The Food Garden's OASIS

27/10/2017

Dear poetry lovers,

A reminder that
this Saturday October 28
is our next session of PoetiCas
featuring Anne Carson and Talya Rubin
..plus our usual open section,
of 3min per reader.

Saturday 28th October
at The Food Garden,
down the lane at
14 Mostyn St. Castlemaine.

**PLEASE NOTE THAT THE TIME HAS CHANGED**
PoetiCas now convenes at 1pm instead of 2pm.

Talya Rubin is a writer and performance maker. Her poetry won the Bronwen Wallace Award for the most promising emerging Canadian poet. She has been short-listed for the Montreal International Poetry Prize and the Winston Descant/Collins prize for Best Canadian poem. In 2015, she won the "Battle of the Bards" at Harbourfront, Toronto and was invited to attend the International Festival of Authors (IFOA). Her first book of poetry, Leaving the Island, was published with Vehicule Press in April 2015. Talya holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and currently lives in Montreal with her husband and young son. She also runs an interdisciplinary performance company, Too Close to the Sun and has toured her work to Arts House, Performance Space, Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane Festival and Vitalstatistix. Talya has been on a jury committee for the CBC Poetry Prize in Canada and the Montreal International Poetry Prize.

Anne M Carson’s poetry has been published internationally and widely in Australia. Removing the Kimono was published in 2013 and the Chapbook Writing on the Wall is forthcoming. This modern epic poem has been donated as a fundraiser to Anti Slavery Australia. She was shortlisted for the 2015 Ron Pretty Poetry Prize. As a Creative Writing Therapist she has edited and facilitated the group process which resulted in the publication of three books and serves as Acting Chair on the board of Ondru – a social-change-through-the-arts organisation. Currently she is looking for a publisher for Massaging Himmler: A poetic biography of Dr Felix Kersten. www.annemcarson.com

Anne M Carson I am a Melbourne-based writer and visual artist and believe in potential of the Creative Arts to contribute to culture-making; the development of values and the making of a more humane, fairer world. I work with words in poetry and prose and with images in visual art. In addition I tea...

19/03/2017

What a great show we had with Mr Ants
Anyone who missed it can catch a taste of his brilliance at the Melb. Comedy festival.
A winner with ALL ages 👍🏼
https://youtu.be/ZvxgBKHQkIE

A little taste of George the Cleaner and his view of life after the Show. Mop dances, Dying Swans, Sharks in the Bathtub, Vikings, Cowboys, Good Guys and Vil...

24/02/2017

Dear Poetry Lovers!

We are ready to begin a new year of versifying here in Castlemaine.

2017 will follow our usual format with readings on the fourth Saturday afternoon of every month, at The Food Garden.

February feature readers are

Robyn Rowland and E. A. Gleeson

plus an open section, of 3min per reader

Saturday 25th February
down the lane at
14 Mostyn St. Castlemaine
1.30pm for a 2 o'clock start

Robyn Rowland is an Irish-Australian citizen, annually visiting Ireland for thirty-three years, now living half-time in Connemara. She regularly visits and works in Turkey. She has written twelve books, nine of poetry. Robyn’s poetry appears in national and international journals and in over forty anthologies, including seven editions of Best Australian Poems. She has read in many countries including, Bosnia, Serbia, Austria, Turkey, Canada, India, and Portugal.

Her latest two books in 2015 are Line of Drift from Doire Press, Ireland, supported by the Irish Arts Council, and her bi-lingual This Intimate War Gallipoli/Çanakkale 1915 – İçli Dışlı Bir Savaş: Gelibolu/Çanakkale 1915 published by Five Islands Press in Australia and by Bilge Kultur Sanat in Turkey, sponsored by the Municipality of Çanakkale. That book was given by the Australian Embassy to 30 Heads of State when Robyn and her translator Mehmet Ali Celikel read at the VIP breakfast on Gallipoli on the centenary 2015, where Robyn met Prince Harry and the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, himself a poet. She was recently filmed reading for the National Poetry Archives, James Joyce Library UCD Ireland.



E. A. Gleeson is mad about words: their power, beauty and fun. She has published two collections of poetry, various essays and created dozens of funeral ceremonies. She holds a Doctorate in Education and has lectured at both Ballarat universities in Education and Creative and Professional Writing. She now lives and works in the Western District of Victoria as a Writer, Funeral Celebrant, Public Speaker and owner of Macqueen’s Funerals. The content and style of her poetry is as diverse as her multiplicity of day-jobs, interests and places she has called home.

