Poets Corner

Thought I would do a blog on my radio show.  I host a radio show once a month on 3CR.  It is part of the Brain Waves Program, and is called Poets Corner.  Brainwaves is a show about and for people with mental illness.  We hear stories of recovery, stories of struggle, funny stories, and sad stories.  The show  is sponsored by the Mental Illness Fellowship of Victoria.  Poets Corner is the poetry branch of the show.  We interview people with mental illness who are poets, about their life and work.  We hear their poems, and hear about their struggles.  We have interviewed Stu Hatton, Initially No, Maree Cowan amongst others.  My co-host is the poet and artist Graeme Doyle.  We really have a great re pore   We met during our training sessions, and got along famously. In fact, these training sessions, which were recorded as demos, have been nominated for the training award at the awards night for the Australian Association of Community Radio.  Let's see if we win!

If you would like to listen to podcasts of Poets Corner you can click here to go to the 3CR website, or you can find them on itunes!

Ceremony for Mental Health Week

On Sunday I had the great pleasure of being involved in a ceremony to mark the end of mental health week.  The ceremony was run by the Mental Illness Fellowship of Victoria, and I read a poem.  I got some great feedback about my performance, and I got to wear my top hat!  The poem was on relationships, and it was one of my better poems I think.  We had a civil celebrant conduct the ceremony, and Heidi Everett played music throughout the performance.  The Mental Illness Fellowship of Victoria do some fine work, and there contribution to awareness of mental health issues is extraordinary   I had the great pleasure to work on their helpline for a year, which was a great experience.

Here is to breaking down the stigma of mental illness!