Spoken Word

In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 16th July 2026, you will a recording of a live broadcast featuring Es Foong talking about the Sonic Poetry Festival. You’ll also hear Es and host, Indrani Perera, swapping poems in a poetic conversation or a poetry exchange of words and ideas. EVENT DETAILSSonic Poetry FestivalSaturday 24th August 2026Ballam Ballam Place, Brunswick, Victoriawww.sonicpoetryfestival.com Poems read in this episode:Dear Letter P by Miriam HechtmanAt the Council Meeting by Kevin BrophyThe Change Room by Andy JacksonBless Grace Jones by Warsan ShireKaleidoscope by Ali Cobby EckermannAt the Lip of the Well by Lakshmi R KanchiTo Be Kissed by Quinn EadesListen by Jazz Money A Map of Mothers by Nadia NiazThe Other Side of History by Jeanine LeaneI wonder about that time in history by Linh Tran CreditsProduced by Brendan Bonsack.Thank you to Es Foong for joining us and to you for listening!  NoteSpoken word and poetry come from the heart and touch on all the topics peculiar to the human condition. As such there may be content in this show that could cause distress. Please practice self-care when listening and seek help if you need it.

Eddy Burger talks about his recent publications and shows with Michael Reynolds.

Bosnian-Australian poet talks to Di Cousens about her new book, After War.

A. Frances Johnson is an award-winning writer, artist and recovering academic. Her most recent poetry collection is Controlled Burn (Puncher and Wattmann, 2025). She has published four collections of poetry, a novel and a monograph, Australian Fiction as Archival Salvage (Brill, 2015). In 2020, she won the International ABR Peter Porter Poetry Prize. Other awards include the Griffith University–Josephine Ulrick Prize (2016) and the Michel Wesley Wright Prize (2012). In 2018, her collection Rendition for Harp and Kalashnikov was shortlisted for the Melbourne Prize for Literature Best New Writing Award. She is Honorary Principal Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of Melbourne. Controlled Burn is available here: https://puncherandwattmann.com/authors/a-frances-johnson Produced and Presented by Tina Giannoukos

Michael Reynolds talks to poet and gig organiser, Jason Voss.

Bosnian-Australian poet, Dzenana Vucic, talks about her new collection of poetry, After War. Interviewed by Di Cousens.

Caroline Williamson has been living in Melbourne, Australia, since 1990. She was born in London and spent school holidays with her grandparents in Merthyr Tydfil as a child. Her debut collection, Time Machines (Vagabond Press,  2023), was Highly Commended in the 2023 5Islands Poetry Prize for a First Book of Poetry. Carboniferous (Rabbit, 2025) is her second collection. Carboniferous is available here: https://rabbitpoetry.com/shop/carboniferous-caroline-williamson Picture: Brendan BonsackProduced and Presented by Tina Giannoukos

‘I caressed my future todaybut its cheeks held no time’- from Interstellar by Sasha de Motte In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 21st May 2026, you will hear poet Sasha de Motte talk about identity, authenticity and intuition. Sasha de Motte (they/she) is a writer and poet. As a queer person of colour and a spiritually inclined soul, they pride themselves on all parts of their identity. Yet, her work primarily shines a light on deep raw emotions beyond the labels. In 2025 they published their debut poetry collection, Autumn. Poems written and performed by Sasha de Motte in this episode:MineInterstellarWithering Away CreditsProduced, engineered and edited by Indrani Perera.Thank you to Sasha de Motte for sharing their poetry and to you for listening! NoteSpoken word and poetry come from the heart and touch on all the topics peculiar to the human condition. As such there may be content in this show that could cause distress. Please practice self-care when listening and seek help if you need it.

Maria Van Neerven's first full length collection, Two Tongues, is published by the University of Queensland Press. Described by Maxine Beneba Clarke as 'a stunning, masterful debut', Maria is a First Nations' poet and she reflects on the legacy of colonisation and racism and the aftermath of intergenerational harm. At the same time, she shines a light on the importance of family and culture, celebrating the Indigenous women filled with resilience and strength.

