201 9 POET IC P RO GR AM 2 0 1 8 A N N U A L R E P O R T gawimarra (gather) under the watchful eyes of balaagans skilled with time and wise with age – custodians of place – keepers of the secrets of wingadhan (women) teaching the young minhis and mingaans the lore of the land … … – gawimarra only what is needed – gawimarra to birrabuwawanha – birrabuwawanha to gawimarra gather to return – return to gather She listens – gawimarra stories – reads them in the land she walks ‘Wagirra softly’ the balaagans tell her – tread carefully on Country they say – ‘Balumbambal always watching’ – the ancient ones – dead but not gone – their blood flows through us – gawimarra us listen – the dead speak all the time … — Jeanine Leane ‘The Gatherers’ Poetry in First Languages (Wiradjuri) Design: Billy Blue Creative CONTENTS Our Story 2 Key Achievements 3 From Our Patron 4 From Our Director 5 Our Team 6 Poetic Projects 10 Poetic Moments 10 Extinction Elegies 12 New Shoots 13 Red Room Poetry Fellowship 14 Poetic Learning 16 Poetry Object 18 Poetry In First Languages 19 A Diversity Of Poets 20 IC P ET RO O G P R 9 A 1 M 0 2 2 0 T 1 R 8 O AN E P NUAL R Key Achievements 24 Poetic Projects 26 Poetic Moments 26 Extinction Elegies 28 New Shoots 29 Red Room Poetry Fellowship 30 Poetic Learning 31 Poetry Object 32 Poems To Share 33 Poetry In First Languages 34 Poetry In First Languages Evaluation 35 Unlocked and Youth Unlocked 36 Poetic Partnerships 38 Our Supporters 40 Media 42 Financials 44 OUR STORY Ngabay midyungngunbuni ngaliya Together, you and I, we will heal — Joel Davison ‘The Wounded Brave’ Poetry in First Languages (Gadigal) VISION Red Room Poetry’s vision is to make poetry POETIC a meaningful part of everyday life. PROJECTS MISSION INVENTION, QUALITY Red Room Poetry (RR) is a national not-for- AND VISIBILITY profit organisation that creates poetic projects Poetic Moments and learning programs in collaboration with a Extinction Elegies spectrum of poets, schools, communities and New Shoots partners for positive social impact. RR Poetry Fellowship Our mission is to make poetry accessible to all, especially those who face the greatest barriers to creative opportunities. POETIC HISTORY LEARNING Since 2003, RR has grown to be Australia’s ENRICHMENT, INCLUSION leading organisation for the creation and AND PARTICIPATION commissioning of new poetry. Reflecting the diversity of contemporary Australian Poetry Object voices, RR embraces all styles of poetry Poems To Share II (page, performance, experimental, musical, Poetry In First Languages visual) promoting the form across a range Unlocked / Youth Unlocked of landscapes, languages and mediums including installation, radio, stage, digital spaces and learning programs. POETIC From poetic pathways to murals and mapping apps, our imaginative projects increase poetic PARTNERSHIPS visibility, vibrancy and engagement through COLLABORATION, REACH creative contexts, professional payment of AND COLLECTIVE IMPACT poets and cross-sector partnerships. All RR projects and learning programs collaborate with Cultural, Environmental, Learning, Corporate, Media and Government partners. 2 2019 POETIC PROGRAM KEY ACHIEVEMENTS years 16 major70+ projects partners 240 poets950+ commissioned and employed digital860,000+ reach p.a. students200,000+ actively engaged programs21 in correctional centres 450 4.3 schools p.a. million audiences p.a. FROM OUR PATRON the patient ground will sing like a web of notes and o those brilliant bones of paperbark — Stuart Cooke ‘Northern Long-nosed Potoroo’ Extinction Elegies Poetry in First Languages East Nowra PS at Bundanon. Image Tad Souden City eagles fly above the clouds Over the years I have seen, and even written, That shroud the mobile ants in many annual reports. The Red Room Poetry report is different, for while it fulfils statutory Fogged in stares obligations, it swerves wide of conformity to Oblivious to daily life provide something of the flavour with which we deal on a regular basis. For me the association Ready for the unknown with an organisation that dwells on poetic themes With Arnhem Land sounds and words, is a panacea in a world increasingly at As a shaft of light odds with itself. Poems allow expressions of both truth and imagination – they are the canvas upon Strikes us awake which we can dwell, interpret and absorb. And the day dawns No work is ever complete without support tools, With a poem and I, as always, am deeply grateful for the many All is forgiven individuals and contributors who allow Red Room Poetry to reach into the creative spectrum of — John B. Fairfax our nation in so many ways. It is important this continues and I encourage continuing commitment to enable our dedicated small team to further deliver poetic themes to encourage poets and put poetry at the forefront of our arts and