Queensland Poetry Festival ( or QPF) is one of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

's premier organisations for all things poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 and spoken word. It exists to support and promote a poetry culture in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 and Australia. QPF began, and has continued, as a three-day festival - spoken in one strange word - held over the last weekend of August in the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts

Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts

The Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Fortitude Valley in Brisbane, Queensland provides a 300-seat performance space, art gallery, artist studios, screening room and workshops with theatre rehearsal spaces for music, dance and circus. Opened in 2001 it is named after Judith Wright, who...

, Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

. 2011 will celebrate the 15th annual QPF event.

History

QPF was established in 1997 after the dissolution of the Brisbane Fringe Festival. Since then, and in the last five years particularly, the festival itself, along with its audience and participating artists, has grown extensively. Along with the traditional three-day event spoken in one strange word, QPF administers and manages a year-long program of poetry workshops, programs, events, and competitions. These include: the Arts Queensland Val Vallis Poetry Award

Val Vallis Award

Named in honour of the Queensland poet Val Vallis, the Arts Queensland Val Vallis Award offers a $4000 prize for an unpublished poem or suite of poems for Australian emerging poets. The prize is presented as a part of the Queensland Poetry Festival...

 and Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize

Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize

The Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize, named in honour of a distinguished Queensland poet, is a literary award for an unpublished poetry manuscript by a Queensland author...

, as well as the Arts Queensland Poet-in-Residence program, supporting an international poet to spend three months in Brisbane, developing their own work and contributing to Queensland’s poetry culture. QPF also partners on programs such as the annual Riverbend Poetry Series.

Organisational structure

The current structure of QPF includes a Board, a Programming Committee, the QPF Manager, and an army of volunteers. QPF is a community organisation with a dedicated audience and a strong tradition of volunteerism. With the exception of the opening night event, the entire programme of spoken in one strange word is free to attend. QPF is currently housed with collaborative partner the Queensland Writers Centre, in the State Library of Queensland. In 2011 QPF will be managed by Sarah Gory, previous Manager of the National Young Writers' Festival

National Young Writers' Festival

The National Young Writers' Festival occurs annually in the city of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, over the New South Wales' Labour Day Holiday Weekend in late September/early October...

, and new Queenslander, having recently moved from Melbourne to Brisbane. Past Directors and Managers include: Lee-Anne Davie, Kim Blinco, Julie Beveridge, Graham Nunn, Bronwyn Lea, Rosanna Licari, Jayne Fenton Keane and Brett Dionysius.

Past guests

In its 15 year history spoken in one strange word has featured some of the worlds finest poets, singer/songwriters and other artists including Steve Kilbey

Steve Kilbey

Steven John Kilbey is the lead singer-songwriter and bass guitarist for The Church, an Australian rock band. He is also a music producer, poet, and painter....

 (The Church), Emily XYZ (USA), August Kleinzahler

August Kleinzahler

-Life and career:Until he was 11, he went to school in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where he grew up. He then commuted to the Horace Mann School in the Bronx, graduating in 1967. He wrote poetry from this time, inspired by Keats and Kenneth Rexroth translations, among other works...

 (USA), Tracie Morris

Tracie Morris

Tracie Morris is an American poet, performer, vocalist and academic originally from Brooklyn, New York.-Career:Morris emerged as a performer and writer from the Lower East Side poetry scene in the early 1990s. She became known as a local performer in the "slam" scene located in the Nuyorican Poets...

 (USA), Chris Bailey (The Saints), Mia Dyson

Mia Dyson

Mia Dyson is an Australian singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She shot to fame with her 2003 album Cold Water and her subsequent follow-up album, Parking Lots, which won "Best Blues & Roots album" at the 2005 ARIA Awards....

, Dave Graney

Dave Graney

David John "Dave" Graney is an Australian rock musician and singer-songwriter from Mount Gambier, South Australia. Since 1979, Graney is generally accompanied by drummer, Clare Moore...

, Jamie Hutchings

Jamie Hutchings

Jamie Buchanon Hutchings is the lead singer-songwriter and guitarist for Australian band Bluebottle Kiss, who have released six albums, plus numerous EPs and singles. Huchings has released three solo albums, The Golden Coach, His Imaginary Choir and Avalon Cassettes...

 (Bluebottle Kiss), Hinemoana Baker

Hinemoana Baker

Hinemoana Baker is a writer, musician, producer, editor, and teacher of creative writing. Her first book of poetry, Matuhi Needle, was published in New Zealand and the United States in 2004, and her new collection was released in July 2010. In the same year, she was an International Writing Program...

 (NZ), Sam Hunt (NZ), Shane Koyczan

Shane Koyczan

Shane L. Koyczan is a Canadian poet and writer. Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Koyczan grew up in Penticton, British Columbia. In 2000, he became the first Canadian to win the Individual Championship title at the US National Poetry Slam. Together with Mighty Mike McGee and C. R...

 (Canada) and Neil Murray

Neil Murray (Australian musician)

Neil Murray is an Australian musician and writer. He was a founding member of the Warumpi Band that formed in the early 1980s, the first major Aboriginal rock group and influential Aboriginal rock band.-Biography:...

(Warumpi Band).

Important dates

Expression of Interest deadline: Thursday 24 February 2011

Queensland Poetry Festival Inc. AGM: late February/early March

spoken in one strange word: 26–28 August 2011