Maria Van Neerven's first full length collection, Two Tongues, is published by the University of Queensland Press. Described by Maxine Beneba Clarke as 'a stunning, masterful debut', Maria is a First Nations' poet and she reflects on the legacy of colonisation and racism and the aftermath of intergenerational harm. At the same time, she shines a light on the importance of family and culture, celebrating the Indigenous women filled with resilience and strength.

Grant talks about his book, The Soundless Sound.

Madeleine Dale is a poet and researcher from Brisbane/Meanjin. She holds first-class honours and a Masters degree in Creative Writing from the University of Queensland, where she is currently completing her PhD. Her work has been published in Westerly, Cordite, Meanjin, and Best of Australian Poetry, among others. Her first full-length collection, Portraits of Drowning, won the 2023 Thomas Shapcott Prize, the Five Islands Poetry Prize, and was commended for the Wesley Michel Wright Prize. She was a 2024 MacDowell Fellow.Portraits of Drowning is availabe for purchase here: https://www.uqp.com.au/books/portraits-of-drowning Produced and Presented by Tina Giannoukos

‘I give myself permission to go outside’from On the First Day of Autumn by Jason Allen-Paisant In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 16th April 2026, you will hear UK poet, Deb Alma talk about The Poetry Pharmacy.The Poetry Pharmacy is a UK-based bookseller, with three physical bookshops, an online presence and a lively programme of events. It reimagines poetry as a form of medicine, offering carefully chosen poems and “prescriptions” to help people navigate the emotional terrain of everyday life. Poems read by Deb Alma in this episode:On the First Day of Autumn by Jason Alain PainBut You Thought You Knew What a Sign Looked Like by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer CreditsProduced, engineered and edited by Indrani Perera.Thank you to Deb Alma for sharing her poetry prescriptions and to you for listening! NoteSpoken word and poetry come from the heart and touch on all the topics peculiar to the human condition. As such there may be content in this show that could cause distress. Please practice self-care when listening and seek help if you need it.

Eddy Burger and Joel O'Connor talk about the new book, Millennium Poets Two. This is a new anthology which revisits the poets writing at the turn of the millennium and presents their contemporary work.

Marion May Campbell's novels include Lines of Flight (1985), Not Being Miriam (1989), Prowler (1999), Shadow Thief (2006), and konkretion (2013).She has also published the cross-genre collection Fragments from a Paper Witch (Salt, 2008), an experimental memoir The Man on the Mantelpiece (UWA Publishing, 2018), the poetry collections third body (Whitmore Press 2018) and languish (Upswell 2022).Her novels Lines of Flight (1985) and Not Being Miriam (1989) were shortlisted andcommended for major Australian awards and twice for the Canada-Australia Literary Prize;Not being Miriam won WA Week Literary Awards for Prose Fiction (1989), the libretto DrMemory in the Dream Home shared the Patricia Hackett Prize (1992) and Fragments from aPaper Witch was a finalist for the Innovation Category of the South Australian Festival Literary Awards (2010).She has been recipient of nine writer’s and residency grants and won the Senses of Cinema Prize for the best essay in 2021 and the joanne burns micro-fiction prize for 2022. Produced and Presented by Tina Giannoukos

‘like acommercial mirage selling an over-lit dream’- from James Joyce’s Fart Fetish by Alex Creece. In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 19th March 2026, you will hear poet Alex Creece talk about collage, reclamation and the profane. This episode has a warning for strong language and mature themes.  Alex Creece is a writer, editor, collage artist and average kook living on Wadawurrung land. Alex is the Managing Editor of Cordite Poetry Review and an Online Editor at Archer Magazine, and her writing has been widely published. Alex is the author of Potty Mouth, Potty Mouth (Cordite Books, 2024), which was highly commended in the Five Islands Poetry Prize. Poems written and performed by Alex Creece in this episode:God Wants You To ComeOn SpecialJames Joyce’s Fart Fetish CreditsRecorded, produced and edited by Indrani Perera.Thank you to Alex Creece for sharing her poetry and to you for listening!