22/02/2017

A great opportunity to see a world class performer with your children ( all ages)
Tuesday 28th 10:15 (or earlier) for a 10:30 start- donation to Orphfund tin entry.
Numbers are limited so please let me know ASAP if you'd like to come.
Anthony wants to update his promo material so this performance will be recorded by people pictures for utube etc.
NB. If you are not comfortable with that then this is not the show for you... but you can catch it at the Melbourne comedy festival 🤗

09/11/2016

We have one more PoetiCas event before we break for the summer.
Our regular monthly reading will be filled with festive energy and music to celebrate a fantastic year of poetry in Castlemaine.

Saturday the 26th November
At our usual haunt,
The Food Garden
down the lane
at 14 Mostyn St.,
1.30 for a 2pm start.
Open section
3 minutes per reader.

Special Guests:

Arielle Cottingham is a poet, performance artist, and avid dancer out of coastal and south Texas. Born in Houston, raised in League City, and schooled in San Antonio, Arielle fell in love with Melbourne and spoken word in 2014, while studying abroad at the University of Melbourne. She has performed at a diverse range of events and venues, from open mics to EP launches to protests to fundraisers, including White Night Melbourne, Soul Lounge Adelaide, Story-Fest Sydney, and Sapologie. Arielle has also featured as a supporting act for fellow Texan poet Bill Moran and for Canadian hip hop artist Xolisa during their respective tours through Australia.

She released her first chapbook, The Tarantist's Soapbox, in April 2016, and in October of the same year, she competed in the National Final at the Australian Poetry Slam, where she took first place.

Arielle's writing probes the territory of the personal and the political, dealing heavily with themes of identity, heritage, history, and the roles they play in immediate, everyday interactions. Her performances explore the interplay between the spoken word and the body, incorporating elements of dance and physical theatre to create multidisciplinary pieces that have been described as both elegant and profoundly moving.

White Rabbit are Tegan Gigante, David Major, Julie Evans and Gary Beaumont. Tegan with her words and David on guitar and bass have been making noise with poetry on top for quite some time now. They have recently been joined by Julie, hitting and shaking a collection of things, and Gary, who is adding new sounds to the mix - so now they are four. They're looking forward to some new directions, and getting to work on some new material to add to their current repertoire, which includes the likes of Yevtushenko, Dylan Thomas, Gwen Harwood, Judith Wright, and James K. Baxter.

(Image: Shichigoro-shingo. Used with permission.)

23/09/2016

Dear Poetry Lovers,

We are very pleased to bring you two wonderful poets this month:

Peter Fernon and Rachael Wenona Guy.

Saturday 24th September, at our usual haunt the Food Garden,
down the lane at 14 Mostyn St. Castlemaine.
1.30pm for a 2pm start (come and get your coffee and cake before we start)
$5 entry, and with that you get a ticket in our raffle.

Open Section (limited to three minutes per reader).

Peter Fernon works as a singer and storyteller. The singing takes place mainly outside supermarkets in the local area and consists of Celtic ballads broken up with some tin whistle and recorder. He also turns poetry into song. His recent “Happiness” is a CD of these songs.
He’s been storytelling for over eighteen years, first for children, working mainly in primary schools and more recently for adults. Productions for adult audiences include Odysseus, The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Wheel (a family saga), Doctor (Trentham’s famous Dr Gweneth Wisewould), Holding Heaven and Earth Together (a story about itinerant spud diggers) and This Jesus Story.

Rachael Wenona Guy is a multifaceted artist engaged in writing, performance making and visual art.
As a performer and vocalist, she has featured in major festivals across Australia and overseas. She creates puppet-based, visual theatre for adults and has collaborated with poet Andy Jackson on Ambiguous Mirrors, a poetry/puppetry piece that toured Ireland in 2013. Rachael is an emerging poet who has been published in Australian journals such as Sleepers Almanac, Overland and Australian Poetry Journal. Her writing has also appeared internationally with Negative Capability Press and Zoomorphic. Recently a series of her short essays were recorded and broadcast for radio. Rachael was shortlisted for the Whitmore Press manuscript prize in 2016.

17/08/2016

Perfect Saturday entertainment;
A cuppa
A raw treat
& fun for anyone who still retains a sense of adventure/ imagination ( even those older than 8 ,^)
@ The Food Garden 2pm sharp This Saturday
$6 or $20 for a family of 4

20/07/2016

Dear Poetry Lovers,

Our guest poets for Saturday 23 July are STU HATTON and ROBBIE COBURN

1.30 for a 2pm start.
The Food Garden
14 Mostyn Street,
Castlemaine

Open Mic of three minutes per reader,
we've only ten spots available so get in early to nab a spot.

$5 donation

There will be warm soup to enjoy, if you like.
The fire will be burning and there are blankets in the blanket box to put on you if you are chilly, but remember it is winter!

