Month: August 2016
Erasure
Rainy day ripples into
green covered brooks.
Erasure poems weave
a dark feathered tale.
A dead ibis cries
her last story path
Crossing a road
danger retraced.
Rainy day ripples
her life erased.
(c) June Perkins.
The Story of Magic Fish Dreaming
How to Be a Poet and Why not to be a Poet
The last time I was in this lecture theatre was for the launch of Lani Wendt Young’s latest book with the Pacific Community of Brisbane. Today I am at a partnership event between the Queensland Poetry Festival and QUT, where they are hosting the poet, Jeet Thayil.
It’s a free public lecture, but there are many poetry students in the audience, students of the immensely talented Sarah Holland-Bat (I am pictured on above with her.)
It’s an interesting room with its sloping ceilings and curving walls that give it a Pacific feel, and the red plush fold out chairs add a feeling of majesty. It has an arty feeling to it, and it certainly not a sterile feeling room.
Sarah introduces Jeet, an Indian poet, novelist, librettist and musician. He is best known as a poet and is the author of four collections, and as Sarah puts it is a…
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Invitation
For all of you who wanted to be at our launch in Brisbane, Australia, but who live or are travelling too far away, we invite you to send a short message, perhaps telegram style, that can be displayed or shared.
It can be written, video, audio or artistic, it’s up to you.
If you like it would be wonderful if you could – say something about where you write or read poetry.
We will select a few to read or display on a screen or wall at the launch on October 30th. Depends what you send to us, whether it is a picture, video, audio, or short written message etc. as to how we share it.
We’re hoping to soon share who the inspiring speakers are but we’re still working out exactly who they will be and what we might ask them to talk about, but it will be about the power and fun of poetry or something super interesting and inspiring.
But it’s not really a day about speeches, rather it’s a celebration of the music of poetry with fun activities for young ones and grown ups who love poetry as well as some prizes and suprises.
Some young musicians are going to play guitar and sing, and the rehearsals are sounding just brilliant.
This submission is due October 25th.
All is getting very, very exciting. This weekend we do the Big Draw at the State Library of Queensland! We will be sharing a sample of the book to a large audience of families and children alongside some other talented illustrators and authors.
If you are a kickstarter backer, you will have received a survey in your email inbox. Could you fill it out with your postal address, which if possible should be a street address, so you can sign for the parcel when it arrives, but we do know this might not be possible to some country Areas of Australia or even for some of our international destinations. Thank you.
If a street address is impossible please message us to work out the best way to deliver your parcel.
We will let you know when they start to be posted.
Our official launch announcements posters are almost done, and the program is still in development. The designer is busy, the final quotes for the printing job are on their way.
June promises she will get back to all our preorder requests as soon as possible things have just gotten so busy here, and she is looking into a limited number of bookshop signings and stocking of the book in stores the team loves in the lead up to Christmas. We’re still looking to find a traditional publisher, so this will be for a strictly limited time.
The dream is – a Far North Queensland event, back in the birthplace of the book! Our editor is flying down in a few months to meet the rest of the Magic Fish Dreaming Team. What a special event that will be. We hope we get to go see her in the Far North!
Yes, busy, busy, busy!
And from June to all kickstarter backers: “When people like book store owners ask me who is this book’s publisher, I realise you all make me stand tall – the true answer is our kickstarter supporters, all 142 of you!”
Thank you.
The Magic Fish Dreaming Team
Shelter
My cocoon of glow wormed light
swaddles me as if first born,
so quiet, it’s full of heart beats,
and it lights my way to
safety within its cold cave walls.
Those outside can’t see it because
the grass haired roof
would confuse them.
It is camouflaged and
the oasis of cool within the searing heat
would remain hidden, unless
they knew just where the doorway sang.
(c) June Perkins
(Written during Writelinks workshop with Marianne de Pieres)
Do Not Become Veiled
“The sun is the same sun,
no matter from what sign it may manifest itself
or from what spot it may arise.
Thou must look at the Sun;
do not become veiled by
the places from which the Sun appears.”
-‘Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas
This photograph is featured at Nineteen Months
Ripple Poetry 