In this show we are hearing from poets and performers from the Festival of Surrealisms, which will be on 14th and 15th March at Temperance Hall in South Melbourne, midday to 8.30pm of each day. Discover Melbourne’s most pioneering independent poets, theatre makers, comics, puppeteers, filmmakers and experimental artists as they uniquely celebrate the absurdities of life at this year’s Festival of Surrealisms.  You can find out more or buy tickets at the website linktr.ee/FestivalOfSurrealisms  1. Sean O Callaghan - Sunshine Dreamtime2. Jonathan Griffiths - Lollypop man & breaking news3. Bill Marshall as Captain Fish - I don’t get it4. Helchild erforming  as Senator Pauline Shitson / President Donald Dump in a single shitshow called One Ablution5. DW Phoenix - Swipe Left6. Steve Smart - Bear Remembers7. Pauline Sherlock as Paulie-ann Marie - sex therapist - Falling in Love

Rodney Williams is a tanka poet from Gippsland. Tanka is a five line form of Japanese poetry that predates the haiku. Rodney talks about what makes a tanka and looks at old and new poems, including some of his own. He is a contributing editor of the poetry journal Catchment, Poetry of Place, which is published within the website of the Baw Baw Arts Alliance. https://www.bawbawartsalliance.org.au/bcms/catchment-editions/

Marion May Campbell's novels include Lines of Flight (1985), Not Being Miriam (1989), Prowler (1999), Shadow Thief (2006), and konkretion (2013).She has also published the cross-genre collection Fragments from a Paper Witch (Salt, 2008), an experimental memoir The Man on the Mantelpiece (UWA Publishing, 2018), the poetry collections third body (Whitmore Press 2018) and languish (Upswell 2022).Her novels Lines of Flight (1985) and Not Being Miriam (1989) were shortlisted andcommended for major Australian awards and twice for the Canada-Australia Literary Prize;Not being Miriam won WA Week Literary Awards for Prose Fiction (1989), the libretto DrMemory in the Dream Home shared the Patricia Hackett Prize (1992) and Fragments from aPaper Witch was a finalist for the Innovation Category of the South Australian Festival Literary Awards (2010).She has been recipient of nine writer’s and residency grants and won the Senses of Cinema Prize for the best essay in 2021 and the joanne burns micro-fiction prize for 2022.Produced and Presented by Tina Giannoukos

‘one blind spot is all forgetting takes’- from One Last Thing by Amanda Collins. In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 19th February 2026, you will hear poet Amanda Collins talk about art, music, life and death.Amanda Collins is a poet, death doula, author and songwriter who currently lives in the hills of Taungurung Country. She is a fierce advocate for humanity and human creativity, and can often be found teaching poetry or music. Amanda is the 2026 poetry judge of the Mulga Bill writing prize, and is part of the creative impetus behind the Heartcote Ukulele Festival. Her favourite words continue to be Whimsy, Steadfast and Hopeful. Poems written and performed by Amanda Collins in this episode:The RulesOne Last ThingThe MeetingLiberty / Untitled CreditsRecorded, produced and edited by Indrani Perera.Thank you to Amanda Collins for sharing her poetry and to you for listening! NoteSpoken word and poetry come from the heart and touch on all the topics peculiar to the human condition. As such there may be content in this show that could cause distress. Please practice self-care when listening and seek help if you need it.

Di Cousens talks to Peter Friedlander about his new book, Pearls of Light. This is a translation of the Sufi-Sant songs of the seventeenth century Indian mystic, Yari Sahib. Translated with Harry Eveling and published by Manohar publications.

