What makes a poem a poem? Is it the use of rhyme, metaphor, line breaks, or something more? And what do poems require from us as readers, in terms of attention and knowledge?
Join Sydney Review of Books editor James Jiang, Artistic Director of Red Room Poetry David Stavanger and Blue Mountains poet Willo Drummond as they explore the answers to these questions. Whether you’re a seasoned poetry lover or someone who has always found this form a little intimidating, this event will offer new ways to listen, interpret and connect with the written word.
Presented in partnership with Sydney Review of Books
Dr James Jiang edits the Sydney Review of Books, based in the Writing and Society Research Centre at Western Sydney University. He has previously worked as an editor at Griffith Review and Australian Book Review. Before becoming an editor, James was an academic in literary studies, teaching at the University of Melbourne. He received his BA from Yale and his PhD from Cambridge.
David Stavanger is a poet, producer, parent and lapsed psychologist living on Wodi Wodi Dharawal land. He is the Artistic Director and producer of MAD Poetry at Red Room Poetry. David co-edited Solid Air: Australian & New Zealand Spoken Word and Admissions: Voices Within Mental Health, and is the author of The Special and Case Notes, which went on to win the 2021 Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry. His newest collection is The Drop Off.
Willo Drummond is a poet and a lecturer in creative writing. Her critically acclaimed debut poetry collection Moon Wrasse was shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, commended in the Five Islands Poetry Prize for a First Book and selected as one of six Australian poetry titles to feature in the 2024 Aesop Queer Library. In 2024 Willo co-edited, with poet Stuart Barnes, ‘Queering Ecopoet(h)ics’, a queer-themed issue of Plumwood Mountain Journal.
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Tickets for this event are free, however, registration is required to manage room capacity.
Registration for this event will be available from 10am 9 September.
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This venue is wheelchair accessible. Please visit our Accessibility page or email hello@bluemountainswritersfestival.com.au if you have any other accessibility requirements.