I
have a poem in this forthcoming anthology from University of Queensland Press.
Solid
Air: Australian and New Zealand Spoken Word, the title is in all caps on the
cover, which is a good thing, this is what UQP have to say about it, “Over the
past decade, Spoken Word has established itself as a central part of
contemporary Australian & New Zealand poetry. For the first-time ever,
these voices are transported from the stage to the page, captured in print so
that the spoken-word experience can be shared with a new and broader audience.
Solid Air showcases the work of more than 100 performance poets - combining
elements of slam, hip-hop and experimental performance poetry - to deliver an
unforgettable reading experience that is both literary and loud.”
You
can pre-order from the publisher as well as see some of the other names of people who have had work included, the editors are the previous Queensland Poetry Festival Directors, David Stavanger and Anne-Marie Te Whiu.
I have a
poem in the latest edition of the Tundish Review, apparently it is sold out.
But you can make sure you get a copy of the next edition by submitting, they are currently accepting work for issues 9 and 10. They
can be found on Facebook or go directly to their submission page here.
BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!
COMES FOR YOU FROM THE SMITHS ALTERNATIVE!
Which
means Poetry Slam!
Which
means 2 minutes, no props, no music and your original material! All for 1st
Prizes!
Which
means Victory! Defeat! Random Capitalisations! Your choice of Commas and Apostrophes!
Yelling, cheering, lights, sounds, THE BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT! CANBERRA NATIONAL
PIANO MAN, Beer! Toast! Cider! THE BAD!SLAM!NO!BISUIT! CANBERRA NATIONAL
ANTHEM! Poetry and Judges and Heckling and Tears of Joyness/Love/Animals/Terror
and of More First Prizes!
Because
this is Poetry Slam we have feature acts!
AND WHO
ARE THEY!?
We Have
The Careerists, the Careerists are the band that puts the punk into petre out’s
solo music! That’s The Careerists!
And we
have Elliot York Cameron, Elliot is a spoken word poet and educator from
Western Sydney. He co-organises Enough Said Poetry Slam in Wollongong. He was a
finalist at the 2016 NSW Poetry Slam, 2017 Sydney Slam and 2017 Bankstown Grand
Slam. That’s Elliot York Cameron!
And in the
Hadley (RIP) Memorial Spots we have Seb Ashley! That’s Seb Ashley!
So! Sign-up
from 7:30pm! poetry slam from 8pm! glory, infamy, drinking and yelling ‘til 1st
Prizes and it’s all over before 11:30pm!
ENTRY
COSTS A POEM FROM THE STAGE OR $5 OR IF YOU EARN ALL THE CASH MONEYS THEN $10!
And
remember, 2 minutes, no props, no music unless you are a rebel rule breaker!
My character for the three Phoenix Pub episodes of Roll For Intelligence was Dwarven Heavy Metal Battle Mage, Mack the Truck
During 2017 I was involved with the Dungeons and
Dragons performance group Roll For Intelligence. Our first two shows were part
of the 2017 You Are Here and held upstairs in the Civic Pub. Our group performed
to capacity crowds both nights, which was an excellent start. We went on to do
three shows in the Phoenix Pub, and our grand finale for the year was a
Christmas special at Smiths Alternative. The group is made up of our producer,
Morgan Little, our Dungeon Master Josh Bell, as well as players, Euan Bowen,
Helen Luan, Joel Barcham, Sharona Lin, and me. We also have a bard, Jack Collins, who plays
all our environmental and mood music, and we were joined by
artist Arran McKenna for some of the nights.
The podcast of the Christmas Special is in two parts.
This is my second book and it was developed with an
ArtsACT Project Grant during 2015, and the work also benefited from residencies in El Bruc,
Catalonia, and at the Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centres, both during 2014. I
haven’t had poetry nominated for a prize previously so I was stoked to have the
book make the shortlist in this ACT award and excited to have it receive a prize.
