By Alysha Herrmann (Riverland | Mount Gambier | and soon Peterborough)
Behind the scenes from our current project Be Part of Things: we are the project. This particular blog is an unfinished draft published “as is”.
Some of the original timing and plans for Poetry on my Porch had to be thrown out the window but one lovely consequence of this is that I was able to time the first Poetry on my Porch to coincide with Red Room Poetry’s annual Poetry Month (August). Red Room also provided some additional financial support through their micro-grants program.
Poetry on my Porch is a series of small-scale poetry reading events in the backyards of local hosts. Each event commissions local poets to write and present a new original poem responding to an allocated brief alongside reading some of their other poems. A local muso is also invited to share a short set of original songs. The purpose of Poetry on my Porch is to celebrate and showcase local poets and as an excuse to get to know some of my own community more deeply. I’ve long been fascinated by making and presenting work in domestic spaces over more formal “art spaces” and this project is a continuation of that interest. It’s also a really practical offer to encourage more people to create and present work in a cost effective way.
This first event in August was held in my dining room with a cosy little crowd of neighbours, poets, and friends. Although wild weather meant we had to move the event into my dining room instead of backyard, I was so, so thrilled with how this first event turned out. One of the neighbours who came along told me she’s lived in the same house for 13 years and this was the first time she’d ever been invited to something by one of her neighbours.
I also offered a free slam poetry writing workshop at the Mount Gambier library (also for Poetry Month in August) and this spawned a collaboration with the Mount Gambier Library to host their first ever Poetry Slam in December!
I’d planned to have Poetry on my Porch #2 and #3 in October and December 2024 respectively but October was thwarted by other challenges and after accepting a new job in Peterborough starting in January 2025, I decided to hold off and host the future Poetry on my Porch events in my new community once I’ve finished unpacking. I will however be putting together a digital resource to host your own Poetry on my Porch wherever you are though so I hope there will still be some more Mount Gambier based events – it just won’t be me hosting them!
Be Part of Things: we are the project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body and the Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia.
#regionalarts #creativeregions #regionalartsaustralia #regionalstories
Part of Things 