Something Else: April 23 – Sam, Jack & Hannah
On Friday 23rd April, Justine returned with another segment exploring the world of writers and writing. In the little Eastside Studio, we crammed in Jack Peck, Hannah Belnick and Sam Twyford-More.
All three guests have in some way or another facilitated the connections of writers through the mediums of getting people together to read and perform on stage or by editing an anthology of fiction, poetry and graphic art or by holding weekly meetings where interested people can discuss writing and reading. Continuing on with the theme from my first show with Nick Keys, where we discussed the importance of figures like Charles Bernstein and the people at the Kelly Writers House in Philadelphia in bringing together established writers and those just starting out with writing, I am interested in exploring what events and publications are people putting on Sydney? Who is organising them? Why? Hopefully it will also bring some extra awareness of these events and encourage listeners to go along.
I feel like I am just scratching the surface of the literary going-ons in this city and am very excited at the prospect of finding more. If you are or know someone putting on an interesting writing-related event in Sydney, why not drop a comment and let us know about it?
Jack Peck started organising the Word in Hand events in the Friend in Hand Hotel in Glebe after finding out that they had stopped their poetry nights there. Taking it on his own initiative to keep the Sydney poetry performance scene vibrant, Jack has enticed many a renowned spoken word performer onto the little stage upstairs at the Friend in Hand as well as providing an opportunity for countless more to perform their own poetry in the open mic or slam it out with each other for a prize. You’ll find the silver-haired gentleman greeting as you enter the upstairs section of the pub and MC-ing the event.
Word in Hand is on the first Tuesday of every month at the eccentric Friend in Hand Hotel in Glebe at:
58 Cowper St, Glebe
Entry is $10 or $5 for concessions.
Cutwater
Sam Twyford-Moore is a recent-ish graduate of the Writing and Cultural Studies program in UTS and has already been making waves in the literary scene with his journal Cutwater (co-edited with Dan Collins) that hit the shelves last year with much acclaim, garnering interest from all over the country (perhaps because it included writers from most states except Tasmania). Delia Falconer’s forward to the Best Australian Short Stories 2009 had this to say:
It was interesting to note this sense of internationalism in the new journal Cutwater, which made its debut this year; while its stories tended more toward the realist, they also seemed to carry a looser, more playful energy with them that one tends to associate with some of the younger generation of US writers, like Dave Eggers. (Delia Falconer in her introduction to Best Australian Stories 2009).
I can’t even keep count of what he’s been published in but here is a list of notables: Meanjin, UTS Writers Anthology and Cordite.
https://www.cutwaterpress.com/
Hannah Belnick reading at the UTS Writers' Society Lofty Words event in Sydney.
Hannah Belnick is studying a double degree in Social Inquiry and Law at UTS. She started the UTS Writers’ Society in 2008, which has seen an increasing membership every semester. The Society holds spoken word/performance nights twice every semester where established poets are invited and members are given the chance to perform as well. It also publishes the Streetcygnes zine every semester and frequently treats its members to writing excursions including This is Not Art in Newcastle. The UTS Writers’ Society is a place where anyone interested in writing or reading are welcome to come and chat about writing, swap work, hold workshops and muse at life from its regular meeting venue The Loft Bar at UTS on Broadway.
The UTS Writers’s Society blogs at:
https://utswriterssociety.wordpress.com