This is what the judges had to say about it:
‘Andrew Galan's collection is distinct, varied, and
engaging. His poems challenge the reader, and do not allow for an easy
interpretation. Some require re-readings to fathom both the narrative and metaphorical
thrust. It’s a rich collection, with a clear influence drawn from performance
poetry, and Galan utilizes conversational, disrupted rhythms to achieve
something unique. The imagery is vivid, always inventive, and some individual
lines are highly memorable, “You can look in strange places for fathers and you
don't always grow out of it.” ’
Congrats to the other two shortlisted award winners, Chris
Palmer with Afterlives, and Carmel Summers who edited The Last Day Before Snow,
you can see the full list of awards given on the night at the ACT Writers Centre website.
The Tundish Review Issue 4 was launched on Wednesday
night at Betty's Espresso & Bar in Brisbane. The zine includes
poetry by Jarad Bruinstroop, Juanita Simmonds, Ankita Bellary, Sean West, Sam
Bolte, Shastra Deo and two pieces from me. I was also interviewed for this
edition, I don’t usually talk or write much about my process but I really
enjoyed the questions from the editors, as well as some of the discussion we
had about why they wanted to interview me. The launch was packed with people and was such a fun night of poetry and drinks.
The artwork by Link Raptor is really interesting and fits well with this edition of the zine, the
piece he drew for my poem, Axolotl Limbo, gave me a new perspective on the work. One of the ideas I like in the zine is the use of a fictional editor, this creates space for experiments, as well as character for the publication. The two real life editors, Katelyn Goyen and Nick van Buuren, have put a lot of love into
this zine, they’ve promised that there will be a call out for issues 5 & 6
shortly, so make sure you have the latest copy, submit your work, and like the
zine on Facebook.
You can probably grab a copy by contacting them
through their website or facebook, and you can
definitely get editions at Junky Comics.
Here are some photographs of the launch (taken by Anton van Buuren), you can find more here.
The works
are based on writing to a series of images, primarily from Simon Stålenhag’s
forthcoming book, the Electric State, and hiromi suzuki’s works, Black Sun and an untitled series centred on envelopes.
I did also include a range of other favourite famous and less well known images in the process. You can see most of them above.
Three of
my poems have been translated into Italian and published by Nuovi Argomenti.
The poems are Art, Industry, Architecture and Pets, Spaceship Twang Dog and The
Periphery, the first two where first published in English respectively by Today, the voice you speak with may not be your own and The Delinquent, all three
appear in my book For All The Veronicas (The Dog Who Staid), Bareknuckle Books.
Thank you
to Massimiliano Mandorlo for his time and effort in translating these three
poems, and thank you to Nuovi Argomenti for publishing the work. You can find
the poems on the Nuovi Argomenti website, and you can find Massimiliano
Mandorlo at his website.
BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!
WANTS YOU IN THE PHOENIX PUB FOR POETRY SLAM
Yes
you read right! BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT! wants you in the pub for Poetry Slam!
In
August!
Be
there for the 1st prizes, the glory, defeat, the barflies, the yelling,
cheering, the heckling and poetry!
And
because this is poetry slam we have rules! 2 minutes, no props, no music, your
original material, all for 1st prizes!
1ST
PRIZES
And
we have judges, five, from the audience, to judgment the poetry or whatever
they feel like judgementing!
JUDGEMENTING
And
we have The Master of Conflict who will challenge the poets to conflict!
CONFLICT
Because
poetry slam!
POETRY
SLAM
And
we have feature acts!
FEATURE
ACT A: Sierra DeMulder
Sierra DeMulder is an internationally touring performance poet and educator, a
two-time US National Poetry Slam champion, and a four-time published author.
Her work has been featured by National Public Radio, Huffington Post, Nike, To
Write Love On Her Arms, and more. In addition to performing, Sierra is also the
curriculum director of the Slam Camp at Indiana University, an annual writing
summer camp for high school students, and one of the founders of Button Poetry,
the largest digital distributor of spoken word in the world. Her latest
full-length collection, Today Means Amen, was released in 2016 by Andrews
McMeel Publishing.
