An annual three-month poetry residency administered by the Queensland Writers Centre and funded by Arts Queensland, since 2005.
The program aims to promote accessibility to the international arts scene through overseas poets working with local poets and artists and performing to a wide audience.
An international poet is invited to live and work in Queensland.
It’s in partnership with the Queensland Poetry Festival, Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Art Brisbane and Brisbane Writers Festival.
While she is in Queensland, Emily XYZ will be writing a blog at http://poetinresidence.wordpress.com/.
Emily is also writing a poem a day at www.twitter.com/xyzpoem.
2010 Poet-in-Residence
Internationally-renowned two-voice poet and performance artist, Emily XYZ has been selected as the 2010 Poet-in-Residence.
Hailing from the New York punk rock scene of the 70s Emily’s influences come from Patti Smith, the Ramones, and the anti-authoritarian ideologies cornerstone of the era.
Performance overview
• 30 years experience in the spoken word.
• Early experiments with multiple-voice poetry including 1986’s Phil Spector – for eight voices and 3 toy phonographs.
• She settled on the two-voice format that has since become a stylistic hallmark and has been working with performance partner and actress Myers Bartlett for the past 18 years in that format.
• Toured extensively in the United States and Canada with Myers Bartlett, as members of the seminal New York City spoken-word collectives, The Nuyorican Poets Café Live! and Real live Poetry, and on their own.
• XYZ and Bartlett have performed in Australia twice – the Sydney Arts Festival in 1996 and the Queensland Poetry Festival in 2006.
• Artist-in-Residence in Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY in March 2001 and in Durham NC in April 1997.
Australian residency tentative schedule
Emily XYZ will tour regional Queensland and perform in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton and Bundaberg. She'll also attend events in and arround Brisbane including the Queensland Poetry Festival, Brisbane Writers Festival and Speedpoets events.
During times she's not performing or touring, Emily XYZ will be based at the Queensland Writers Centre, Level 2, State Library of Queensland.
The residency runs from 1 July to 26 September 2010. A firm schedule of dates will be announced here shortly.
Emily XYZ list of works
• The Emily XYZ Songbook (book & audio CD) published in 2004.
• Slot Machine poem featured in PBS series The United States of Poetry and the companion book and CD
Anthologies:
Literature: Craft & Voice, Vol.2 - Poetry; ed. Delbanco, Cheuse (2010: McGraw-Hill, New York)
Sinatra: …But Buddy I’m A Kind of Poem (2008: Entasis Press, Washington DC)
Up Is Up But So Is Down: New York’s Downtown Literary Scene 1974–1992 (2006: NYU Press)
Bowery Women (2006: YBK, New York)
Short Fuse (2002: Rattapallax, New York)
Verses That Hurt: Pleasure and Pain from the Poemfone Poets (1997: St. Martin’s Press)
The United States of Poetry, companion book to the PBS series (1996: Abrams)
Unbearables (1995: Autonomedia, New York)
Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Café (1994: Henry Holt)
A Day in the Life: Writings from the Lower East (1991: Autonomedia, New York)
Speed of Light, a collection of writings by performers at Hallwalls Gallery, Buffalo NY (1986)
Magazines:
St. Elizabeth Street (Spring 2005)
Symposium (Dec. 2001)
Rattapallax (vol. 11 / 2004, vol. 9 / 2003)
A Gathering of the Tribes (1995)
Verbal Abuse (# 1, 2, 3, 5; 1993–96)
Sensitive Skin (Oct. 1993)
Red Tape #7 (Sept. 1992)
History of the program
Previous Poets-in-Residence have included:
• 2009: New Zealand poet, musician, producer and teacher Hinemoana Baker
• 2008: German poet and translator Michael Hofmann
• 2007: Irish poet Paul Durcan
• 2006: British poet and playwrite Louisa Wallwein
• 2005: Canadian poet Jacqueline Turner.
Legacy
Each Poet-in-Residence creates a legacy of new work and forms creative partnerships that have a far-reaching impact on Queensland literature.
This program benefits Queensland writers and poets by opening up new links and partnerships for them with the international literary community. It is also a chance for international poets to play a part in Queensland's cultural activities such as the Queensland Poetry Festival, Brisbane Writers Festival, and activities at the Queensland Writers Centre.
Emily XYZ hopes to generate work for a new audio recording and book during her residency.