Performance poets go digital

The recorded work of twelve performance poets has been launched on the online music platform Bandcamp in time for the July release of their book Performance Poets.

The Performance Poets Bandcamp page, which includes 29 tracks, allows free listening and download of the high-quality recordings.

Gabrielle Everall, who is featured in the collection, says she hopes the recordings will give people a better representation of the poet.

‘It’s very important that poetry is performed out loud to help the immediacy of the text and to reach a wider audience,’ said Ms Everall.

‘It’s important that it’s documented and that it’s professional,’ she said.

Poet John Charles Ryan, whose botanical poems were recently featured in the book Two with Nature, agreed.

‘Having it online is an important part of oral culture – the written text is only one part of poetry,’ he said.

The poems were selected from the work of each writer represented in Performance Poets and recorded in the studios of Radio Fremantle.

‘Working with the producer was good in terms of the feedback. When you perform it live you often don’t get that professional feedback,’ Mr Ryan said.

Performance Poets is the third volume in the Fremantle Poets series. It features the work of Jeremy Balius, Byron Bard, Allan Boyd (the Antipoet), Liana Joy Christensen, Gabrielle Everall, Amber Fresh, Afeif Ismail, Jackson, Dosh Luckwell, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, Kaitlyn Plyley and John Charles Ryan.

The tracks are available for free listening and download at the Performance Poets Bandcamp page

Performance Poets is available from Fremantle Press and all good bookstores.