Poetry@FedSquare

Enjoy a dynamic female voice of poetry

Saturday 17 August 2-4pm

Federation Square – Atrium

Entry: Free (located near the Flinders Street entrance of The Atrium)

Join a free program of poetry, music and performance at Federation Square. Each month a group of different poets present their new (or not) works in a public setting to an ever-changing audience. It is an opportunity to hear new words and voices.

August brings you the wonderful words of three women: Amanda Anastasi, Lee Kofman & Fional Hile.

There is also an open mic section for those wanted to share their lovely stuff for just 5 minutes each. Please do not hesitate to come forward asking to read by dropping a line at poetryfedsquare@gmail.com or troaditisdimitris@gmail.com

AMANDA ANASTASI studied Professional Writing & Literature at Deakin University and is a two-time winner of the Ada Cambridge Poetry Prize, which she judged in 2012 and 2013. Her debut poetry collection ‘2012 and other poems’ was listed in Ali Alizadeh’s ‘Top Ten Poetic Works of 2012’ in Overland Literary Journal. Her work has appeared in magazines & anthologies in Australia, NZ, the US, UK and Ireland including Cordite, Four W and Poetrix. She has featured at countless spoken word events around Melbourne, including at the Williamstown Literary Festival and the Newport Folk Festival. Her style being described as philosophical, direct and “richly contemporaneous” by Judith Rodriguez. Visit http://www.ahpoetry.wordpress.com/

LEE KOFMAN is an Israeli-Australian author of three fiction books. Her poetry, alongside her essays and short stories, appeared in Australia, USA and UK in a variety of publications, such as Cordite, Poetrix, Blue Giraffe and Antipodes. She is the recipient of various awards, including an Australian Council grant, and several writing residencies, such as in Varuna and the Katherine Susanna Pritchard writers’ centre. Lee holds an MA in Creative Writing (University of Melbourne). Since 2003 Lee has been teaching creative writing classes and courses in a variety of settings, and mentoring writers. She performs poetry and spoken word in many Melbournian venues, including taking a part in Saloni M and Liner Notes, and has organised events for the Overload poetry festival.

FIONA HILE is the author of a chapbook of poems, The Family Idiot, and a full-length collection, Novelties. In 2012 she won the Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize and was awarded second place in the Overland 2012 Judith Wright Poetry Prize. Her poems have been published in The Age, Overland, The Sun-Herald, Cordite and elsewhere. She is the editor of Wandering Through The Universal Archive, an electronic chapbook of poetic collaborations for Cordite Poetry Review.

Το μόνο που χρειάζεται να κάνεις είναι να περιμένεις,
Ο στυλογράφος έτοιμος.
Οι γραμμές θα σβουρίζουν γύρω σου,
Σαν μεθυσμένες πεταλουδίτσες.
Μια έρχεται στη φλόγα και την αρπάζεις.
Για να είμαστε σίγουροι, δεν έχεις τελειώσει.
Μία δεν είναι αρκετή.
Ωστόσο είναι πολύ – η αρχή της εργασίας σου.
Οι άλλοι αντίπαλοι πολεμούν ο ένας τον άλλο στο φως γύρω
Σε γραμμή ή σε κύκλο, τάξη ή αταξία
Απλοί και ήσυχοι και δούλοι στις εντολές σου.
Είστε ο κύριος – δεν υπάρχει αμφιβολία γι ‘αυτό.
Αν είναι καλή η ημέρα, μπορείτε να τους βάλετε στη γραμμή.
Καλή δουλειά, έτσι δεν είναι; Καθιερωμένη απ’ το χρόνο
Εξήντα αιώνες παλιά και πάντα νέα,
Με σταθερούς ή χαλαρούς κανόνες,
Ή καθόλου κανόνες, ακριβώς όπως σας αρέσει.
Αισθάνεστε ότι είστε σε καλή εταιρεία,
Καθόλου τεμπέλης, χαμένος, ή πάντα άχρηστος,
Σανδάλια και togaed*
Σε εξαίσιο λινό, με το βαθμό σας.
Απλά δεν παίρνουμε τίποτε χωρίς αντάλλαγμα.

2 Γενάρη 1984

*Εξωτερικό αντρικό ένδυμα στην αρχαία Ρώμη.

***Μετάφραση: Δημήτρης Τρωαδίτης.