Friendly Street Poets

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Friendly Street Poets is a poetry reading group and publisher in Adelaide, South Australia. It has some claim to be "Australia's longest running community open-poetry reading venue."[1]

Friendly Street Poets was inaugurated as a fortnightly poetry reading on the 11th of November 1975[2], organised by Andrew Taylor, Richard Tipping and Ian Reid. It soon became a monthly event and after a couple of changes of venue is still running. In 1977 a selection of the best poets from that year's readings was published as the Friendly Street Reader, and a similar volume has been produced annually since then.[3]

In the 80s Friendly Street began publishing volumes by individual poets and in 1995 the series Friendly Street: New Poets was begun. This consists of first volumes by three poets. Publication is in conjunction with Wakefield Press and Writers' Week at the Adelaide Festival. The group has prospered despite, apparently on one occasion, ‘factions’ of members attempting to stop South Australian Arts Council funding and, in 1988, the disappearance of $13,000 of funding. Among the more well known poets to have read at the venue are John Bray, Jenny Boult, Louise Crisp, Steve Evans, Peter Goldsworthy, Jeff Guess, Rory Harris, Jeri Kroll, Mike Ladd, Kate Llewellyn and Jan Owen.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ About Us. Retrieved on 2006-09-20.
  2. ^ Forte, Brian. Revisiting Friendly Street. Between Borders: Notes from Felicia. Retrieved on 2006-09-20.
  3. ^ Catt, Graham. Positively Friendly Street. Famous Reporter # 29. Retrieved on 2006-09-20.