Sarah Temporal is a poet, educator, and arts producer living on Bundjalung lands in the Northern Rivers NSW. Ever since live poetry allowed her to find a voice as a shy nineteen-year-old, she has been fascinated with the power of poetry to reveal our hidden selves. With a background in education, she has taught poetry to hundreds of people from ages 8 to 89, and now runs a regional arts initiative Poets Out Loud to empower voices of all ages. Arriving after twenty years of performing live, Tight Bindings is her first published collection.

Paul Collis is a Barkindji man. He was born in Bourke, in far north/west New South Wales. His early life was informed by Barkindji and Kunya and Murawarri, and Wongamara and Nyempa story tellers and artists, who taught him Aboriginal Culture and Law. Paul earned his Doctorate at University Canberra in 2015, for a study of Barkindji identity with a specific focus on masculinity. His first novel, Dancing Home won the 2017 David Unaipon Award, and the 2019 ACT Book of the year Award. Paul’s first poetry collection, Nightmares Run Like Mercury, was published by Recent Work Press in 2021.

Paul will be reading from this new book Wita Witalana.

Poets for the open mic sign up on the night, from 6.40pm with the MC Shane Strange. Three minutes max.