‘a round of silencewhere the voice of our oceansshore into one song’- from Please my dear neighbourby Benjamin Theolonius Sanders (IQ). In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 18th Decmber 2025, you will hear poet Benjamin Theolonius Sanders (IQ) talk about sport, music, lineages and the voice as an instrument. Benjamin Theolonius Sanders (IQ) is a native Memphis griot, professional teaching artist, intergenerational educator, intercontinental slam champion, dj photographer  and father. The former MC of the Memphis Music & Heritage Festival, an 8X Memphis Slam Champion & 2x Melbourne slam Champion, IQ is a haiku lover and typewriter devotee. In 2009 He was one of twelve guest artists at Womadelaide, where his poetry was translated into Indigenous language in collaboration with visual artists from the APY lands. IQ is the author of 11 chapbooks, 3 albums, 2 audio anthologies, and has been anthologised in various academic and commercial publications for the past 30+ years.  Normally referred to as Memphis Poet Laureate, IQ loves music, coffee, scrabble, teaching about poetry of all kinds, tennis, Memphis and Geelong. Presently the Poet Laureate of the Centre for Southern Folklore, IQ is a hypen-aided American, as well as Poet Laureate of legendary Memphis Jam band Freeworld. When his feet are not walking in M’town, IQ lives on Wadawurrung /Wathaurong country. Find IQ at www.poetiq.com Poems written and performed by Benjamin Theolonius Sanders (IQ) in this episode:Small latte and jamMaturityConversation PeacePlease my dear neighbour (haiku train)For What It’s Worth CreditsRecorded, produced and edited by Indrani Perera.Thank you to Benjamin Theolonius Sanders for sharing his poetry and to you for listening!

On a lovely Tuesday evening on the 2nd of December, upstairs of the Alderman pub in Brunswick, Melbourne poets Dominique Hecq, Eugen Bacon, and visiting from York, Oz Hardwick collaborated on a special performance of their poetry. Today you will be listening to a partial recording from that evening.

This is part 2 of a conversation with Grant Caldwell about his new book of haiku, The Soundless Sound, and about haiku in general.

Jennifer Mackenzie lives in Naarm/Melbourne, and is a poet and occasional editor and reviewer. The Wallace Line: A Poem follows her previoius collections, Borobudur and Navigable Ink, in a series of what has become the home of her Imagination, Indonesia. She has appeared at a number of conferences and festivals across Asia, and has launched The Wallace Line: A Poem at the 2025 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF), where she also appeared on a panel celebrating the festival’s lifetime achievement award to the Indonesian poet, Taufiq Ismail.The Wallace Line: A Poem is available here: https://transitlounge.com.au/shop/the-wallace-line-a-poem/ Produced & Presented by Tina Giannoukos

‘I found myself inside myself’- from Cluster B, to AuADHD by Sarah St James. In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 20th November 2025, you will hear poet Sarah St James talk about performance, transitioning and representation.Content Warning: This episdoe contains references to mental health, drug use and suicide. Sarah St James- or ‘Sadie’- is a trans woman and spoken word poet. Originally born and raised in Meanjin, she has been based in Naarm since 2018. Her writing explores themes of identity, accountability and survival through the lenses of gender, sexuality and familial dysfunction. With a background in theatre, Sarah’s work lends itself best to live performance. She has been speaking her poems aloud since participating in ‘Ruckus’ poetry slams and ‘Roving Conspiracies’ open mic events in 2014.  Sarah’s writing has been published in the anthology In-Flux, trans and gender diverse reflections and imaginings. As well as Chaotic Musings Volume 3. Her first solo publishing venture was the hand bound anthology “The Brown Paper Diaries” soon to be available in print.Poems written and performed by Sarah St James in this episode:Cluster B, to AuADHDSitting With It Kalliope X FundraiserSunday 30th November 2025 in Thornbury.Featuring MANISHA ANJALI, ELENA GOMEZ and TONY BIRCH.Plus music from the THE BLACK SEA ENSEMBLE.Tickets available at https://events.humanitix.com/kalliopex-speaks. CreditsRecorded, produced and edited by Indrani Perera.Thank you to Sarah St James for sharing her poetry and to you for listening!

Today (13 Nov 2025), we are presenting are sumptous smorgasbard of poems read by poets featured at the event - Big Verse: The Readings Poetry Gala. This is happening 14th November at 8pm at the All Nations Church in Carlton. Get your tickets from the Readings website.The blurb says Big Verse will transport you through the rambunctious and politically charged world of contemporary Australian poetry.

This is part 2 of a conversation with Grant Caldwell about his new book of haiku, The Soundless Sound, and about haiku in general.

