spoken word



Toby Davidson Reviews The John Moran Corperation

Since renowned works such as Kenneth Slessor's ‘The Night-Ride' and Judith Wright's ‘The Trains,' trains have been natural subjects and carriers of Australian poetry. TrainRide by John Moran and his small posse of musicians is very much off the train, stuck in the kind of gritty, gothic country town that transfixed Wright in her debut The Moving Image.

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Stephan Delbos: The Prague Micro Festival Poetry Series

prague_festival_poster1In our latest feature, Stephan Delbos recalls some highlights from the inaugural Prague Micro Festival Poetry Series, held in Prague and Brno between 14-18 April 2009. To accompany the words and images, Cordite presents five live recordings of readings by Australian poets Jill Jones, Philip Hammial, Michael Farrell, Pam Brown and Louis Armand at the Globe Bookstore on 15 April 2009.

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Bridie McCarthy Reviews Going Down Swinging and Indigo

At the level of function, a literary journal produces a collection of writing on a periodical basis. However, a journal is also another kind of machine, an apparatus which generates a readership, presents writers, exercises its own ideological assumptions (however loosely formed or evolving), and which makes claims to a certain cultural space. At this discursive level, Going Down Swinging and Indigo are very different animals.

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GDS 27 Spoken Word Feature!

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Straight from the Tank

On January 25, 2003 – the hottest Melbourne day since 1939 – David McLauchlan and Michael Ward began the practice of filming poetry readings for the Channel 31 TV program “Red Lobster”. As of late 2006, this process continues, and …

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Ali Alizadeh Reviews Mohsen Soltany Zand

There is a spectre haunting Australian poetry – it is the spectre of spoken word. The explosion of spoken word publications (mostly in the form of CDs) and live events (such as poetry soirees, 'slams' and 'open microphones') across Australia's poetry scene over the past decade or so may in due course determine the future of Australian poetry.

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Andrew Craig Reviews Louise Waller and Kristin Hannaford

It was with anticipation and trepidation that I approached Swelter, an audio and text CD compilation of Louise Waller's Slipway and Kristin Hannaford's Inhale. At first I expected some type of multi-media explosion – always a hit-or-miss affair, as most multi-media 'experiments' entail artists getting overly excited about something old-hat in the 'new' commercial sphere.

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Moses Iten Reviews rattapallax 10

I have to admit, I picked up issue 10 of rattapallax for 'The Age of MC SOLAAR' cover story. Although my French is still very limited, I have had quite a few tracks by the Senegal-born, Paris-bred, hip-hop superstar on high rotation for several years. Undoubtedly, his flow alone is dope enough for heads of any language.

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Louise Swinn: Maybe We’re Just Not Angry Enough

Def Poetry Jam 13th January 2004 Metro Theatre, Sydney Considering Melbourne has, arguably, the most active and vibrant spoken word and hip-hop scene in Australia, it's a real pity that this show didn't come further down south. I attend quite …

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Matt Hetherington Reviews Sea Peach

Someone (not a New Zealander) once told me that there used to be a TV program in the old NZ similar to the Australian show 'That's Amazing!', but which was actually called 'That's Quite Interesting!'. Well, whether that's true or not, that's what I thought after I read this book and listened to the accompanying CD.

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Moses Iten Reviews Ian Ferrier

4AM and the walk home laced with an icy rain. This line begins Ian Ferrier's Exploding Head Man, the author's wild, Canadian environment making itself felt right from the outset of this journey that is both physical and philosophical. From Montreal to Baja &#151 Canada to Mexico &#151 Ferrier's work is a road trip of fire and ice, passing under the desert sun and ploughing through snow storms.

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Justin Lowe Reviews Chris Mansell

Chris Mansell is a serious poet. She has an agent and a Statement of Intent, and apart from my faithful drinking partner, Tug Dumbly (who just so happens to hail from Ms Mansell's neck of the woods), I don't know any poet with an agent, and certainly none with an S.o.I.

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Michael Farrell Reviews 10,000 Monkeys

If everyone went around saying what they thought, the world would end up a Shakespearean tragedy, with none of the major players left standing. Sometimes, of necessity, there is a vast difference between what one says, and what one thinks. But then again, you just might be the right Rabelaisan dog who enjoys breaking the bone to get to the marrow. Michael Farrell takes a sidelong look at Melodrama's CD 10,000 Monkeys.

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Tiara Lowndes vs Tug Dumbly

He ranted and raved. He was fabulous. Ranted and raved and spat and shouted for 20 minutes and grew and grew until he was Alice in Wonderland after she drank the bottle (add a little bit of stubble) and he …

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