[UPDATE] It is with regret that we have decided to cancel La Mama Poetica March. Due to several poets being unable to perform. Rest assured we plan to feature David, Anisa, Anne and Jocelyn at a later stage.
While this event will not be occurring, you are still welcome to purchase tickets as a donation to artists. Thank you for your understanding!
La Mama presented poetry for the first time in 1967. La Mama Poetica remains a night of some of the best spoken word and poetry that Melbourne has to offer, with a diverse selection of both emerging and established poets. In March 2020 we present David Stavanger, Anne Elvey, Anisa Nandaula, Jocelyn Deane.
David Stavanger is an Queensland poet, performer, cultural producer, editor and lapsed psychologist. His new collection is Case Notes (UWAP) and his first poetry collection The Special (UQP, 2014) was awarded the Arts Queensland Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize and the Wesley Michel Wright Poetry Prize.
Anne Elvey is the author of ‘On Arrivals of Breath’ (2019), ‘White on White’ (2018) and ‘Kin’ (2014). She is the Managing Editor of the eco-poetry journal ‘Plumwood Mountain’ and curated the ebook ‘hope for the whole: Poets Speak up to Adani’ (2018).
Anisa Nandaula is a spoken word artist, playwright, educator, published author and the co-founder of the arts collective Voices of Colour. She was the 2016 Queensland Poetry Slam Champion and winner of the 2017 XYZ Innovation in Spoken Word Prize.
Jocelyn Deane is a Melbourne poet who is studying Lingusitics at Melbourne University. Their work has appeared in Cordite, Southerly and Seizure, and they were the recipient of the 457 Poetry Prize in 2013 and the 2015 Marsden and Hachette Prize in Poetry.