Overload Poetry Festival 2009
The Overload Poetry Festival is a 10 day celebration of Melbourne’s thriving poetry scene which has been running since 2002. From 4-13 September 2009, the festival will showcase leading Australian and international poets and provide a platform for emerging poets. The festival aims to reach out to the wider community with the message that poetry is for everybody to enjoy and to nurture emerging and existing local poets. The idea is simple: a festival which mixes readings, special events such as slams, workshops, book/CD launches, tributes, multi-art nights and showcases.
This year’s festival is taking the spoken word to a whole new level, with poetry slammers, hip-hop artists and experimental forms of poetry gracing the stages of Melbourne’s watering holes and cultural hubs. The festival is embracing technology to bring an international flavour. Thanks to Skype, the festival will feature a live slam competition, pitting Overload’s poetry prowess against the best of the Bristol Poetry Festival. The winner receives an all expenses paid trip to the other festival.
Overload Poetry Festival is the only festival in Australia to be based around regular poetry haunts such as The Spinning Room, Dan O’Connell’s and Dantes, with around 40 readings across Melbourne annually. Other venues include the Northcote Social Club, NGV Australia, ACMI, Glitch Bar, Blue Velvet, ET’s Hotel and the Carlton Courthouse Theatre. A full festival program is available at http://www.overloadpoetry.org/programme .
Tags: ACMI , Blue Velvet , Carlton Courthouse Theatre , Dan O’Connell’s , Dantes , ET’s Hotel , Glitch Bar , melbourne poetry , NGV Australia , Northcote Social Club , Overload Poetry Festival 2009 , poetry , The Spinning Room