Five writers who perform their work in myriad ways perform live, dissect how and why they do it, and discuss performance as an alternative to publishing. With Sonya Renee, Tom Gleeson, Edwina Blush and Tug Dumbly, with participating chair Miles Merrill.
TOM GLEESON (INTERSTATE) TOM GLEESON is a stand-up comic who has performed in every capital city in Australia, as well as London, Edinburgh, Montreal, New York, Los Angeles, Singapore and Jakarta. He was nominated for the Helpmann Award for Best Comedy Performer in 2007 for his sell-out show TOM-ON, which he followed up with TOM-A-THON in 2008. He has also appeared in The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala and was selected to perform in their roadshow every year from 2001 to 2007. He currently co-hosts the breakfast show on Mix 101.1 Melbourne. Playing Poker with the SAS is his first book.
SONYA RENEE (INTERNATIONAL) SONYA RENEE is one of the most distinguished, accomplished and recognisable women in the international slam poetry scene. Sonya became the National Individual Poetry Slam Champion four months into her slam career in 2004, and followed this achievement with back-to-back top-eight finishes at the Individual World Poetry Slam Championship, a second-place finish at the 2005 International Poetry Slam Championship and first-place at the 2006 UK Four Continents International Slam Championship. Sonya has appeared at hundreds of universities and venues in the US and abroad. She performed for an audience of over one million spectators alongside Senator Hillary Clinton at the historic March for Women’s Lives. Sonya has been published in numerous anthologies and has been seen on MTV, HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, BET’s Lyric Cafe and the Oxygen Network Monique’s F.A.T Chance. laymanlyric.com/sonya_renee
EDWINA BLUSH (LOCAL) EDWINA BLUSH is a jazz vocalist, songwriter and poet who writes pithy pieces that bring lightness to heavy issues. Edwina’s warm and witty style has led to numerous commissions for and appearances on radio and television. She is a three-time winner of the National Poetry Debate.
TUG DUMBLY (LOCAL) TUG DUMBLY is Australia’s most broadcast spoken-word artist. Renowned for his satire, he regularly appears on Triple-J and ABC Sydney 702 with his weekly news and current affairs segment The Tug Report. As well as hosting Sydney ’s biggest spoken-word night for seven years, he tours to schools, theatre and festivals. Tug has also released two CDs, Junk Culture Lullabies and Idiom Savant. In August 2007 he won the Performance Poetry World Cup and in March 2008 headlined in the Night Words Festival at the Sydney Opera House. He recently toured to the Ubud International Writer’s Festival in Bali.
MILES MERRILL is a spoken-word performer. Miles combines poetry with theatre, experimental audio, hip hop beats, stand-up and political confrontation. Born in Chicago and now living in Sydney, Miles has written and directed a show in the Sydney Festival and performed solo at the Sydney Opera House. Miles created The Night Words Festival and the national Australian Poetry Slam. In 2008 he toured China and Canada. He has also performed in Krakow’s Audio Art Festival, at The Ubud International Writer’s Festival and at hundreds of venues throughout Australia and the United States.
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