Candy Royalle

Poet Candy Royalle and Queensland Poetry Festival Director Sarah Gory chat about the vision of a poet being a “beret-wearing, red wine-drinking person reading some abstract stream-of-consciousness” – and how the poets at QPF aren’t like that at all.

Candy Royalle is a performance poet at the very top of her game, a woman able to move audiences to tears and laughter with her fearlessly honest musings on love, sex and politics. Even over the phone she doesn’t disappoint, articulating her thoughts in perfect rhythms. Royalle started performing over ten years ago but didn’t take a serious stab at being a full-time poet until five years back.

“[Artists] have this constant internal battle of ‘Am I good enough? Is this work going to be loved?’” But, she asks, “What are we measuring ourselves against?

Soon Royalle will make her way to Brisbane for the Queensland Poetry Festival, an event that has gone from a relatively small gathering of Australian poets to a nationally renowned festival which boasts packed-out appearances by some of the best poets from Australia and abroad. QPF Festival Director Sarah Gory has been instrumental in building the festival since coming to the helm three years ago, and since then QPF has expanded dramatically.

“We look for a demographic diversity,” says Gory, “We want quite a few local poets but also a lot of poets from other states in Australia. Poetry is really broad. It’s become increasingly popular through slam, but what we want to do is make sure that all types of poetry are represented.”

But as much as QPF has become more and more popular, both Gory and Royalle recognise that there are still less-than-attractive assumptions about poetry. Says Royalle, “We have this vision of a beret-wearing, red wine-drinking person reading some abstract stream-of-consciousness. That exists as well, but for those people who have never seen or experienced poetry, I would say that poetry is the art that speaks directly to the heart.” Gory adds that the common misperception is that poetry is hard to understand. “A lot of people think that it’s really intellectual and esoteric. My hope is that as it gets more popular people will engage with it more and realise that it’s actually not scary.”

Royalle says that her work is deeply personal, leaving her nakedly vulnerable. “If I were to perform and didn’t feel vulnerable there would be something wrong.” On that note, says Gory, “I think Queensland has one of the most supportive poetry communities across Australia, it’s a really warm and welcoming community.”

Queensland Poetry Festival runs 29 - 31 Aug, Judith Wright Centre Of Contemporary Arts
click for more info on the festival