Off the Page Poetry Night with Omar Sakr and others from Best of Australian Poems 2021 + a line-up of local poets. More here: Poetry Anthology Launch with Open Mic | Facebook
Off the Page is a spoken word event where guest and local writers inspire the community with new work. Join the NT Writers Centre and Australian Poetry for the launch of Best of Australian Poems 2021, featuring contributors Omar Sakr and local Arrernte poets, Shirley Kngwarraye Turner and Theresa Penangke Alice, for a night of reading, sharing, and togetherness at Visual Arts Precinct, 8 Hele Crescent.
Later, an open mic section will begin with local writer Kelly Lee Hickey sharing her work.
Best of Australian Poems 2021 is a new annual anthology of previously published and unpublished poems curated by award-winning poets Ellen van Neerven and Toby Fitch ‘to create a poetic snapshot of the year that was’.
Meet the poets:
Omar Sakr is an Arab Australian poet, born of Lebanese and Turkish Muslim migrants. He is the author of These Wild Houses (Cordite Books, 2017), and The Lost Arabs (UQP, 2019), which won the 2020 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry. His debut novel Son of Sin (Affirm Press, 2022) has just been released.
Omar Sakr is an Arab Australian poet, born of Lebanese and Turkish Muslim migrants. He is the author of These Wild Houses (Cordite Books, 2017), and The Lost Arabs (UQP, 2019), which won the 2020 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry. His debut novel Son of Sin (Affirm Press, 2022) has just been released.
Shirley Kngwarraye Turner and Theresa Penangke Alice are Arrernte women and emerging poets whose writing appears in Arelhekenhe Angkentye: Women’s Talk, published by Running Water Community Press (formerly Ptilotus Press) in 2020.
Kelly Lee Hickey is an award-winning artist and community philosopher. She builds connections between people, place and critters through collaborative and participatory creative works. An Australian Poetry Slam Champion, her work has been published and performed internationally. She lives and works on Arrernte land, and practices globally.