Friendly Street Poets

Our first REBELSLAM! for 2010 will be on Tuesday 9th February at TUXEDO CAT,  Synagogue Place (NW corner), off East Rundle St, Adelaide. Just walk up the stairs until you reach the roof and can see the stars. Come to Adelaide’s only registered International Poetry Slam and strut your stuff. You get three minutes at the open microphone for any form of word performance. It can be rap, hip hop, poetry, spoken word anything uncensored. Make sure you bring at least two performances pieces for both rounds.

Book in at 7pm for a 7.30pm start.

Judges selected from the audience. If you don’t want to perform come and be a slam voyeur. You will have a great night out.

Special features: AVALANCHE with his industrial strength whipper snipper if you dare to breach the time limit and that brilliant MC divine the amazing TRACEY KORSTEN.

All performers can be filmed (with your permission) and placed on our You Tube Website.

Cost of entry: $5/ $4 free juices & nibbles included.

Bar open for all other alcholic beverages at reasonable prices.

A few special congratulations…

to Indigo for her 3rd placing in the Australian National Poetry Slam, the highest place ever achieved by a SA poet & to the other SA finalist, Kami (http://www.paroxysmpress.com/),  who came 7th on the night;

to Valerie Volk for winning the John Bray Roman Poetry Prize. Also to Valerie and Maeve Archilbald for winning special commendations in this competition;

to the mentored poets who all performed well as our December Guest Poets Kate Alder, Jill Gower, Suzanne Reece, Ros Schulz and Jenny Toune;

to Jacqui Merckenschlager for winning poem of the meeting at Murray Bridge;

to Carmel Williams for winning poem of the meeting at the Salisbury Festival;

and to Jeri Kroll for winning poem of the meeting at Port Noarlunga.

These winning poems will be posted throughout summer. We hope to create the Mentorship site with all mentored poets and their mentors being acknowledged and represented. We will also be updating the Gallery of Poets.

The Board of Management wants to thank the many members who have performed in such a variety of venues during 2009, taking Friendly Street out to a variety of community spaces, places and regional centres; even the first time at Royal Adelaide Show and our second show with SA Art Gallery. Thank you for your skills, abilities, creativity, time and energy. Friendly Street is only as good as its enthusiatic and generous volunteer community. Thank you to all the presenters of workshops and seminars, our guest readers (whether home grown, from interstate or overseas), our mentors, judges and our very hard working editors and ever-busy publishing team.

Seasonal best wishes to all our members, our creative partners in community organisations and all the creative visitors to our site. May 2010 be an exciting, challenging but inspirational year for you all. May your metaphors sing soprano and your similies leap to unexpected places.  May your rhythms rhumba and your metres march in whatever direction you desire. May your rhymes wriggle and writhe into place, never to detract or distract from meaning or space.

Kindest regards and best wishes for 2010!

PERFORMANCE AT THE BOX FACTORY
Saturday December 12th 2009
Event MC: Tracey Korsten
12 noon Friendly Street Poets start (30mins) – 12.30pm
• Tracey Korsten (Editor FSP Reader 35, 2010)
• Kate Alder (Mentored poet, 2009)
• Sharon Kernot (Reader 32 / 33)
• Ros Schulz (Mentored poet 2009)
• Indigo (SA Slam Finalist  & 3rd in Australian National Slam)
• Louise McKenna (New Poet, 2010 )
• Jenny Toune (Mentored poet 2009)
• Sheree Furtak Ellis (New Poet 15, 2010)
• Suzanne Reece (Mentored poet,2009)
• Maggie Emmett (Convenor & New Poet 14 2009)

REBELSLAM! MERRY MERRY SLAM!
Friendly Street Poets Inc. friendlystreetpoets.org.au

Come along to the last REBELSLAM! for 2009
on: Tuesday DECEMBER 8th 7pm – late
at : TUXEDO CAT on the roof
SYNAGOGUE PLACE (off East Rundle Street)

Come along and perform at SA’s only registered International Poetry Slam event.

You get 3 minutes at the open mic. to strut your stuff.
Round 1: all poets scored by judges from the audience
Round 2: best poets only perform
Open to all spoken word, rap, hip-hop, lyric & narrative poet performers.
Come along for a night of entertainment & fun with MC PEACH. (His last MC gig b4 China !)
The competition is incidental & not intense nor too serious.
Perform, be a judge or just sit back and ENJOY!

Please join Face Book REBELSLAM! Group for updates.

Looking outward to the stars
I sometimes try to understand
the tangle of myself
within all this.

Between untouchable distance
and the folding of air
our bodies are
just serendipity.

The night-time of sky
still fills my mind
and redefines the earth
that holds me.

And in this cool, blue evening
I too can seem transparent
with sensing my way beyond
the deepest stretch of thought.
The disappearing sun
the floating moon
are in my breath.

They say, when it’s add added up
we stand on almost nothing,
held by the imagination
of the smallest things,
which court each other
constantly – that’s all.
Our foothold an illusion,
a magus trick, just
the folly of a trillion tiny things.

