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Peely
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« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2007, 12:33:41 AM » |
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The Inaugural Ballarat Bush Poets’ Gathering
At 2pm, Sunday the 11th of March 2007, the inaugural Ballarat Bush Poets’ Gathering was held at the Eastern Station Hotel. Hopefully, this will be the first of many more to come.
The poets in attendance were as follows: local poets - John Peel, Ken Prato, Neil McArthur, Paul Williams and John Read; they were joined by Carol Reffold (Riddells Creek), Noel Bull (Musk) and Ken Hood (all the way from Bundaberg in QLD).
The afternoon was kicked off with Ken Prato as the MC for the first session. The poems performed in this session were as follows (poems not written by the performer in brackets):
Sweet Matilda, performed by Ken Hood
The Cockroach (David O’Connor), performed by Carol Reffold
Fishing For Cod (Murray Hartin), performed by Noel Bull
Ode to Darwin (Bert Strange), performed by Paul Williams
The Birds Show Them Little Respect, performed by John Peel
Grandpa, performed by Neil McArthur
The Pikeman’s Dog, performed by Ken Prato
Following a break, John Peel took over as MC for the second session of the afternoon. In this session, the poems performed were:
O’Reilly’s Bull, performed by Ken Hood
The Bushman’s Club (Duke Tritton) performed by Ken Hood
Airport Angel, performed by Carol Reffold
“Buddha” (Murray Hartin), performed by Noel Bull
The Batlow Vandal, performed by John Peel
Law of the Land, performed by Neil McArthur
Back from the Dead, performed by Ken Prato
Neil McArthur had the Job as MC for the final session of the afternoon. Poems performed were:
“Whos-he-whats-it” (“Blue the Shearer”), performed by Neil McArthur
Those Names (Banjo Paterson), performed by Ken Hood
Conroy’s Gap (Banjo Paterson), performed by Ken Hood
Clancy of the Overflow (Banjo Paterson), performed by Carol Reffold
A Pub Without Beer (Dan Sheehan), performed by John Peel (just to break the Paterson cycle)
Ode to a Tree, performed by Neil McArthur
It’s A Weird Job, performed by Ken Prato
Song (Oodgeroo Noonuccal), performed by John Read
Broken Thread (Will Ogilvie), performed by John Read
One-eyed Yellow Idol, performed by Ken Hood
Gran’s Quilt, performed by Carol Reffold
The Bloke From Brindabella, performed by John Peel
The Gay Farmhand, performed by Neil McArthur
The Man From Ironbark (Banjo Paterson), performed by Ken Prato
The afternoon was brought to a close by John Peel at around 5pm. After the close of the afternoon, our options for the future were discussed. At this stage we are hoping to make it a regular monthly event. The date and venue for next month are yet to be confirmed.
At the peak of the afternoon, the audience (including performers) was around 15 people.
Overall, there was an excellent cross-sections of poems performed. There was a very nice blend between original (written by performer), traditional (more than fifty years old) and contemporary (less than fifty years old, not written by the performer).
I would like to thank all of the performers for contributing to a very enjoyable afternoon; all of the members of the community who came to watch the performers; the organisers of the event, John Peel and Ken Prato; and to Darren, the publican of the Eastern Station Hotel for providing us with a venue for the inaugural Ballarat Bush Poets’ Gathering. May this be the beginning of bigger and better things to come.
John Peel
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