Are you feeling my wintry vibes? Today is the shortest day of the year. It feels like endings and beginnings. And there’s an edge to it – like we are about to ascend into spring. I know it’s a wee way off but as the days get longer so too does the year move faster. We are about to jump in to 2025 Part 2. And we have much planned for this second half of the year. But let’s start with July.

Poems as Prompts continues on its merry way. I am loving hosting these workshops. Next one is July 4. Book here to join us: https://events.humanitix.com/poems-as-prompts-writing-workshop-7

Then on July 10 I am so thrilled to welcome poet Willo Drummond to Poetica Petit for her first feature spot with us. And in very good news, Lily B returns to Poetica with some gorgeous new songs. PLUS the open mic awaits YOU. Plus wine, kombucha, cheese and a whole lotta love. See feature bios below. Book here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/poetica-petit-poetry-night-tickets-1112231336869?aff=ebdsshcopyurl&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp

WILLO DRUMMOND is a Blue Mountains based poet whose critically acclaimed debut collection Moon Wrasse (Puncher & Wattmann, 2023) was shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and commended in the Five Islands Poetry Prize for a First Book of Poetry. In 2024, Moon Wrasse was selected as one of 6 Australian poetry titles to feature in the annual Aesop Queer Library. 

Willo has been the recipient of a Career Development Grant for poetry from the Australia Council for the Arts, shortlisted for the Val Vallis Award, the ACU Prize for Poetry and the South Coast Writers Centre Poetry Award,  runner up in the Tom Collins Poetry Prize and long-listed for the Liquid Amber Poetry Prize and the Grieve Writing Awards. Her work has been anthologised in Best of Australian Poems, 100 Poets,Australian Poetry Anthology, The Writing Mind, The Incompleteness Book, and elsewhere. In 2023-24 she co-edited, with poet Stuart Barnes, ‘Queering Ecopoet(h)ics’, a queer themed issue of Plumwood Mountain, an Australian and International Journal of Ecopoetry and Ecopoetics.

Willo’s readings at literary festivals and events have been described as ‘spellbinding’ and ‘simply magnificent!’. Speaking of Moon Wrasse, the judges of the Kenneth Slessor Prize noted a ‘voice… unique in Australian poetry, questing, hesitant, humble, and open, attuned to the frequencies almost inaudible, to the ‘bird-note, gently caught / at the very edge of things’…. This is a collection… quiveringly alive with sensory details, shimmering with luminosity that is like wisdom.’

LILY B – Upon relocating from the bush capital Canberra, to Sydney’s bustling music scene, Lily B has wasted no time in immersing her vibrant sound amongst the excitement of the city. After playing an abundance of gigs in her hometown with her former indie pop band ‘Muesli’, Lily has embarked on a solo project and is taking her performance to a new level.

Lily has had the opportunity to play alongside the likes of Mahalia Barnes and Jessica Mauboy, Y.O.G.A (Rueben Styles of Peking Duk), Rum Jungle, Between You and Me and Tim Rogers. Now, she is ready to seek a challenge and is beginning to wriggle her way into a new, big and busy music scene.

With her love for a broad range of genres, Lily’s craft has stepped into a soul-stirring, energetic and heartfelt space, creating anthems for the world to soon know and love.