Spoken Word

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...

‘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 livin...

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...

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/b...

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...

‘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 h...

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, p...

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 & Reade...

‘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...

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 poetr...

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 ha...

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=A...

‘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 wri...

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=...

‘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 Boonwurrun...

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 over...

‘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 p...

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 Byr...