Spoken Word

Mick Mezza is well-known in the Melbourne Spoken Word arena. He talks about coming to Australia as a child, learning a new language, coming into poetry, and taking part in two international festivals in 2022, one in his hometown of Molochio in Reggio in Calabria, Italy, and the other in Naousa in Imathia in Macedonia, Greece.  Festivals: Premio Letterario Internazionale ASPROMONTE Città di Molochi...

Waffle IronGirl speaks with Fleassy Malay about her collection of poetry, Virago - A Poetic Manifesto, her new music project, and many things in between!

Waffle Irongirl interviews Alex Mortensen on his writing on his lived experience of epilepsy. Alex has produced the Neurotransmission anthology featuring poetry, writing and art exploring this topic.

Di Cousens reads from Ania Walwicz's book, Writing. Ania Walwicz was recently remembered in a symposium at Deakin University, which was held the day after her ashes were scattered at the Yarra Bend park in Fairfield. She was born in Poland and came to Australia at the age of 12 and died unexpectedly in September 2020.

Mammad Aidani talks about his poetry and living and writing in exile from his Iranian homeland. Mammad Aidani is a human rights advocate, poet, playwright, theatre director, and psychosocial researcher. In his research, he investigates the violence, torture, trauma and suffering experienced by Iranian and Middle Eastern immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers who have resettled in Australia and th...

In this week's show, we replay excerpts from a live recording of Radio Laria at Open Studio, February 2023.The recording features performances by Farah Beaini and Phoebe Perera, as part of the launch of the Girls on Key Press poetry anthology, Shoot the Breeze.

Gayelene Carbis reads from and talks about her new book of poetry, I Have Decided to Remain Vertical. Produced and interviewed by Di Cousens.

Emilie Collyer's debut poetry collection, Do You Have Anything Less Domestic?, won the inaugural $2500 Five Islands Poetry Prize for a first book in 2022.Kevin Brophy is the administrator of the Five Islands Poetry Prize which also includes a $1000 prize for the publisher of the winning book, Vagabond Press. Emilie Collyer and Kevin Brophy discuss the prize and Emilie's book with Tina Giannoukos,...

In this episode, we hear poet and performer, Katie Lohner, sharing new work from her upcoming live show, The Hungry Poet. Expect food, sensuality and laughs!

Ezra Bix reads from Best Australian Poems 2021. Interviewed and produced by Di Cousens.

Kevin Brophy and Alex Skovron talk about and read the poetry of Ron Pretty from 101 Poems published by Pitt Street Poetry. Peter Frankis reads Ron Pretty's reflections on his life in poetry. This extended podcast of the on-air show provides extra readings of Ron Pretty's poems from 101 Poems. Produced and presented by Tina Giannoukos. Produce & Presented by Tina Giannoukos

Kevin Brophy and Alex Skovron discuss the poetry of and read poems from Ron Pretty's 101 Poems published by Pitt Street Poetry. Peter Frankis reads Ron Pretty's reflections on his life in poetry. Produced & Presented by Tina Giannoukos.   

In this episode of Spoken Word, we present a live recording of Gemma White's launch of the book Oh My Rapture, captured on 26 November 2022.For more info on Gemma's work, visit www.gemmawhite.com.au. ** Note: this program contains moderate course language

Thuy On talks to Di Cousens about her new book, Decadence. Published by UWA Publishing.

Arnold Zable is an acclaimed writer, novelist, human rights activist, and the recipient of the 2021 Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature. His books include Jewels and Ashes, Wanderers and Dreamers, Café Scheherazade, Scraps of Heaven, Sea of Many Returns, The Fig Tree, Violin Lessons, The Fighter and most recently, The Watermill. Zable has written numerous stories, featur...

In this week's show, we present a continuous stream of performances from poets, Charlotte Sareño, Eleanor Jackson, Allara, Saint Jorge, Ivana Dash, Alice Night, Trixi Rosa and Carmen Main, set to the music of Helen Mountfort, Bonnie Mercer, and Jill Farrar.

A live recording of Misbah Wolf and Ria Kealey, performing live at Radio Laria Poetry on 2 November 2022. Misbah Wolf has had two prose books published by Vagabond press – Rooftops in Karachi and this year Carapace. Their work has been highly commended in poetry awards including the Wesley Michel Wright Prize and the Shapcott. She has been published through Mascara, Peril, Cordite, APJ, Red Room p...

Ezra Bix reads selections from Best of Australian Poems 2021, published by Australian Poetry. Presented and produced by Di Cousens. 

3CR Spoken Word presenter Tina Giannoukos talks with Myron Lysenko about the possibilities of haiku as a poetry of resistance. Myron has been writing haiku against the war in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion. He shares his haiku on 3CR Spoken Word. Visit Poets Against Putin to read poetry against the war in Ukraine. Produced & Presented by Tina Giannoukos  

In this show, Waffle IronGirl shoots the breeze about poetry and podcasting with Alice Allan, author of The Empty Show and producer of the long-running poetry podcast series, Poetry Says.

This show features a poem contributed and read by Bhikshuni Weisbrot, entitled A Personal History of Guns in 7 Acts, written in  response to the proliferation of shootings in the USA. Bhikshuni resides in Queens, New York, and is a co-editor of Happiness, the Delight-Tree, An Anthology of Contemporary International Poetry, honoring the International Day of Happiness, which brings together poets fr...

In this episode of Spoken Word, Waffle Irongirl interviews David Stavanger on the anthology Admissions: Voices within Mental Health. We also hear poems by Scott-Patrick Mitchell, Tim Heffernan, Holly Isemonger and Helena Fox, read by the authors themselves. 

Janaka Malwatta talks to Di Cousens about his new book, blackbirds don't mate with starlings, published by the University of Queensland Press.

In this episode, Tina Giannoukos speaks with poet and reviewer, Jennifer Mackenzie, about her long-term engagement with Asia and its inspiration for her work. Jennifer Mackenzie has published two collections of poetry, Borobudur (Transit Lounge, 2009), re-published as Borobudur and Other Poems (Lontar, Jakarta, 2012), and Navigable Ink (Transit Lounge, 2020). Produced & Presented by Tina Giannouko...

In this episode of 3CR Spoken Word, Waffle IronGirl speaks with writer, educator and zine maker, Rae White, about zine making, poetry, transgender joy, potted plants, and much more! Rae's newest collection of poetry, Exactly As I Am, was published this year by UQP.