FAQ

What is the Traverse Poetry project?

Traverse Poetry is an on-going Australian arts project originally funded by the ACT Government and auspiced by the ACT Writers Centre in 2009. It’s ongoing goal is to facilitate the participation of young writers in workshops and poetry slams to develop cross-arts performances.

What kind of events does Traverse Poetry run?

Check out the events page to find out!

In and around monthly poetry slams taking place in locations such as the The Front and Gorman House, Traverse Poetry runs writing-related events such as poetry showcases, zine fairs and workshops on performance poetry, actors working with writers, multi-media arts, hip hop and getting published.

What is a poetry slam?

According to Poetry Slam, Inc, a poetry slam is:

a competitive event in which poets perform their work and are judged by members of the audience. Typically, the host or another organizer selects the judges, who are instructed to give numerical scores (on a zero to 10 or one to 10 scale) based on the poets’ content and performance.

Poetry slams usually also require your performance to be original, under 2 or 3 minutes and not involve props or musical accompaniment. However, these rules do vary from slam to slam, and will not always be required at Traverse  Poetry slams. For clarification ask the MC or producer.

Who runs Traverse Poetry?

The project is run by myself (Julian Fleetwood) with some support from the ACT Writers Centre. Individual events are hosted by a rotating team of local artistic professionals and emerging writers and artists.

Can I be involved?

Yes! Anyone interested is encouraged to get involved! While the Traverse Poetry project was originally funded to encourage young writers, the project welcomes involvement from individuals of any age.

The best way to be involved is to come along to one of our events and talk to me. To find out dates and locations keep an eye on this site.

You can be notified of news by subscribing to this blog by RSS.

Who am I?

My name is Julian Fleetwood and I’m a poet, writer and editor living in Canberra, Australia. For the past three years I’ve been running Canberra’s monthly poetry slam. I was the MC of the ACT heat of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Australian Poetry Slam.

I’ve run workshops and been part of panels and events at the National Young Writers’ Festival, the Emerging Writers’ Festival and the Canberra Writers Festival. I’ve also written, produced and directed plays with and for local theatre.

In 2007, myself and a team of local artists produced the Turbo Slam poetry project, funded by Australian Council for the Arts, to support young people producing experimental poetry events.

In the past I’ve been involved with Vibewire Youth Media & Arts and Express Media and continue to support these valuable organisations wherever possible. I am also the editor of Vignette Press’s innovative publication, The Sex Mook: what is our sex?