JO DEY

Your last chance to read poetry at a Friendly Street Poetry meeting is on

Tuesday 1st December

Book in at 6.30pm for a 7pm start $4 unwaged/ $5 waged with juices and wine inside for free. Every poem read has the chance to be selected for the annual Reader. Read your own work and enjoy listening to a broad variety of poetry read by other readers. Meet our new editors Tracey Korsten and John Pfiztner.

Guest Poets are the mentored poets from 2009 :-

Kate Alder, Jill Gower, Sue Reece, Ros Schulz, Jenny Toune & Peter Tsatsoulis.

Find out the new mentored poets for 2010.

Books on sale at unbeatable garage sale prices – perfect for those Xmas prezzies!

Members are invited to a brief SPECIAL MEETING (as previously notified) to pass our successfully audited accounts and to

CELEBRATE

the start of our 35th year of operation

on Wednesday 11th November 2009

Members are invited to THE BOX FACTORY

59 Regents Street South, Adelaide (enter via Halifax Street, off Pultney)
on: Wednesday 11th November 2009
at: 7.30 pm

This meeting has been approved by the Board of Management to present to members the final audited  statement for the financial year July 1st 2008/ June 30th 2009 from our accountant, Ian Thomas. Meet to be Chaired by Nicholas Grey (Web Administrator). Minutes to be taken by Dr Jacqui Clarke (Secretary). Only financial members of FSPoets will be admitted to the meeting.

Champagne, Juices, Tea & Coffee supplied. Please bring a plate of nibbles to share.

Iconic, Australian artist John Brack’s major retrospective exhibition is showing at the Art Gallery of SA until January 31st 2010. It covers all the eras of Brack’s amazing working life. Friendly Street Poets is presenting poetry relevant & responsive to Brack’s work. There are three Sunday readings the second is on:

Sunday 8th November 2009 2– 2.30pm
at the Art Gallery of SA, North Terrace in the City.

Please come along & see the work of this brilliant artist and hear Friendly Street Poets perform poetry directly related to paintings & the times when they were created.

MODI

Was it because you only painted nudes
in long voluptuous everlasting paint
swishing almond eyes, sheer erotica
expressing Woman as co-equal conspirator
– not just as contributor, almost for-the-first-time?
Art history treats you hard and plays up
the “Bohemian” and forgets the famously handsome Italian
Stylish, even in poor clothes – and always the perfect gentleman
as you complacently laid your head in the gutter
– you gave away more than you ever sold
swayed the likes of Beatrice Hastings, Max Jacob, and Katherine
while zeppelins bombed Paris and cynical intellects just got
bombed, or fled to Switzerland to invent DADA.
You demanded more wine, brandy or turpentine
and ignored the War raging while charming your models with
fantastic ease
and they tried to rescue you, tame you
– after 80 years you still make women jealous and man envious.
Your ‘best’ friend and dealer waited for your demise to
‘push up prices’ – paid you in canvas and drink, so
your last self-portrait saw through the narrowed mask
– an equanimity – holding your palette – your bronze corduroy
jacket and pale blue scarf – a subtle touch of ironic pity
For a detached self finally burnt free of passion.

Because – it all became too much – Because Modigliani,
you couldn’t be Jeanne’s “father”, and because she loved you
loved you, loved you – like a closed alley,
Because you had to kick the streets of Paris with Utrillo
and sold your Winter clothes for Drink –
Because life was a gift you threw away with talent?

And the real tragedy was Jeanne’s, two days after your death of
pleurisy – when with unborn – she plunged to meet you
like an ultimate signature.

Marc Murrell

CONGRATULATIONS to Friendly Street Poets for their excellent performances at the Slam last night.

Our particular congratulations to Kami, who did one of his best performances ever and won 2nd place, $100 cheque & a ticket to the finals in Sydney. He also gets to see his beloved Boxing too.

Also to the amazing INDIGO who, for the second year running, won the first prize of $500 and a ticket to appear at the National Slam final in the Sydney Opers House, broadcast on Radio National. As our most recent REBELSLAM! winner, she has also been invited to perform in Melbourne at THE SLAM!.

Tracey Korsten what a difference 0.1 of a mark can make. Tracey was a very close third to the incredible duo. But you were a contender Tracey! As were many of our incredible 8 FSt Poets. Well done everyone. Great event, managed brilliantly.

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CONGRATULATIONS & GOOD LUCK to all eight of the Friendly Street Poets in the SA Slam Final ten poets. It is being held this Friday November 6th at Higher Ground, Light Square (North western corner). Come about 7.30pm for the 8pm start. Please come along and cheer on all the poets. The two state finalist with be off to Sydney, all expenses paid. They hope to win the amazing prizes on offer.

The eight Friendly Street Poets members competing in the SA final are:- Kate Alder, Avalanche, Dolphin (akaPeach), Indigo, Kami, Tracey Korsten, UK Jamie & Zoella.

We wish you the very best for Friday night!