, poets, storytellers, MCs in all languages mixed with eclectic music styles, from old treasures of the world to the new sounds of the global electronic movement.

SOME DISCOUNT TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE through Rushcrowds. An absolute bargain.

If all else fails, Trybooking is your way to go, or of course at the door. Fitzroy Town Hall, (Main Hall) 201 Napier St Fitzroy.

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Overload day 6

Your_Looking_Eyes promo01

As director of the festival, all poets are my favourite children, but a special mention needs to go to Andy Jackson who along with Genevieve and her trusty harp Jezebel, and David Splatt on saw, absolutely knocked the socks off the punters at the Edinburgh Castle. Coburg never sounded so good. I can’t be everywhere though, so tell me, what knocked your socks off last night?

But today – two booklaunches: Initially NO’s Wierd stuff happening at lunchtime in Prahran. Then at 5pm, come straight from work to the Abbotsford Convent for the launch of Emilie Collyer’s Your Looking Eyes with special guest Amy Bodossian. The book has been beautifully illustrated by Eirian Chapman.

Then at 6.30, the mufftastic (that’s how Eleanor described it to me) Mills and Boon Swoon at Long Play. A spin on the “boy meets girl…” archetype – girl meets girl. Tune in to 3RRR’s Aural Text from midday today to hear Eleanor and Betsy Turcot talk about their show, Melbourne Poetry Map and closing night.

And for the harcore, at Palookaville, a re-encounter with the ghosts of poetry readings past. Class of 99, featuring nine handpicked poets from Overload’s prehistory.

Three days to go! Unbelievable. Have you booked tickets for the Closing night yet? You better be quick. You won’t want to miss Canadian superstar Shane Koyczan performing with some of the best poetry talent in Australia.

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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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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.