Events

Getting out and about with Friendly Street Poets

FSP May City Meeting – Anthology 47 Launch & Open Mic

Monday, 1st May, 2023
from 6:00pm

The Box Factory
59 Regent St, Adelaide, SA 5000

The meeting will start with the launch of the FSP Annual Anthology 47, edited by Veronica and David Cookson. As part of the launch, the winners of the Satura Prize for the poem judged the best in the Anthology, and Nova Prize for the best poem in the Anthology written by a first-time published poet will be announced. The title of the Anthology, its cover and the judge for the prizes all will be revealed on the night!

Copies of FSP Anthology 47 will be available for sale on the night for $20.… Click for more

Poem of the Month – March 2023 – David Cookson

The Poem of the Month for March 2023, selected by 2023 Anthology Editors, Maria Vouis and Rob Ferris, is willy-willy by David Cookson. The commended poems for March are I Come From by Helen Hutton, At the Zoo with a Bush Poet by Jill Wherry and Chatting with Confidence by Michele Slatter.

willy-willy
David Cookson

Hawker, SA

no overture
far out     aloof
on the blue-bush motley
a dervish of dust
dead leaves
dancing only for itself
a fleeting sketch
to drift through memory
in wakeful hours
as an oud years back
pensive
in that Cairo side street
and a blink ago
        scent of desert
                in your hair

I Come From Here
Helen Hutton

after I Am From by George Ella Lyon

I come from a suburb flexing its muscles
waiting to be heard,
from chook sheds, bent Hills Hoists, ice chests,
the milkman on Monday,
and the smell of bread and the baker’s horse.… Click for more

FSP Life Memberships to Erica Jolly and Nigel Ford

Nigel Ford presents Erica Jolly with a certificate for Life Membership
Sue O’Brien presents Nigel Ford with a certificate for Life Membership

Life membership is awarded to a person who has made an exceptional contribution to Friendly Street Poets, Inc. At the 2023 AGM, two such awards were made.

Nigel Ford was awarded Life Membership for his outstanding commitment to poetry generally, to promoting and supporting poets’ groups in the broader community, and to his unswerving support of Friendly Street Poets as a committee member, six years as Convenor and 10 years as Regional Representative.

Erica Jolly was awarded Life Membership for decades of teaching, mentoring and supporting poets within Friendly Street Poets and the wider community.… Click for more

Poem of the Month – February 2023 – Helen Parsons

The Poem of the Month for February 2023, selected by 2023 Anthology Editors, Maria Vouis and Rob Ferris, is The almanac of last things by Helen Parsons. The commended poems for February are What I Learned From Someone Else’s Grandmother by Helen Hutton, Evening Indulgence by Roslyn Schulz and Life Drawing 1 by Susan O’Brien.

The almanac of last things
Helen Parsons

After Linda Pastan’s poem of the same name

From the almanac of last things I choose fire,
for its warmth and for its fluctuations,
although I know it is both hearth and danger,
bearing its own shadow.… Click for more

FSP 2023 Annual General Meeting and April Open Mic

Monday, 3rd April 2023
6:15pm

The Box Factory
59 Regent Street, Adelaide

The 2023 Annual General Meeting for Friendly Street Poets, Inc will begin at 6:15pm and, after a short break, will be followed by the April Open Mic.

Three minutes maximum per reader for the Open Mic. Bring two copies of your poems for submission to the next FSP Anthology or submit via the form below.

$5 at the door to read.

Click here for a PDF file of the AGM Agenda.

AGM Agenda

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
A few committee positions will be vacant at this AGM.… Click for more

Poem of the Month – December 2022 – Steve Evans

The Poem of the Month for December 2022, selected by 2022 Anthology Editors, Veronica and David Cookson, is A Frugal Proposal by Steve Evans. The commended poems for December are Every Afternoon by Judy Dally and Titled by Nigel Ford.

A Frugal Proposal
Steve Evans

My good-as-unused tinfoil
with just the odd wee tear.
My scruffy bit of paper
a little worse for wear.
My little scrap of cellophane,
my piece of broken string,
my own recycled envelope —
you really are the thing.

A seed that’s caught between my teeth,
a stone inside my shoe,
the gate that squeaks in winter wind
all make me think of you.… Click for more

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