So
join The Master of Conflict, The Score Adder, The Sacrificial Poet, Andrew
Gayland, the audience, the poets, the judges, and be the BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!
in the Phoenix Pub in the Civic Bus Interchange that you want to be!
Sign
up from 7:30pm or when the Score Adder demands it!
BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!
WANTS YOU FOR THE POETRY SLAM!
Two
minutes, your original material, no props, no musical accompaniment, all for
first prizes!
All in
the Phoenix Pub!
Because
BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT! wants you!
Sign-up
with the Score Adder from 7:30pm! Poetry Slam from 8pm! Prizes and glory!
Be there!
And
because BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT! is the Poetry Slam we give you feature acts!
Feature
Act
ARTEMIS
SEVEN
“Artemis Seven is the child of the goddess Artemis and an AI, created to stave off the
inevitable demise of the ancient gods in the new world. The first prototype to
survive the merge, Artemis is by nature so experimental that even she doesn't
know what she's doing until it's been done.”
Feature
Act
Abhi Gupta
“Abhi
Gupta has a forthcoming biography, it will be his first.”
So join
the Score Adder, the audience, the Sacrificial Poet, the bar staff, The Master
of Conflict, the sound guy, the poets, all the MCs, and the toilet goers, for
Poetry Slam in the Phoenix Pub!
In this
third interview for the May Salt Room I interviewed Wollongong-based poet Emily
Crocker. The interview has been published on the Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centre
website. The May edition is at 7:30pm, the Gorman main Hall at the Gorman Arts
Centre.
The interview questions are found questions, this month taken from a Face to Face interview of Dame Edith Sitwell by John Freeman and an interview of Dorothy Parker by Marion Capron at the Paris Review.
Once someone said to Andrew they wanted to go to an event, ‘because a
bespoke poem had been written for a pop-up venue’ and Andrew wanted to punch
that person in the face. Instead he wrote a poem about carpets. He questions,
is there a need to fight poetry, how violent do we need to be with poetry, does
poetry afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted or is it the reverse,
and is it just too easy to go with aggression? Fighting poetry isn’t a lifelong
commitment, it is bloody victory and whimpering defeat.
Synopsis
Fighting
Poetry is a symbolic narrative of three rounds of poetry combat. The
performance tracks Andrew as he swings against the clichés, tropes and
characters of poetry writing and performance. In the second act he is unable to
escape these same concepts that drive him to poetry violence as blow after blow
rains on him. A framed snapshot of his first ten years of writing, publishing
and performing poetry, this is a show that delves into the perspectives, tools
and objectives of poets writing and performing their work. It is both
Canberra-centric in its examinations but wider-ranging in its exploration of and
experiments with poetry.
The play
uses two key facets of satire: 1) it allows you to say almost anything and 2) it
can go places that serious discussion may not. As satirical theatre founded in
poetry and polemic, Fighting Poetry tackles some problems faced by satire,
including preaching to the choir rather than confronting the target, that art
doesn’t change other minds as much as it changes the creator’s life, that satire
doesn’t work if you are obviously trying to be funny, and that satire should be
full of teeth.
Background
Fighting
Poetry was developed by Andrew Galan for You Are Here 2017. Its development was
assisted by funding from the festival. The text and performance of Fighting
Poetry received invaluable dramaturgy from Canberra theatre practitioner Nick
Delatovic. The play was staged on 6 April 2017 as part of the festival.
The play
makes use of Andrew’s poetry previously published in Australian and
international poetry journals as well as his first two books, That Place of Infested Roads (Knives
Forks and Spoons Press) and For All The
Veronicas (Bareknuckle Books). New poems written for the play during the
development of the work over six months were also included.
The key
objectives of the work was to create theatre that makes people think about the
use of poetry and that prompts them to buy poetry books.
