Poetry of the Times
We kick off Poetica 2023 with four gutsy poetic voices including Mammad Aidani, who investigates the experience of Iranian and Middle Eastern immigrants and refugees and whose writings have been banned in Iran. We feature the poetry of Misbah Wolf, author of ‘Rooftops in Karachi’ and ‘Carapace’ (2022) and currently working on “an almighty, beautiful heretical book”! Ecopoet Anne Elvey deconstructs the opposition between culture and nature in these times of ecological crisis in her book “leaf” (2022) and Les Wicks, published across 36 countries and 15 languages, will read from his 15th poetry collection “Time Taken – New and Selected” (2022).
Poets: Mammad Aidani, Misbah Wolf, Anne Elvey and Les Wicks
Host: Amanda Anastasi
Poetica March 2023 will be livestreamed on March 28, 8pm as well. Livestream playback will be available for 48 hrs.
Mammad Aidani is a human rights advocate, poet, playwright, theatre director, and psychosocial researcher. In his research, he investigates the violence, torture, trauma and suffering experienced by Iranian and Middle Eastern immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers who have resettled in Australia and the West. Mammad is currently the vice president of PEN International Melbourne. Mammad’s writings have been banned in Iran.
Misbah Wolf lives on unceded Wurundjeri land and has two prose books published by Vagabond press–Rooftops in Karachi and this year Carapace. Their work has been highly commended in poetry awards including the Wesley Michel Wright Prize and the Shapcott. Misbah has also performed in bands since the early 2000s in Brisvegas. In 2022, Misbah received a Creative Victoria grant exploring conversations between the occult, pagan philosophy and Abrahamic religions. She is currently working on an almighty beautiful heretical book.
Anne Elvey lives and writes on unceded Boon Wurrung Country in Seaford, Victoria. Her recent poetry collections are Leaf (Liquid Amber Press, 2022) and Obligations of voice (Recent Work Press, 2021). She was inaugural managing editor of Plumwood Mountain journal until 2020, an Adjunct Research Fellow in the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics at Monash University, and an Honorary Research Fellow at Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity.
Les Wicks has performed widely in Australia & internationally for over 45 years. He has been published/broadcast across 36 countries and in 15 languages. Les conducts workshops around Australia, has edited various projects over the decades, latest being Guide to Sydney Crime (2022) & runs Meuse Press which focuses on poetry outreach projects like poetry on buses & poetry published on the surface of a river. His 15th book of poetry is Time Taken – New & Selected (Puncher & Wattmann, 2022).
Access Information:
Visual rating 50%: Events are partly subtitled or include dialogue, background music and/or sounds, so d/Deaf and hard of hearing audiences can have some engagement with the event.
Aural Rating 100%: Entirely sound-based with no visual elements and can be fully experienced by blind or low vision audiences.
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