If you’ve never partaken in the goodness that is the Queensland Poetry Festival, allow us to let you in on a secret – this event will blow any preconceptions that you have about the world of poetry right out of the water. The festival has been redefining the art form since its inception and this year continues on that trajectory, featuring a program made up of slam poets, live music, panels, workshops, visual art installations, spoken word, film screenings, performance art, comedy and even an inaugural poetry Publishers and Zine Fair. This year’s theme of ‘distant voices’ also aims to shine a light on First Nation, refugee, and culturally and linguistically diverse poets and performers from across Australia and the globe, bringing their ever-important work front and centre.
The line-up for this year’s Queensland Poetry Festival is jam-packed with diverse voices, featuring a host of talent from both home and abroad. It’s all killer and no filler but there are some events just too good to miss – the QPF2017 Literary Cabaret featuring poetic heavy-hitters Mark Doty, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Omar Musa and more, a one-off appearance from living legend and all-around national treasure Michael Leunig, the Travelling Light show paying tribute to Leonard Cohen and even a late-night queer literary salon. This year also celebrates the future of poetry with Viral Verse, spotlighting online poetry stars such as Hera Lindsay Bird and Patricia Lockwood. Joining the fold of amazing voices are this year’s poets in residence Joy Hario, Courtney Sina Meredith and Ali Cobby Eckerman, all sharing a serious swag of awards and industry praise.
This is just a small sample of what’s on offer during the Queensland Poetry Festival – for full line-up details and to scope ticketed sessions, head to the official website.