Di Cousens OAM is a poet and photographer based in Melbourne. Past poetry publications include Days Pass Without Name, Free Text Space, House Red and The Freedom to Be. She is also the author of academic articles and a book in Tibetan studies. Her poetry has been published in journals and anthologies and her photographic portraits of poets are used in publications and websites. For 11 years she has been one of the producers of community radio 3CR's Spoken Word program. Di studied poetry writing with Judith Rodriguez and is a member of Melbourne PEN. She was Melbourne PEN's delegate to the PEN International Congress in Pune, India, in 2018, and was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2023 for service to the Buddhist community. Her chapbooks can be purchased here: https://www.dicousens.com/shop Produced & Presented by Tina Giannoukos

George Vassilacopoulos was born in Greece and migrated to Australia in 1974. He taught philosophy at La Trobe University, and has published books and articles on (European) philosophy, Indigenous sovereignty, and (Greek Australian) history. Ashpoems  (re.press, 2025) is his fifteenth poetry collection, the first in English.Ashpoems is available here: https://re-press.org/title/ashpoems/?srsltid=AfmBOoobU2Q4UL6HNTKlwSCdsG3...(link is external) Produced & Presented by Tina Giannoukos

‘where the lazy susan spins tirelesslycarrying the love you put on plates’- from Photograph by Lynette Natasha In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 16 October 2025, you will hear poet Lynette Natasha talk about politics, performance and playwriting. During the podcast, Lynette Natasha talks about Cartograpgy of the Void by Chris Abani.Lynette Natasha is a poet and writer whose work explores relationships with family, others, ourselves and the world. Born in Malaysia to a bicultural family and currently living in Naarm/Melbourne, her poems are shaped by the act of living between worlds — how do we become who we are while holding on to traditions, how do we live with so much beauty and brutality, and how do we balance grief with the gloriousness of living. Poems written and performed by Lynette Natasha in this episode:FatherSilenceNew LeafPhotograph NoteSpoken word and poetry come from the heart and touch on all the topics peculiar to the human condition. As such there may be content in this show that could cause distress. Please practice self-care when listening and seek help if you need it. CreditsRecorded, produced and edited by Indrani Perera.Thank you to Lynette Natasha for sharing her poetry and to you for listening!

Grant Caldwell talks to Di Cousens about his new book of haiku, The Soundless Sound. This is Part 1 of 2 interviews.

George Vassilacopoulos was born in Greece and migrated to Australia in 1974. He taught philosophy at La Trobe University, and has published books and articles on (European) philosophy, Indigenous sovereignty, and (Greek Australian) history. Ashpoems  (re.press, 2025) is his fifteenth poetry collection, the first in English.  Ashpoems is available here: https://re-press.org/title/ashpoems/?srsltid=AfmBOoobU2Q4UL6HNTKlwSCdsG3issjeRIik2huau3lyynmTfVl_MfqE Produced & Presenteb by Tina Giannoukos

‘I am her beloved carrion.’- from Vulture my love by Maree Gladwin. In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 18 September 2025, you will hear poet Maree Gladwin talk about writing poems in a second language,  teaching poetry, women in science, ecology and lesbian feminist poets.Maree Gladwin is a queer poet, musician and artist who lives in Naarm (Melbourne) on Boonwurrung Country. Her poems in English and French have appeared in several anthologies but mostly she enjoys reading them to friends and family, and to gatherings of the Moat Poets group of which she is a member.Poems written and performed by Maree Gladwin in this episode:The London busLove letter to the universeTree loveVulture my love NoteSpoken word and poetry come from the heart and touch on all the topics peculiar to the human condition. As such there may be content in this show that could cause distress. Please practice self-care when listening and seek help if you need it. CreditsRecorded, produced and edited by Indrani Perera.Thank you to Maree Gladwin for sharing her poetry and to you for listening!

Di Cousens talks to Peter Bakowski about his new book, Necessary Wonder.

