The Chamber Poets monthly spoken word event in the Macedon Ranges is celebrating a decade fostering local creativity.
For ten years it has attracted a loyal crowd every second Saturday, with a regular open reading section held at the Woodend RSL, often featuring more than 20 writers vying for the Poet of the Month trophy.
Group president Myron Lysenko has been a part of the Chamber Poets since its inception – he’s proud of what it has achieved.
“I had organised many poetry events while I lived in Brunswick, including the Montsalvat National Poetry Festivals and La Mama Poetica, so when cafe owner Philip Holgate asked if I’d be interested in organising a poetry reading, I was ready and able to do so,” he said.
“The event was such a success and Holgate was keen to start a monthly series of readings, which are currently held at the wonderfully renovated Woodend RSL.”
The Chamber Poets took its name from the old council chambers cafe in Woodend, now called the Fox in the Chamber Cafe, which was its venue for the first four years.
Mr Lysenko said more and more people have started to attend, and each week they have the band Black Forest Smoke perform songs during the program to break up the spoken word.
“More musicians are coming now and performing their own work. Almost everything we do there is original, and is written by the performers,” he said.
In 2016, the group published an anthology of Chambers Poets work, ‘Shots from the Chamber’.
“I am very proud, I love seeing people getting their work published in magazines, or winning prizes, it always makes me feel special… I love the way everybody seems to encourage each other,” he said.
“It feels like a family sometimes.”
Details:www.facebook.com/groups/ChamberPoets/
Elsie Lange
