At the AGM on Friday 27th March business proceeded smoothly with reports from our outgoing President Sue Stanford and Treasurer Leon Shann. On behalf of the Committee I would like to express our deep gratitude to Sue for her work, her commitment and her vision for MPU over the past two years.

The election of office-bearers passed unanimously. The President’s Report (on our website) and the Treasurer’s Report (available on application from Leon Shann) for 2008 demonstrate that Melbourne Poets Union has had an outstanding year. Please feel free to contact us if you have any ideas for improving MPU’s contribution to Melbourne’s tremendously dynamic poetry scene.

Our March event, Being Out There, was an outstanding success. alicia sometimes and Tug Dumbly are two experimental, exceptional spoken word artists who held our crowd in thrall. This was a great night of poetry and entertainment, on which we raised $100 for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal thanks to assistance from the organizers of The Comedy Festival, who kindly donated 2 double passes to comedy festival events.

Our April event, a Round the Table Workshop led by Claire Gaskin, Kevin Brophy, Kristin Henry and Sherryl Clark, was a brilliant opportunity for members and non-member participants alike to refine their poems with four outstanding workshop leaders. Hugely successful, this was a real bargain at only $15 per person.

Our May event will be the extravanganza of the year. Poems in Conversation will be warmed up by John McKelvie, a singer and performer of satirical rhyme. Then, similarly to our March event, but extended, John Jenkins will mobilize a panel of poets and musicians to facilitate semi-improvised poetic interaction. Each poem will in some way echo the one before, encouraging deep listening on the part of both poets and audience. Open readers will be encourage to join in, in the same spirit.

What a tremendous year we have in store for you!