Robbie Coburn is a poet and author of the young adult verse novel The Foal in the Wire (Lothian/Hachette Australia, 2025). His poetry collections are Ghost Poetry (Upswell, 2024), And I Could Not Have Hurt You (Kiddiepunk, 2023), The Other Flesh (UWAP, 2019) and Rain Season (Picaro Press, 2013). He has also published several chapbooks and zines.His poems have been published in Australian and overseas journals including Meanjin, Island, Westerly, and Poetry (Chicago), and anthologised in Oystercatcher One  (5 Islands Press, 2024), To End All Wars (Puncher and Wattmann, 2018) and Writing to the Wire (UWAP, 2016).He has been featured at The Wheeler Centre and La Mama Poetica, appeared as a guest at literary festivals including the Sydney Writers’ Festival, Canberra Writers Festival, Newcastle Writers Festival and Perth Poetry Festival, and run poetry workshops for youth mental health organisation Headspace.He grew up on a farm in Regional Victoria and now lives in Melbourne. Producer & Presenter: Tina Giannoukos

‘A ceasefire breaks like a paper chainthey killed a forest to make.’- from Crisis Talks by Hayley Ricketson. In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 21 August 2025, you will hear poet Hayley Ricketson talk about politics, performance and playwriting.Hayley Ricketson is a poet, playwright and probably writes most from the impetus that the personal is political – and the political is personal. She discovered spoken word poetry when living in London and has been a Slam finalist in London and Melbourne, and is currently lucky enough to be part of the Melbourne Slamalamadingdong Poetry Team. Playwriting is her love language but overall she loves creative writing and expression in all its forms, particularly when it’s communicating something honest, human and maybe a bit funny. Poems written and performed by Hayley Ricketson in this episode:Crisis TalksSweet NoteSpoken word and poetry come from the heart and touch on all the topics peculiar to the human condition. As such there may be content in this show that could cause distress. Please practice self-care when listening and seek help if you need it. CreditsRecorded, produced and edited by Indrani Perera.Thank you to Hayley Ricektson for sharing her poetry and to you for listening!

Di Cousens talks to Anne-Marie Te Whiu about her new book Mettle, published by the University of Queensland Press.

For much of the last four decades, Mark Roberts has been involved in writing, criticism and publishing. In 1982, he established P76 magazine with Adam Aitken and has been involved in small press publishing ever since. In 2011 he set up the on-line journal Rochford Street Review, one of the leading and most long-lasting independent cultural journals in the world.Mark was the winner of the 2016 Byron Bay Poetry Prize and runner up in the 2013 Joanne Burns Award. He was longlisted in the Joanne Burns Award in 2014 and 2019, and the Liquid Amber Poetry Prize in 2023.The Office of Literary Endeavours (Five Islands Press, 2025) is Mark’s third book, after Stepping out of Line (Rochford Street Press, 1986) and Concrete Flamingos (Island Press, 2016).  Produced & Presented by Tina Giannoukos

Omar Sakr is a poet and writer born in Western Sydney to Lebanese and Turkish Muslim migrants. His previous book of poetry, The Lost Arabs, won the 2020 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Poetry. In this interview he speaks to Di Cousens about his new book, The Nightmare Sequence, which reflects on the war in Gaza.Photo by Tyler Aves.

Angela Costi is a poet and writer with a background in social justice, law and communityarts. Since 1994, her creative gatherings, including plays, short fiction and essays, have been published, produced, broadcast and translated. She has a number of poetry collection including Honey & Salt (5Islands Press, shortlisted Mary Gilmore Prize 2008), and most recently, The Heart of the Advocate (Liquid Amber Press, 2025). Her chapbook Adversarial Practice (Cordite Poetry Review, 2024) was commended in the Wesley Michel Wright Prize.She won the University of Canberra’s Health Poetry Prize 2024. In 1995, she received atravel award from the Australia National Languages Board to study Ancient Greek drama inGreece. She was writer-in-residence at the former Kensington Public Housing Estate on the Relocated project.She is known as Αγγελική Κωστή among the Cypriot Greek diaspora, her ancestry. She lives on the land of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.The Heart of the Advocate is available here: https://liquidamberpress.com.au/product/the-heart-of-the-advocate/Producer & Presenter: Tina Giannoukos

