Visible Ink And Spoken Words

I don't know about you guys, but whenever I think of poetry readings I think about a night spent standing around drinking bad red wine from a plastic cup while nodding in solemn agreement with a bunch of wankers wearing berets. Yeah, not exactly my idea of a rocking Friday evening either. Safe to say then that when a friend of mine asked me to join her at a reading in the wilds of Collingwood, I was a little dubious and unsure what to expect. Would I have to increase my IQ and study up on Chaucer and Proust? Luckily, not so much. The evening presented by Visible Ink, a yearly anthology of new writing and art, was a huge success and has completely changed the way I look at poetry readings. No beret necessary.

 

 Since its inception in 1989, Visible Ink has been showcasing emerging writers from all over Australia, featuring poetry, non-fiction, short stories, art, photography and comics. Their aim is to "charm and astonish" readers through supporting up-and-coming writers who bring fresh, creative new ideas to the written word melting pot. Friday evening saw their first fundraising event for 2013, featuring poetry readings from experienced spoken word readers, held at House of Bricks in Collingwood. 

Found in a tiny weeny space hidden behind a roller-door the venue was pumping when we arrived. Their was a great vibe in the room, filled with happy chatter, creative minds and (thankfully) no berets. There was cheap wine and beer however (also thankfully), which did exceed my expectations. And hell, I was in Collingwood for Christ's sake-when in Rome right?! The readings began with the inspiring Jacky T, who captured the audience immediately with his use of the harmonica and his casual colloquial style. The vivacious Bronwyn Lovell also caught my eye, with stories filled with nostalgia, beauty and insight, as well as words by the amazing Randall Stephens, whose passionate performance was more like watching an actor than a poet. Each speaker presented poems or short stories that beautifully captured a snippet of life, often portraying moments of love, death, joy and sadness that are relevant to all. There's something very special about hearing words spoken from the author themselves as opposed to simply reading them. You become fully emerged in the story and engaged with the characters in a way that's otherwise impossible.

Each performance was inspiring and I highly recommend that any budding writer should make their way to one of these reading nights. They allow you to expand on your own creativity and reflect on what inspires other people's words. As you can see i'm most definitely a convert, but don't worry, with poetry this cool I won't be preaching Proust any time soon. Cheap wine however, is always acceptable.