Friendly Street Poets

Dr Jacqueline Clarke, from the University of Adelade, blind judged the Roman Poetry Tribute Competition. She awarded the John Bray Roman Poetry Prize 2012 of $100.00 and a certificate to:

Ben Walters for his poem Answer to Martial.

The joint 2nd Prize with High Commendations went to:

• Judy Dally for the poem: (after Horace Odes 1:24): For Margaret

• M.L.Emmett for the poem: Coroner’s Epigram – Darwin 2012

Commendations were given to:

• Ros Schulz for the poem: Epigram 2 (apologies to Martial)

• Valerie Volk for the poem: Dead Weight

Each year Friendly Street Poets Inc (FSP) runs the John Bray Roman Poetry Prize with the Classics Department of the University of Adelaide. This is in part to celebrate the life of Chief Justice John  Bray who as well as being a life time member of FSP, spent many years away from his legal duties reading and translating Roman Poetry. In many of his own books he adopted the styles and forms of Roman  poets he admired.

Each year a task is set, usually related to the Roman Poetry Seminar preceding it. In 2009 the topic was Love poetry and we focussed on the work of Catullus; in 2010 we looked at Epic poetry and the poet Virgil; in 2011 it was Juvenal, Martial and Satire and this year the focus is only the concept of Grief and Consolation.

Please write to us at PO Box 3697, Norwood SA 5067 – enclose a SSAE for an entry form to be sent to you;  or collect an entry form from FSP City Meeting on June 5th; or write to us at poetry@friendlystreetpoets.org.au for an electronic copy

How to Lose Friends and Insult People

Juvenal Scourging Women in his Sixth Satire

(Aubrey Beardsley)

This seminar explores the poetry of satire and invective in the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds. Beginning with the invective poetry of the earliest Greek iambic poets (7^th century B.C.) and progressing through the vituperative satires of the Roman poet Juvenal to the racy and incisive epigrams of Martial, we discuss why such poetry was produced, how the poets made use of humour and insult as methods of social commentary and control and just what the satirical tradition of the Western world owes to these poets.

When: Saturday 20^th November 2- 4.30pm

Where: IRA RAYMOND Exhibition Room Barr Smith Library

Level Three opposite main library entrance

University of Adelaide

Presenter: Dr Jacque Clarke

Cost is $25  concession / $30 waged (you can pay on the day). There will a poetry competition run after this seminar and you can win the John Bray Roman Poetry Prize sponsored by the John Bray Trust at the University of Adelaide. Details of the competition will be available at the seminar.

Thank you to the University of Adelaide Barr Smith Library and, in particular, Paul Wilkins for providing the excellent venue for this seminar.

Sonnet: After Cassandra

Yet on we strove unmindful, deaf and blind,
To place the monster on our blessed height.
(The Aeneid: Virgil 2.234-)9

The gods have granted us a special gift
in that we cannot tell what is to come.
For truth from error we can barely sift –
unlike Cassandra, grateful to be dumb,

unable to give warning to a friend,
for prescience might bring despair:
if cursed by seeing where their acts might tend,
such knowledge of the future we’d not bear.

So like the Trojans we bring monsters in;
we welcome those who lead to doom.
Unable to distinguish good from sin,
we fail to see the worm inside the bloom.

Incapable of knowing, see us smile and nod
and welcome in a devil whom we think a god.

©Valerie Volk

Competition judged by Dr Jacqueline Clarke,
Senior Lecturer in the Department of Classics, Universiry of Adelaide