Caroline Reid Writes

 In February 2021, I was awarded second place in the Tom Collins Poetry Prize with my poem 'DEVOUR'. The Prize is presented by the Fellowship of Australian Writers (WA) and was judged by Caitlin Malin.   I wrote the poem in response to the Australia's catastrophic bushfires in 2019-2020. I spent a week in January 2021 in Cape Jervis with a view of Kangaroo Island but some days the smoke from fires was so thick it obscured the island. It was a weird, fretful time, and our Prime Minister's response did not ease the country's anxiety. my dog and I looking toward Kangaroo Island, which is on fire     I challenged myself to write DEVOUR like a collage, a form I'm experimenting with more and more. I use multiple motifs, weaving together references to literary heavyweight Patrick White, sanitary napkins, peri-menopause, Australia's Prime Minister and blue cheese. I love working this way. It's intuitive, trusting that threads will work and somehow pulling it to...

 Heeeey, thanks for dropping by. Things have been rumbling along since March. My Adelaide Fringe show came and went. The audiences were lovely and the studio space was so intimate it felt like I was performing to friends in my lounge room. I did 3 shows, with a splash of heckling on opening night, which I loved! The wonderful Alice Gorman (otherwise knows as Dr Space Junk ) had this to say in her review: "Reid's delivery of her words is masterful It's no wonder she has twice been a finalist in the Australian Poetry Slam. She blends cadence with a conversational style that hits just the right balance. Music, sound effects and props augment the words and emotions as Reid moves from verse to verse. This is not a chronological narrative, but you feel you have taken a journey with Reid to some place of stillness and acceptance at the end ... This is poetry of the best kind, that engages you and makes you want to be BFFs with the poet."  If you didn't get to the show, ...