The Hearth: Of The Night

Last week I went to a wonderful new reading night at The Jade called The Hearth, a kind of literary salon similar to the Quart Short series where writers perform new work (this time their own) in a club sort of atmosphere. I mainly went to hear the poetry of my friend J V (Julie) Birch but I was also introduced to the work of:

Lisandra Linde who read a non-fiction piece about her intimate experiences with cadavres as a forensic scientist,
Andy Lee, who read from his work about earth, environmental crisis and interplanetary travel,
Marina Deller who read a very honest and beautiful personal essay on the death of her mum Kate, grief and healing and
Melanie Pryor who performed beautiful Australian landscape work accompanied by the music which inspired it.
J V Birch read a selection of her poems from her two collections on the themes of darkness and the moon.
These were interspersed with music by local folk artist Dee Trewartha who played excellent acoustic guitar & ukulele to her own (and others’) compositions.

A brief Q & A at the end allowed the talented writers to give the audience a bit of insight into the motivation and thinking behind the works.

What an amazing night for $5!!

(All photos courtesy of The Hearth.)