Cafe Poets Program
What is the Cafe Poet Program?
The Cafe Poet Program places poets in cafes as ‘poets in residence’ for a six month period. The poet is given space to write (maybe two or three times a week - in consultation with the cafe) as well as complimentary tea and/or coffee and in return the cafe gets to be part of this community, promotion and the opportunity to plan events with the poet enriching the cultural life of the cafe (and hopefully the number of patrons).
The program began in February 2009 and has been a huge success, placing more than twenty poets in cafes all over the country and receiving extensive media coverage. We have also connected cafe poets with various opportunities including working with RMIT media students and being published in the 2009 edition of our BLUE DOG literary journal. And check out the Cafe Poet facebook page.
The current cafe poets are:
Sarah Tiffen (ACT) - Tilley’s Devine Cafe Gallery
Fiona McIlroy (ACT) - Smith’s Alternative Bookshop
Jessica Cook (NSW) - The Free Trade Cafe
Fiona Wright (NSW) - cafe yet to be confirmed
Jan Sullivan (QLD) - Teaspoon Cafe
Geoffrey Datson (QLD) - Bistro Bistro
Cal McKinnon (QLD) - Blackstar Cafe
Kimberley Mann (SA) - Morska Villa
Amelia Walker (SA) - Higher Ground
Rebecca Tilley (TAS) - Chado – The Way of Tea
Mala Anthony-Ranu (TAS) - Cafe Rossilli
Benjamin Sanders (VIC) - Tre Expresso
Ezra Bix (VIC ) - Zappas Cafe
Josephine Rowe (VIC) - Victorian Railway, Arts & Antiques Cafe
Laura Smith (VIC) - Booktalk Cafe
Andy Jackson (VIC) - La Paloma Cafe
Leah Kaminsky (VIC) - Cafe Loco
Fee Sievers (VIC) - The Lane
Catherine Jennings (WA) - Pages Café
Liana Christensen (WA) - Tropicana Cafe
Good luck to this current round of cafe poets. The next application deadline is April 30th, 2010.
SUBMISSION PROCESS
You must submit your contact details, three reasons why you want to be the cafe poet, three benefits to the cafe as to why it would be good to have you as a cafe poet and two outcomes of the six month residence - a personal outcome (something you want to achieve personally) and a public outcome (something you will provide at the cafe for the public).
Please send your submission to admin@australianpoetrycentre.org.au
CAFE POET NEWS FLASH
Henley Beach Cafe Poet, K*m Mann, runs Poetry under the Pier, just down from her cafe Morska Villa.
Here is a pic taken Sunday 20th December 2009.
Some Melbourne Cafe Poets have recently completed a project with RMIT called PROD! (Poets Riding Online Dangerously). The aim of the project was for RMIT media students to work with a cafe poet and provide different interpretations of their poetry, via the medium of sound, film and/or animation.
Jessica Raschke’s poem ‘Bustles‘ has been interpreted in the pieces: Search For Soul, Escapism and Displaced.
Gemma White’s poem ‘The Mariner’s Lover‘ has been interpreted in the pieces: Ebb & Flow, Set Adrift, My Compass and Flowerman.
Laura Smith’s poem ‘Some People‘ has been interpreted in the pieces: Good Day Mate, Some People and Exploring Interaction.
Josephine Rowe’s poem ‘Red Lights‘ was interpreted in the pieces: Reminiscence, Red Dot and Between.
Check out all pieces by visiting the PROD website!
To find out more about the process and read blogs by the students who were involved in the project, check out behind the scenes.
Why not get involved with a media course or university in your area and let’s get this happening in every State!
RMIT students have begun filming our Melbourne Cafe Poets. To view these video works click here.
Check out Cafe Poet, Jess Cook’s recent installation at the Fair Trade Cafe.
A BODY POEM:
Read updates from our Cafe Poets:
We are looking forward to the exciting opportunities for collaboration, events, discussions, the promotion of poetry and, of course, lots of coffee (and tea) drinking.
For more details call (03) 9527 4063.
Some interesting links where cafe poets have been spotted are:
http://grahamnunn.wordpress.com/2009/04/25/guided-by-cafe-poets/
http://www.yourrestaurants.com.au/news/?action=news&i=154586
http://ja-jp.facebook.com/pages/Cafe-Poets/68995496578?v=wall&viewas=0
The responsibilities of the Café Poet
1. To write your own poetry in the café throughout the week at times suitable for yourself and the café
2. To act as a positive ambassador for the Australian Poetry Centre when chatting to people in the café or about the residence
3. To decide on a clear personal objective for your residence, whether it’s to finish a book, complete a series of poems, or progress on a particular project
4. To decide on a clear public objective for your residence, whether it’s to self-publish a series of poems, give a public reading or workshop or write a poem for the café itself
5. You must be a paid member of the Australian Poetry Centre to apply - join now
The responsibilities of the Australian Poetry Centre
1. To select the Café Poet in each State every six months
2. To advertise the Café Poet on our website and in other advertising material
3. To advertise the participating cafes on our website and in other advertising material
4. To continue to seek further benefits and opportunities for the poets in residence and the participating cafes so all parties can gain from the experience
The responsibilities of the participating cafes
1. To allow a poet in residence to sit in their café to write poetry throughout the week, at times to be agreed upon between the poet and the café
2. To provide tea and coffee for the poet during those times
3. To advertise the poet in residence and the Australian Poetry Centre on a board of some description visible to the public and café clientele
4. To be open to discussing a possible specific public outcome of the residence which benefits the café and the poet, such as a reading or displaying a poem written by the poet as part of the residence
The participating cafes are as follows:
Victoria: Booktalk Cafe (91 Swan St, Richmond)
Victoria: Cafe Loco (436 Glen Huntly Road, Elsternwick)
Victoria: Victorian Railway Antiques and Arts and Cafe (Albert Park Train Station)
Victoria: Zappa Cafe (206 Bank Street, South Melbourne)
Victoria: La Paloma Cafe (259 Albert St, Brunswick)
Victoria: The Lane (937b Main Rd, Eltham)
Western Australia: Pages Café (State Library of WA)
Western Australia: La Tropicana Cafe (177 High St, Fremantle)
Tasmania: Chado – The Way of Tea (134 Elizabeth Street, Hobart)
Tasmania: Cafe Rossilli (41 George Street, Launceston)
South Australia: Higher Ground (9-15 Light Square, Adelaide)
Queensland: Blackstar Cafe (44 Thomas Street West En, Brisbane)
Central Queensland: Teaspoon Cafe (10 Targo St, Bundaberg)
Queensland (Sunshine Coast): Bistro Bistro (2a Emerald Street, Cooroy)
New South Wales (Sydney): The Free Trade Cafe (33 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe)
ACT: Tilley’s Devine Cafe Gallery (Corner of Brigalow & Wattle Streets, Lyneham)
ACT: Smith’s Alternative Bookshop (Melbourne Building, 76 Alinga Street, Canberra City)
