Literature – Castlemaine State Festival 2013

Let Me Hear Your Body Talk

admin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 02:46:28 +0000

‘ Let Me Hear Your Body Talk’ was Olivia Newton-John’s clarion call of the early eighties. We’ve decided to take it up (someone had to) with a full ‘workout’ of stories written on, in or by the body. Metaphorically speaking, we’re aiming to make good on Livvy’s promise to ‘take you to an intimate restaurant then to a suggestive movie … you know what I mean’.

Benjamin Law
Jeff Sparrow
Glenn Colquhoun
Lachlan Plain
Colleen Burke
Jayanthi Siva
Sabrina Zuber
Bhagya Murthy

Declaim to Fame

admin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 02:25:50 +0000

‘We’ve all got something to say and we’ve all got our own way of saying it…’ Some have said it best in speeches, some in letters, others in email correspondence, on the tube, the stage or the page. What iconic and not-so-iconic ‘texts’ are our festival artists drawn to and why? Expect everything from Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ to Susan Boyle’s ‘I dreamed a dream’.

Cate Kennedy
Rodney Croome
Michael Gurr
Irris Makler
Michael ‘Dan’ Mori
Alice Garner

Hairbrushes and Air Guitars

admin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 02:38:51 +0000

Who knew the brush was for my hair? Or that the skipping rope ends weren’t for belting out duets? Or that I’d been lugging a guitar around for years! Let’s get amped, let’s get plugged in with a night of stories by a rollicking line-up of musicians, music writers, critics, comics and music lovers of the songs that killed them softly or rocked them hard: when, why and how.

Pete McCracken
Peggy Frew
Justin Heazlewood
Barry Divola
Megan Spencer

Everything you need is here

admin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 00:11:13 +0000

We’ve got you covered with three internationally lauded poets. One’s a medical professional, one’s a countertenor and one’s a literary all-rounder and raconteur. Glenn Colquhoun, Cate Kennedy and Cyril Wong (one’s pictured on the beach above … guess who?) Australia, Singapore and New Zealand — poetry, performance and more … and when we say more, we mean classical Indian dance, pop songs, opera and the haka.

Cate Kennedy
Glenn Colquhoun
Cyril Wong

With Jayanthi Siva and Sabrina Zuber

Luke … I Am Your Father

admin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 02:54:25 +0000

Who saw that coming? George Lucas, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi … all of us actually … join us for a night of stories of less ‘expected’ family revelations and/or wished-for additions to the family tree as told by a stellar line-up of disappointed children (now esteemed writers) and their imaginary parental units, siblings and friends.

Romy Ash
Alice Pung
Matt Blackwood
Ginger Briggs
Karen McMullan

Poetry Triage

admin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 03:02:12 +0000

It’s a widely held view among the Festival team that Poetry Saves Lives! And we’ve got the poets, poetry and poetry triage unit to prove it. Our friendly poetry triage staff will guide ‘patients’ through a step-by-step triage process — the patient’s history with and need for poetry will be determined, and tests for adverse reactions to poetry will be carried out. Attending physicians (poets) will be on hand to administer their particular brand of ‘medicine’ on the triage floor and in a series of one-on-one consultations.

Jordie Albiston
Nathan Curnow
Elisabeth Campbell
Ross Donlon

The Sound of Our Own Voices: Forum

admin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 03:14:14 +0000

What is a voice? Whose voice is it? Who or what does a ‘voice’ speak to and how?

A Festival taster where we call upon artists from across the larger Festival program to discuss ‘voice’, its manifestation in their particular practice and its employ in their lives. We’ll explore voice in relation to place, culture and time, and look at both collective and individual expressions of it. A hybrid musical, literary and performance panel — where you can add your own voice to the mix.

John Stanton
Benjamin Law
Bhagya Murthy
Glenn Colquhoun
Maggie Rigby
Elsie Rigby
Bindi Cole

Moderator: Richard Watts, Smart Arts 3RRR