Stu Hatton is a poet, critic, freelance editor and committed tea-drinker who is also into collage, meditation, books, music, questioning, gardening, permaculture, walking and foraging. He was born in Boston, England in 1977, and moved to Melbourne in 1986. Six months ago Stu, his wife Monica and their son Arthur embarked on a life-changing move from the Dandenong Ranges to Campbells Creek—and have no regrets so far! Stu’s work has featured in The Age, Best Australian Poems 2012, Cordite Poetry Review, Overland and elsewhere. His poetry collections are How to be Hungry (2010) and Glitching (2014). Sometimes he posts things at http://outerblog.tumblr.com.

Robbie Coburn was born in June 1994 in Melbourne and grew up on his family’s farm in the semi-rural locality of Woodstock, Victoria. Since his first professional publication at the age of 17, his work has appeared in many Australian and overseas publications including Poetry (USA), Overland, Cordite and Going Down Swinging, and his poems have been anthologised. His second full-length collection of poems The Other Flesh is forthcoming. He currently lives in Melbourne.

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26/06/2016

22/06/2016

Here's a little something interesting to pop into your calendar . Understanding our roots offers a whole new insight into ourselves.

20/06/2016

Dear poetry lovers,

We are pleased to announce that our next reading will feature the spectacular poets: Libby Angel and Claire Gaskin.

Saturday 25 June
1.30 for a 2pm start.
The Food Garden
14 Mostyn Street,
Castlemaine

Open Mic of three minutes per reader,
we've only ten spots available so get in early to nab a spot.

$5 donation
There will be warm soup to enjoy, if you like.
The fire will be burning and blankets in the blanket box to place on you if you are chilly, remembering it is winter!

Libby Angel's poetry and short stories have appeared in publications including The Age, Overland, Hecate, Harvest, and Going Down Swinging. Her first collection of poetry, Stealing, was published by Wakefield Press as part of New Poets series in 2004. In 2014, Libby completed a PhD at the University of Melbourne, a creative/critical investigation into representations of homelessness by Australian women writers. Her first novel, The Trapeze Act, is forthcoming from Text Publishing some time next year. She currently resides in Castlemaine.

Claire Gaskin lives in Melbourne Australia. Her chapbook, A Snail in the Ear of the Buddha was published by SOUP Publications in 1998. She completed her first full length collection in the receipt of an Australia Council Literature Board grant for 2003. This collection entitled, a bud, was released by John Leonard Press in 2006, and was shortlisted in the John Bray South Australian Festival Awards for Literature in 2008. She was the 2009 recipient of the Alan Marshall scholarship. She was Victorian editor of the Australian literary journal Blue Dog from 2007 till 2010. Her latest poetry collection, Paperweight, was published in 2013 by Hunter Publishers.

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31/03/2016

SO THE NEXT PoetiCas will be SATURDAY 2nd APRIL

2pm The Food Garden, 14 Mostyn Street, Castlemaine
$5 donation,
Open Mic for three minutes each.

We are simply delighted to be hosting the talented and tremendous John McGlade as our feature poet. I would hope John or his family love eggs, as he has taken home many of our Castlemaine Cup prizes since he began attending the readings. He is indeed a crowd favourite.

BACKGROUND OF JOHN MCGLADE.
John McGlade has only recently considered himself a poet and this was prompted by a friend flicking through John’s notebooks, he has maintained since his late teens, to do with his main pursuit as a visual artist. John has worked many jobs through out his life from laborer, fiberglass laminator, welder, to university lecturer across the fields of fine art through to ceramics, drawing, life drawing, history and industrial design. He has an ongoing interest in philosophy and has had his own business as designer-­‐maker primarily working on commission from design exhibitions in metal, timber, ceramics and glass. He worked for 5 years as an automotive clay sculptor at the Ford research and design centre and co-­‐set up a course of the same at RMIT. He has been painting since 1980 although taking a leaf from the book of one of his main influences, the artist Marcel Duchamp, by working in private and only occasionally exhibiting his fine art work which is primarily interested in processes and systems; some early work using electronics. In 2005 John received a Masters degree from RMIT titled “Making in Landscape, Transient phenomena and Creative Method” In 2015 John completed a PhD titled “The Epiphenomenal in Architecture and a Creative Sequence” applying his fine art and poetic sensibilities to architecture. He has won the Castlemaine cup for poetry five times and has no memory of poems, or their titles, he has just written. He has had numerous motorcycle and hang gliding accidents and has to take medication to suppress his constant state of amusement of life because of his motor neuron disease. He is currently videoing most of his poetry as he writes it and is about to embark on his first book of poetry and a book for architects based on the PhD. John’s grandfather was feared by James Joyce, at Clongowes Wood College in Ireland and John is hoping to pick up some literary skills by epigenetic osmosis somehow, but nothing has happened yet.