In this recording of the live broadcast of 3CR's Spoken Word show, you will hear Indrani Perera and WaffleIrongirl presenting poems sent in by our listeners. This June we’re asking you for your donations so that we remain free of government and corporate influence, and a true voice for the community. If you’ve ever enjoyed just a single program, then that’s a great reason to support us with a tax-deductible donation and make sure we're here for you tomorrow.Huge thanks to everyone who has already donated! To add your donation, go to: https://bit.ly/3crGIVENOWEvery little bit helps! Poems played in this episode:Lines and Bridles by Anke MacLeanCanyon Lee by Richard AtkinsThe Night by Sasha CuhaBlue Horse by Marion May CampbellArtemis by Marion May CampbellOff the Face of the Earth by Caz MaselAvoidance by Amanda Anastasi NoteSpoken word and poetry come from the heart and touch on all the topics peculiar to the human condition. As such there may be content in this show that could cause distress. Please practice self-care when listening and seek help if you need it. CreditsProduced by Brendan Bonsack.

3CR Spoken Word presents a LIVE show to celebrate the 3CR 2025 RADIOTHON! Hosted by Brendan Bonsack & WaffleIrongirl, this show was broadcasted on 3CR 855AM on 12th June 2025.Thank you so much for your donations, don't forget you can keep giving throughout June at: https://bit.ly/3crGIVENOWWe play listener contributions from:Antonio Montaine (Instagram: @antoniomontaine)Andrew Rogerson (Instagram: @ithinkthereforeislampodcast)Steven Atkinson (https://www.youtube.com/@stevenatkinson2360/videos)Josh Cake (Instagram: @joshcakemusic)Bernard Peasley (Instagram: @rhoufifoto)Dave Munro (https://www.facebook.com/dave.munro.528)Saara Lamberg (Instagram: @saaralambergofficial / https://events.humanitix.com/winter-warmers-film-festival)Stephen Smithyman (https://www.facebook.com/stephen.smithyman)

Sandy Jeffs' memoir, Flying With Paper Wings, Reflections on Living With Madness, has been recently reissued in a revised edition. Sandy talks about her experience of schizophrenia and the healing power of poetry. Part 2 of 2.Photo by Di Cousens.

Sandy Jeffs' memoir, Flying With Paper Wings, Reflections on Living With Madness, has been recently reissued in a revised edition. Sandy talks about her experience of schizophrenia and the healing power of poetry. Part 1 of 2.Photo by Di Cousens.

Jarad Bruinstroop’s debut poetry collection, Reliefs (UQP, 2023) won the Wesley MichelWright Prize, the Five Islands Poetry Prize, the Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize, and wasshortlisted for the Judith Wright Calanthe Award.He is the recipient of the Val Vallis Award, the Queensland Writers Fellowship, and the Fryer Library Creative Writing Fellowship.His work has appeared in The Best of Australian Poems, Meanjin, Overland, HEAT, Island,Westerly and elsewhere including at the Queensland Art Gallery, QUT Art Museum, andGeorge Paton Gallery.He holds a PhD in Creative Writing from QUT where he now teaches.He is currently at work on a short story collection. Photo: Torrey AtkinProducer & Presenter: Tina Giannoukos

‘to write of skin is to discredit the self’- from Home’s Duplex by Lesh Karan In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 17 April 2025, you will hear poet Lesh Karan talk about studying poetry, assemblage, movement and lineages.Lesh Karan is an emerging poet of Indo-Fijian descent based in Naarm/Melbourne. Her work has been published in Meanjin, Overland, Griffith Review, Cordite, Island, Rabbit, Strange Horizons (USA), and Best of Australian Poems (2022, 2023). She won the 2023 Liquid Amber Poetry Prize, was shortlisted for the Judith Wright and South Coast Writers Centre poetry prizes, and received an honourable mention in the 2024 Red Room Emerging Poets in Residence program. Lesh holds a Master of Creative Writing, Publishing and Editing from the University of Melbourne.Poems written and performed by Lesh Karan in this episode:Twenty-one+ answers to your questionHome’s DuplexRed Writing Hood NoteSpoken word and poetry come from the heart and touch on all the topics peculiar to the human condition. As such there may be content in this show that could cause distress. Please practice self-care when listening and seek help if you need it. CreditsRecorded, produced and edited by Indrani Perera.Thank you to Lesh Karan for sharing her poetry and to you for listening!

