WACT! Poetry Night
Guest Musician: Emere Phoenix
Emcee: Sacred Clown/Divine Jester
Koha please for our wonderful artists.
First-time readers are warmly welcomed and encouraged!
introducing Wact Poetry - a Theatrical and Interactive Poetry experience.
When: 17 September 2024, 7.30 pm - 11.00 pm
Where: 39 Café & Bar, Ponsonby Road
WACT! Poetry
Words - Action - Collaboration - Theatre !
Bringing you the world premiere of a new concept - Words and Theatre WeAct/WordAct Poetry - it's WACT!
Unlike a Slam this is not a battle, it's about interacting with other poets and the audience - instead of a guest poet we will invite poets to sign up for doing duettes of their poems with another poet, friend or random person from the audience. Sign up as duettes and Wact out to compete for best interaction of the night. The Audience will judge the winner, who will take away the Koha and the first ever Wact Poetry Champion Title.
Guest Musician
Emere Phoenix
mezzo-soprano, singer of Waiata, unique ancient Irish songs and spiritual songs, writes of herself:
In 2013, I studied as a tauira at Te Wānanga Takiura O Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori O Aotearoa. Ko Emere ahau. Ko ako au i Te Reo Māori nā te mea ko Aotearoa tōku kāinga, nā reira ki tōu taonga tēnā kotou katoa ki ngā Iwi Māori! From 2011-2022, The Thirsty Dog was a Creative Haven for me. I attended Acoustic Night there and Poetry Live.
I was influenced at this time by many Māori and Pasifika writers and poets such as Robert Sullivan, Albert Wendt, Reina Whaitiri, Courtney Sina Smith, Karlo Mila, Selina Tusitala Marsh and Kiri Piahana-Wong. They were sweeping away NZ and its antiquated system of white hierarchies. Their poetry was a mirror onto ourselves and a fresh breath of our real Aotearoa. Thereby, helping to overturn a system that had suppressed their ancestors here in Aotearoa for over 200 years!
My friend who died last year, Tim Birch, a poet, socialist, psychiatric survivor, and veteran of poetry Live was also a big influence on me!
He helped to remove the stigma of mental illness and was part of spearheading this change. He did it directly through his published volumes of “Psychiatric Poems”, and by being a social activist. Part of this activism was his succinct Poetry!
You may be lucky to catch a glimpse of Emere Phoenix feeding the karoro/ black backed gulls and tarāpunga/ seagulls at Aotea Square.
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