Tag Archives: poetry

March edition – now at Creswick

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With the sudden demise of the Printers Room, our wonderful home of the past two years, we’re hitting the road to relocate this month’s edition. Far from being a ‘road to nowhere’, as our theme for the month suggests, it is rather a road to somewhere very pleasant indeed: Odessa at Leaver’s Hotel in Creswick!

We’ve been wanting to run an event at this sumptuous, eclectic venue for some time, and now is the time!

Wordsmiths are invited to explore the themes or simply ignore them altogether. This is a great opportunity to road test new material, celebrate a success or share some inspiration, or simply enjoy a diverse range of spoken word — poetry, prose or storytelling; read or recited; your own work or someone else’s.

Date: Thursday March 19

Time: Doors open about 6.30pm, words from 7pm

Venue: Odessa at Leaver’s Hotel, 80 Albert St, Creswick.

Transport: Ballarat attendees, please get in touch if you need a lift, and we will try to arrange car pooling or, if there’s enough demand, a mini-bus.

Performances: Sign up on the night – a maximum of 5 minutes each.

Eat and drink: The menu is available for dinner or snacks, and the well-stocked bar is open.

Cost: Free, with a gold coin donation appreciated.

Bonus: The Creswick Harvest Festival opens on March 19, with the official launch and art show opening in the Town Hall virtually next door to Odessa from 5-7pm. Do pop in beforehand and check it out.

We intend to be back in Ballarat with a regular venue from April, with a couple of possibilities being investigated. Stay tuned.

Keep in touch: at facebook.com/wordsoutloud or join our mailing list.

They Are Us is launched

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Some of the audience at the launch of They Are Us at the Mercure Ballarat


The They Are Us collaborative ekphrastic art exhibition filled the room for its official opening on February 27, and it was quite a blast.

The exhibition reversed the usual ekphrastic process, having 20 Soldiers Hill Artist Collective members create art in response to short fiction and poetry by Central Highlands writers, operating under the WOL banner, on the theme of They Are Us.

The artists were randomly matched to the written works and created responses in a range of media, including painting, photography, woodwork and textiles.

Writer Jean Flynn at the They Are Us launch

Writer Jean Flynn reading her work, ‘What Would Jacinda Do’

The writers engaged with a broad range of subjects, from intergenerational meditations, warfare and immigration, to alien encounters and environmental concerns.

The combined works comfortably fill the generous space at the Lounge Gallery, Billy’s Bar, at the Mercure at 613 Main Rd, Ballarat, and the launch crowd comfortably filled the room! Lovely to see some red dots on the walls by the end of the evening, too!

City of Ballarat’s deputy mayor, Cr Belinda Coates, again showed her appreciation of not just the exhibition and the project’s collaborative nature, but the role of art itself at a defining time in history.

Reuben Morgan (of the BallaRat Pack), who composed a gorgeous piece for the previous WOL-SHAC collaboration Weathering the Future in 2018, has again written a bespoke theme piece. He was unfortunately unable to perform it on the night, but a recording of the work (about seven minutes in three movements) played during the launch shows a piece well worth a closer listen when it becomes available as he reflects on the refugee experience.

We’re particularly grateful to Radmac Office Choice in Ballarat for the generous donation of foam core board on which to display the written works and to Robert Young Signs for their contribution.

The exhibition runs from February 24 to April 5.

Artist Judith Bryce explains how she used writing by Jean Flynn as inspiration for a woven basket

Artist Judith Bryce explains how she used writing by Jean Flynn as inspiration for a woven basket laden with symbolism.