Cafe Poet Update: Bronwyn Lovell at Kinfolk Cafe

It would not be an exaggeration by any means to say that, for me, Australian Poetry’s Cafe Poets Program has been life changing. I have an entry in my notebook from the very first time I ever stepped inside Kinfolk Cafe. It reads, 'How do I make my life goodness and light like this?' At the time, I was working for a big, impersonal company, and I saw in Kinfolk the magic of a socially and ethically responsible, close-knit and vibrant community that I felt I wanted to be part of. Perhaps the most important aspect of my development as an artist is my desire to create art with a social conscience and to give back to the community, and becoming the poet-in-residence at Kinfolk Cafe has given me the wonderful opportunity to do this.

In exchange for use of the cafe as a writing space, I work in collaboration with Kinfolk founders Jarrod Briffa and Asuka Hara to use poetry in creative ways to positively contribute to the cafe’s colourful and ever-changing environment and to further develop the growing sense of community. So far this year, I have written an ode for the cafe which is on permanent display; I write and illustrate a different poem each week as the ‘poem of the week’; I have a poetry lucky dip in a little suitcase by the door; I have created a poetry sculpture in the form of a ‘Poetree’, which ‘grows’ in the centre of the communal table and invites customers to take home a ‘leaf’ with a few lines of poetry written on it; I sell handmade chapbooks and spoken word poetry CDs in the cafe with their profits going to the cafe’s charities; I keep a ‘poem box’, in which customers can place their own poems and I respond to them in poetry form and put them up on the wall; I have started an art exchange with Kinfolk volunteer and photographer Doug Sans-Pareja, whereby I write poems inspired by his photos, and he takes photos inspired by my poems, and we display the collaborative result on the wall; I have even had the deep privilege of being able to offer comfort through poetry, by specially writing poems for bereaved Kinfolk Café customers; I have poetry peace cranes hanging in the window that people can take home with them and wish upon, and I have created a blog to keep track of the flight of the poetry cranes and people’s wishes for peace at www.bronwynlovell.com.

I also had the opportunity to perform at one of Kinfolk’s philosophy evenings in April on the theme of ‘Love and Modern Life’, in collaboration with the Melbourne School of Philosophy, and in September I will be holding a Fringe Festival show at Kinfolk called ‘Kindred Spirit’, which will feature performance poetry accompanied by a projection of animation by Alex Scott.

I am extremely lucky in the fact that my cafe poet experience is completely unique because Kinfolk is not your usual business. It is a non-profit cafe, operating with a level of energy, enthusiasm and a degree of commitment and passion that money could never buy. It is run with the assistance of a team of dedicated volunteer wait staff and the cafe donates all its profits to many worthy community projects both locally and overseas. Customers can choose to support a capacity-building initiative in Rwanda; an anti-child slavery set-up in Ghana; an education-focused project for young Indigenous Australians; or a local cafe project that pioneers relationship-building and radical inclusion for Melbourne’s homeless, marginalized and disenchanted. Kinfolk also makes a point of providing ethical and sustainable food by supporting local organic farmers and suppliers. Although Kinfolk has only been operating for 12 months, it was recently named one of the top ten cafes in the Melbourne CBD by The Age.

Kinfolk Cafe is an initiative of YGAP (Y-Generation Against Poverty) and located in the shop front of Donkey Wheel House. The Donkey Wheel Charitable Trust purchased the building to support a range of Melbourne-based social, community and creative initiatives. It is a State Heritage listed building and one of Melbourne’s cultural, historical and architectural landmarks. It is celebrating its 120t^h anniversary this Saturday 23 July, with an open house from 5pm-6pm. This is a free event, and many of the charitable organisations in the building will be opening their doors to entertain and inform the public about their initiatives. Kinfolk Cafe will be providing nibbles and refreshments, and I will be performing a poetry reading, featuring photography by Doug Sans-Pareja and music by Meena Shamaly. I will be discussing my experience as a café poet, and sharing stories, poems, photographs and drawings from my residency. I hope you can join us!

Faces like sunrays
on this late autumn day;

cutlery clinking,

people chatter away.

The waitress’s lips
shine berry bright.

In the conference room,
ladies are giving out light.
Leaves line the window;

smiles fill the room.

Outside seasons change,
but Kinfolk still blooms.

Learn more at: www.bronwynlovell.com and www.kinfolk.org.au

Photos by Doug Sans-Pareja

Come in and visit anytime, or write to us at:
The Poem BoxKinfolk Café
673 Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC3000

Upcoming Poetry Events at Kinfolk:

Saturday 23 July 23, 5pm-6pm - 120th Anniversary of Donkey Wheel House

Kinfolk Cafe
673 Bourke Street

Catering provided

FREE EVENT

Poetry Reading by Kinfolk Café poet-in-residence Bronwyn Lovell, featuring photos by Doug Sans-Pareja and music by Meena Shamaly.

Wednesday 28 September 28, 6.15pm-7.15pm - Melbourne Fringe Festival

Kindred Spirit Poetry Reading

Kinfolk Cafe
673 Bourke Street

Full $10/Conc $15. Tea and biscuits provided

Book online at: www.melbournefringe.com.au from 23 August

You're invited to an enchanting evening of poetic delights and tinkling teaspoons. Sometimes moving, often amusing, consistently charming, Kindred Spirit is an intimate poetry reading from Kinfolk Cafe's poet-in-residence.