Heard: Sharing Circle and Open Mic

Newcastle Libraries

Share your own story of feeling heard or unheard at this story-sharing circle. Featuring guest writers and an open mic.

Newcastle City Library

Australia is focused on building a First Nations’ Voice to Parliament. The next step is for that Voice to be heard. Word Travels and Newcastle Libraries invite you to share your own story of feeling heard or unheard. Did you grow up feeling like you had a voice or have you felt shut down? Instead of inviting you to a political discussion we invite you to a story-sharing circle. Our guest writers will share their stories and open the mic for you to share yours. Attendees are invited to share a 3 min story from their own experience. W﻿e'll be having pizza for dinner!B﻿ookings essentialIf you have any access or inclusion needs, please email library@ncc.nsw.gov.auThis one-night event at Newcastle (City) Library will be delivered through a partnership between <a href="https://wordtravels.info/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Word Travels</a> and Newcastle Libraries. It is part of a Word Travels tour for the Australian Poetry Slam 2023.

Guest writers Joanna Yang Joanna is the 2022 Australian Poetry Slam National Champion. Born and raised on Wurundjeri country, Joanna moved and became a teacher on Warumungu land in the Northern Territory. There she found herself spontaneously attending a poetry workshop, which led her to performing in the Tennant Creek slam, the Alice Springs slam, and on stage at Sydney Opera House. Luke Patterson Luke Patterson is a Gamilaroi poet, folklorist and musician living on Gadigal lands. His poetry has appeared in Cordite, Plumwood Mountain, Rabbit, Running Dog and The Suburban Review. Luke has also featured in the anthologies Active Aesthetics, Firefront: first nation’s poetry and power today and Best of Australian Poems 2021. His research and creative pursuits are grounded in extensive work with First Nations and other community-based organisations across Australia. Miles Merrill Miles Merrill brought poetry slams to Australia from Chicago. He is the spark for dozens of spoken word programs across the Asia-Pacific region. He has hosted an ABC TV special on poetry slams and performed solo at Sydney Opera House. Merrill is the co-author of Slam Your Poetry - Write a Revolution. He is also founder of the international Australian Poetry Slam (APS) and the charity Word Travels. Each year Word Travels inspires, trains, hires and empowers thousands of people from diverse communities to share their stories and poems with audiences around the world. Merrill publishes award- winning poetry in print, audio and video but he is best experienced live. Catch him touring music festivals, theatres, galleries, schools...everywhere, like Krakow’s Audio Art Festival and writers’ festivals in Mumbai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vancouver, India...anywhere his word travels.

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