Marion May Campbell's novels include Lines of Flight (1985), Not Being Miriam (1989), Prowler (1999), Shadow Thief (2006), and konkretion (2013).She has also published the cross-genre collection Fragments from a Paper Witch (Salt, 2008), an experimental memoir The Man on the Mantelpiece (UWA Publishing, 2018), the poetry collections third body (Whitmore Press 2018) and languish (Upswell 2022).Her novels Lines of Flight (1985) and Not Being Miriam (1989) were shortlisted andcommended for major Australian awards and twice for the Canada-Australia Literary Prize;Not being Miriam won WA Week Literary Awards for Prose Fiction (1989), the libretto DrMemory in the Dream Home shared the Patricia Hackett Prize (1992) and Fragments from aPaper Witch was a finalist for the Innovation Category of the South Australian Festival Literary Awards (2010).She has been recipient of nine writer’s and residency grants and won the Senses of Cinema Prize for the best essay in 2021 and the joanne burns micro-fiction prize for 2022. Producer & Presenter: Tina Giannoukos

‘sink beneath the surface into myriad voices speaking in stone’- from On Danggu by Nandi Chinna In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 20 March 2025, you will hear poet Nandi Chinna talk about the eco-poetics of wild rivers, listening and reciprocal relationships. Nandi Chinna works as a research consultant, educator, and poet. She is based on unceded Aboriginal land in Boorloo (Perth) and Bunuba lands in Fitzroy Crossing, WA. Her poetry has its genesis in a strong determination to craft creative works and poetry as a response to the ecologies and layers of history attached to particular places.Nandi is the author of four poetry collections.  The Future Keepers (Fremantle Press) was shortlisted for the Prime Ministers Literary Award in 2020 and was highly commended in the Victorian Premiers Prize 2019. Nandi was awarded the 2021 Western Australian Premiers Writing Fellowship. Her most recent collection, a collaboration with Niykina Elder Professor Anne Poelina, Tossed up by the beak of a Cormorant, poems of the Martuwarra River, was published by Fremantle Press in 2024. Poems written and performed by Nandi Chinna in this episode:On DangguReciprocal GiftsAt Yirramalay Spring NoteSpoken word and poetry come from the heart and touch on all the topics peculiar to the human condition. As such there may be content in this show that could cause distress. Please practice self-care when listening and seek help if you need it. CreditsRecorded and produced by Indrani Perera.Thank you to Nandi Chinna for sharing her poetry and to you for listening!

This episode was broadcast 10th of April 2025. We feature LIVE readings of poems from the members of the Western Union Writers, on the occasion of their 40th year celebrations.  Western Union Writers (Werribee) have been meeting as a writing group for 40 years in May this year; one of the longest running groups with continuous members in Victoria, if not Australia. They support local writers and writing in the western suburbs, facilitate creative writing events and stimulate creative written and literary expression. If you are interested in joining this group of buying their anthologies, please contact coordinator [email protected]. Readers are:Margaret Campbell reading a poem “Writer Phobia”Neil reading a poem “A Violet and a Bloke”Jason reading a poem “A Saw a Man”Tony reading a poem “My Best Jacket”Jonathan Griffin reading a poem “At Home with Dad”Chris Ringrose reading a poem “Conventry”Joanna Saunders reading a poem “My Lips are Sealed”Claire Moore reading a poem “About Port Arthur”Janet Howie reading a series of Haiku, and talking about the Society of Women WritersBronwyn Hickman reading a poem “Disillusionment”Kip Chauli reading a short story “The Calling Card”Richard Dove reading a poem “Enticement”Helen Cerne reading a poem “Off His Face” (or “The Six O’Clock Swill”)