ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

thanks manfred... just getting the hang of this forum procedure...not quite as simple as facebook but i'm getting there..tamworth was great...not too hot this year..just hot.(especially at the bush poet's comp)... .i entered the friday morning original section of country energy's best aussie poets..at west tamworth leagues club..we had the legendary greg north as compere..(and were treated to his version of 'clancy' with his pink scarf and hat...brought the house down..greg is world class talent..he could cut it on any stage anywhere..he would have done so well at live theatre or tv/ movie acting, ..and with his ability to remember verse, would have been a natural at learning lines for stage or on set..hopefully he won't read this and get a big head, or worse still it might give him ideas to wander off to hollywood..heaven forbid we ever lose him..he is a mighty ambassador for aussie bush poetry and we can all be proud to have him at the helm..anyway sorry i do tend to ramble..no wonder my poems are so long..(prousty told me at harrington to keep them short and sweet..)
anyway back to tamworth..wow, what a wealth of talent..no wonder I was a little nervous waiting in the wings to get on stage..I sat through and enjoyed 10 excellent non original presentations then I was no#6 out of 10 originals..to go on..i turned up at tamworth ( my first bush poetry comp)..expecting to be competing against, backyard amateurs and 'johny come latelies', was I in for a shock !! there was some exceptional talent there..!! a truly humbling experience for a 'thought he was pretty good' greenhorn..so i have been 'blooded' now and will hopefully only get better from here..anyone can write a poem ...but to get up on stage and deliver it verbatim to an audience with no notes, is a totally different kettle of fish..6 minutes is a long long time when you are on stage... I took a heap of guests with me ,cousins, brothers, nieces etc.. as Tamworth is my hometown, and they loved will athe whole show and will be back next year..ll BUSH POETRY IS ALIVE AND WELL IN TAMWORTH!!!!
TOM McILVEEN

G'day Tom,

Sounds like you had a ripper of a time. I understand exactly what you mean, it is a bit scary getting up there when you know the best of the best are all around you. Did you catch Peter Mace? I had occasion to go 'on' right after him at Illawarra Festival. Makes my efforts look a bit ordinary. Like you have said, we can only get better. There are quite a few performers that set the mark very high. Which is good for Performance Poetry in general. Carol Heuchan was also at Illawarra but I went on before her. Good to hear you took some supporters along. Bush Poetry needs all the supporters we can get.

Thanks for the update on Tamworth. I have not yet managed to get there but may do someday. My biggest event is the National Folk Festival in Canberra at Easter. It is a great Festival with heaps of spoken word content. I have met many of the members of ABPA there and many of the contributors to this site. There are 4 Poets Breakfasts and the Reciter of the Festival is chosen each year. There is a Yarn Spinning competition plus concerts by the listed performers. Not to mention the usual Folk festival activities.

Good onya Tom. Nothing like a baptism of Fire and that's what Tamworth can be! I consider that the leading Comp. in Australia, still above any National or State comp just on the pure conglomeration of all top performing poets in attendance giving it a crack. I only went in the comp once, up against Prousty, Essery, Miller, Ellis and co. Scariest thing since my first comp. in Toowoomba long age when I had to face a field of poets who are now the best in Australia. Character building for sure, but the mates you make out of it well make up for those few minutes of initial terror on stage. It gets easier mate, stick with it.