Queer space rabbits?!

This month has been poem-tastic, with three of my pieces being published in quick succession! What a good time!

‘astrophobia’ was released in A Visitor’s Guide to the Void, which is available on itch.io. This guidebook is a stand-alone accompaniment to a larger performance installation, Enter the Void. I’m so pumped to be a part of this stunning, stellar project! Other rad poets in the guidebook include: Jennifer Mace, Kaolin Fire, Toby MacNutt, Mari Ness, Hester J Rook, and Melody Watson.

EnterTheVoid

Photo by Toby MacNutt

I have a non-binary-themed poem in the most recent Rabbit 24 – LGBTQIA+ issue. It’s about the ridiculous lengths people go to in order to erase trans people, especially on forms and surveys, punctuated with humour and heavy sarcasm.

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Rabbit #24, copyright Rabbit Poetry

And finally, Concrete Queers released their latest issue #11 Home and it contains my poem ‘Walk me home’. You can buy a copy here on Etsy. Other featured creatives in this issue are: Pewkazilla, Bridget Flack, Cassandra Cho, Ellen Muller, Rob Corica, Nicole Field, Hester J. Rook, Alison Evans, and Zenobia Frost.

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Photo: Concrete Queers #11 Home

All these sweet poems will be also in my upcoming poetry collection Milk Teeth, published by UQP!!!

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Photo: Fancy cover of my book!

New poem at Ibis House

For those of you who don’t know, I love the sacred Bris-bin ibis a lot, so to be published in a mag called Ibis House is both a privilege and very On Brand for me.

** Read my new poem ‘Sabbatical’ at Ibis House here! **

And if you enjoy the poem, don’t forget you can add a tip (pls give me ur monies) 💸

You can also submit your own work to Ibis House, which I’d super recommend coz they pay and they also make cool art inspired by your work. Like this intense and spooky video for ‘Sabbatical’ which I love!

Queensland Poetry awards are open!

The Arts Queensland Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize for an unpublished manuscript is in its 15th year! The award includes prize money of $2,000 and a publishing contract with University of Queensland Press (UQP). I was last year’s winner and it’s been wonderful and life changing! Enter your manuscript so I can pass along the Shapcott Prize baton! 😘💖

*** Visit the Queensland Poetry Festival (QPF) website for more info ***

Super deep words I said from the QPF piece above: “Winning the 2017 Thomas Shapcott prize has given a new life and sense of freedom to my writing practice. My voice as a non-binary person is very often silenced, so to win such a major award has given me the confidence to push myself further and to embrace my voice as a marginalised poet.”

All four Queensland Poetry awards are now open for your excellent entries, including the Arts Queensland supported Thomas Shapcott, Val Vallis & XYZ Awards, along with the ekphrasis prize supported by Philip Bacon Galleries

*** Once more with feeling: visit the QPF website for more info ***

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Pic of me being a happy poetry dork, winning the Shapcott at QPF 2017. This could be you!

‘if there’s nothing out there, why am I searching?’

My plant poem ‘if there’s nothing out there, why am I searching?’ is in this gorgeous issue of Umbel and Panicle!   

This poem is fresh and so new, it won’t even be in Milk Teeth

Have a read of the poem here.

Umbel & Panicle’s Issue 7: Roots is also full of poignant and inspiring poems, including “A Lesson In Uprooting” by Dhiyanah Hassan, “Clearcut” by RL Mosswood, and “Soon Come” by Saleem Hue Penny, and gorgeous photography by Che Gilson.

Xmas in Brissie

Happy festive season, everyone! Please enjoy my sad weird poem about Xmas in Brisbane’s ridiculous heat.

The true meaning of Xmas in Brissie:

[Image description: picture of an Australian beach decorated with illustrations of a sun, cherries and holly. A poem is written over the top of the image:

The true meaning of Xmas in Brissie:

  • The beach, with its recurring applications of
    sunscreen, so your skin feels sticky and sea-
    serpent-slick, your cheeks fever-
    warm, your hair sea-salt-crisp.
  • The deli slices of turkey and ham, rolled-up
    and sweating on a paper plate adorned
    with plastic holly.
  • Your relos singing raucously to songs about
    snow, while you hoard ice down your shirt
    and the gullies of your body become
    swamp-like and dripping.
  • Your cousins playing in the blow-up pool filled
    with ice water. You dip your feet in and drink
    chilled white wine, hoping to delay heat-
    induced nausea.
  • Grazing on leftovers from the fridge for days,
    cherries sitting wrinkled and abandoned
    in the crisper.
  • Back home, a moth jitters in through your
    open window. It abruptly gets sucked in, shredded and
    spat out by the rusting 10 buck Kmart fan
    whirring beside your bed.]

‘Milk Teeth’ won the Arts Queensland Thomas Shapcott Prize

On Thursday night I reached a milestone I’ve always wanted: winning the Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize! This means I’ll have a published book ready for you to read in a year’s time, thanks to University of Queensland Press.

Here’s a photo of myself and 2016 Arts Queensland Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize winner Shastra Deo. UQP will launch Shastra’s debut collection, The Agonist, today at Queensland Poetry Festival.

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