Key development processes
Movement
and positioning during the play was devised while working with Nick Delatovic
to strengthen and extend the performers range of action, as well as to ensure
that these actions were deliberate and symbolic. This was done over four months
and facilitated the exploration of positioning to show key concepts and assist
the audience in absorbing the play.
The composition
of the text was designed to integrate the scripted monologues with already
written and new poems in a way that formed a coherent theatre piece. The intent
was to use the poetry seamlessly. This process involved re-scripting with
advice from Nick, as well feedback from two rehearsal reads with invited
audiences.
Scripting
and staging the play involved careful consideration to ensure that the satire
targeted the tropes of poetry and that the invective served the key polemics of
the work rather than engaging in needless ad‑hominem attacks.
Audience reactions
‘Andrew
Galan’s one man poet(ry) assault unit in action’ – Aaron Kirby, public servant
and performance artist
‘Stoic
isn’t the right word.’ – Cameron Thomas, theatre practitioner and bottle-shop
manager
‘This
feels like a book launch.’ – Ryan Schipper, poet and computer engineer
‘A show
that made me stop and think more about why we love poetry why we write, what we
write and how.’ – Akka Bellengen, photographer, poet and parent
‘You’re
an arsehole’ – Scott Sneddon, physical performer and Co-Director of Ruckus Slam
‘You’ve
made me think about what I write and perform.’ – Scott Batum, poet and BMA
reviewer
‘Having a
fashion crisis over which suit of armour to wear to this.’ – Dr Adele
Chynoweth, academic and theatre practitioner
‘Where
can I buy a book?’ – Andrew Yallop, writer and student
About Once
someone said to Andrew they wanted to go to an event, ‘because a bespoke poem
had been written for a pop-up venue’ and Andrew wanted to punch that person in
the face. Instead he wrote a poem about carpets. He questions, is there a need
to fight poetry, how violent do we need to be with poetry, does poetry afflict
the comfortable and comfort the afflicted or is it the reverse, and is it just
too easy to go with aggression? Fighting poetry isn’t a lifelong commitment, it
is bloody victory and whimpering defeat.
Watch
Andrew fight poetry as part of You Are Here.
Artist
Andrew
Galan is an internationally published poet and co-producer of renowned poetry
event BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!. Described by reviewers as ‘riddled with satire’,
his poetry is gut, direct, and imagination and reality meeting to eat and
fight. Showcased at events including the Woodford, National Folk and Queensland
Poetry festivals, and Chicago’s Uptown Poetry Slam, his verse appears in
journals such as the Best Australian Poems, Otoliths, Verity La and Cordite.
That Place of Infested Roads (Life During Wartime) – KF&S Press, 2013 – is
his first book. His latest is For All The Veronicas (The Dog Who Staid) –
Bareknuckle Books, 2016.
This
event is presented as part of the You Are Here Festival 2017. For the full
YAH17 program, please visit: www.youareherecanberra.com.au
I am
part of the 2017 Newcastle Writers Festival. As one of the people who created
and runs BAD!LSAM!NO!BISCUIT! I was invited to be part of the Slam! Poetry and Performance panel on the Saturday. The panel includes Australian
Poetry Slam founder Myles Merril, and Sarah Mansour from Bankstown Poetry Slam.
David Grantham will be the host. I am looking forward to the discussion and
learning about some of the different poetry slams that are run in Australia.
On the
Sunday I will be performing some of my work alongside Michael Aiken, Magdalena
Ball, Joanne burns, Eileen Chong, John Foulcher, Judy Johnson, Sara Mansour,
Ravi Nagaveeran, Philip Salom, Berndt Sellheim, Melinda Smith and Maggie Walsh
as part of Port of Newcastle – Poetry in the Place.
I
lived in Newcastle for about ten years, mostly in the East End, Cooks Hill and Bar
Beach but I haven’t been back since one of the early This is Not Art festivals,
so I am looking forward to seeing how much it has changed. The Newcastle Writers Festival runs from 7-9 April, the events I am part of are free, come
along and check them out.