literary agenda. JOHN B. FAIRFAX AO Patron i t u d s T h C y l o a e c t a g t h e s l e v e h s f l y a b o r o u d i l e a n t s t h e m o b 4 2019 POETIC PROGRAM FROM OUR DIRECTOR as the box opens the sky rejoices and birds gather from everywhere — Ali Cobby Eckermann ‘Wind Song Lament’ Extinction Elegies Language and poetry web our world and relationships with culture, place and creation. Celebrating diverse voices in the International Year of Indigenous Languages, Red Room Poetry is amplifying poetic visibility and participation via installations in gardens, galleries, zoos, museums, and a national program of workshops. With skies full of poetic possibilities, we also reflect on the meaningful moments of 2018, a year that saw RR commission 93 poets, deliver 179 poetic events, launch Poetry in First Languages, while publishing poems in cinemas, trains, buses, waterways, murals and lightboxes for audiences of 4.3 million. Thanks to our generous supporters, partners and poetic communities who make these achievements possible. On behalf of our Board and team I warmly invite you to join us for another poetic year that awakens wonder, cherishes language and nurtures new Australian poetry. DR TAMRYN BENNETT Director i t u d s T h C y l o a e c t Poetry in First Languages Gadigal workshop. a g t h e s l e v e h Image Tad Souden s f l y a b o r o u d i l e a n t s t h e m o b 2019 POETIC PROGRAM 5 dissolves the distance between our best sides; the most honest aesthetic one can affect a picture-perfect profile to repeat on command until all that’s left is to confess: I am not a singular instrument — Allison Gallagher ‘Portrait no 29’ Punch Lines: Poets Play Duchamp OUR TEAM PATRON STAFF John B. Fairfax AO Director Dr Tamryn Bennett Director External Relations BOARD Sally Marwood Acting Chair Judith Pini Director Operations Jennine Primmer Treasurer Craig Lawn Manager Poetic Learning Kirli Saunders Board Members Johanna Featherstone Producer Poetic Learning Kiersten Fishburn Emma Rose Smith Andrew FitzSimons Communications Coordinator Mary Gillespie Amelia Theodorakis Observership Program Office Manager Nathan Barker Lorin Reid and our dedicated volunteers 6 Jacob Morris, Gumea Dharawal Language Custodian opens poetic workshops on country. Image Tad Souden 7 2019 POETIC PROGRAM New Shoots WA with poet performance and Q & A. Image Jason Thomas 2019 POETIC PROGRAM In human time we will have shed whole versions of ourselves before one leaf dislodges from its stem… — Nandi Chinna ‘Sweedman’s Sprawling Mallee’ New Shoots WA 2019 POETIC PROJECTS Celebrating a diversity of established, With support from our partners we aim to amplify emerging and student voices, our 2019 poetic participation, visibility and relevance across Poetic Projects cultivate invention, creation communities, cultures, languages and landscapes and collaboration via a range of poetic forms. nationally and internationally. POETIC MOMENTS EXTINCTION ELEGIES 2019 POETIC MOMENTS JAN Poetic Moments (PM) engages experimental — First Nations poetry on Sydney trains platforms to publish poetry in highly visible and — Poetry Object animation screened in accessible ways for audiences of all ages. NSW, QLD, VIC and NT cinemas with Embracing multiple languages, inventive Val Morgan platforms and artforms, PM creates — Cookaroo Flow - poems from opportunities to respond and reflect via poetic Poetry in First Languages workshops provocations and partnerships that connect embedded in waterways at Royal people and place through poetry. Botanic Garden Sydney Poetic Moments is made possible by Australia Council for the Arts and our generous partners. APR — New Shoots at Sydney Olympic Park with site-specific 1. Cookaroo Flow interactive audio installation. First Nations poems 2. Punch Lines: Poets Play Duchamp poetic labels etched permanently and performance at Art Gallery of NSW. into the Badu 3. Poetic crosssword Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. 1. Mangrove Boardwalk 10 2019 POETIC PROGRAM w o r l d o a f s i s o E e s u v e e c i n d r y s p NEW SHOOTS RR POETRY FELLOWSHIP MAY SEP - OCT —— Punch Lines: — Flow Bundjalung poems from Poetry in Poets Play First Languages workshops embedded in Duchamp poetic waterways in Ballina exhibition labels and — Poetry on the Block pop-up installation along cryptic crossword George Street tram line featuring student with the Art Gallery poems inspired by Sydney city of NSW for Sydney — New Shoots WA poetic trail on plant tags at Writers’ Festival Kings Park and Botanic Garden, Perth 3. JUL DEC —— Extinction Elegies —— Poetry Object animation lightbox installation in screened in cinemas situ for MUSE at Taronga across Australia Zoo, Sydney — First Nations Poetry Anthology — Eco-poetry projected in with linked learning resources Perth for NAIDOC Week 2.