Queensland’s extraordinary and prolific Poet and Author, Stefanie BENNETT haspublished over a dozen volumes of poetry, a libretto and a novel. She has tutored in The Institute of Modern Languages (James Cook University); acted as a published editor and worked with Arts Action for Peace. Of mixed heritage (Irish/Italian/Paugussett-Shawnee), she was born in Queensland, Australia in 1945. Stefanie, an ex-blues singer and musician, has been fluent internationally in poetry online and in print journals, and nominated for Best of the Net and The Pushcart! Of ALL her outstanding attributes, Stefanie has kept Poetry and Poets alive and well for as long as humanly possible! A stunning record – Salut, my Dear Friend!
“…Of all the women poets she has the greatest range and her writing is interesting even when it’s pretentious.” Frank Kellaway
“There are pieces of excellence, a call, at once witty and emotional for enduring, intelligent sisterhood.” Cheryl Frost
“No-one knew for sure where you were really at…now onward for your love of all the poets.” Robert Adamson
HOKA-HEY = COMPLETENESS – Selected HAIKU – Stefanie BENNETT
Published by Burringbah Books. Purchases: P.O. Box 1006 LISMORE NSW 2480
SUMMIT
A chorus of blackbirds:
the eye
of the sky
CASH & CARRY
It’s what didn’t get said
that matters
most
SDGs 3/4/5/8/10/12/17
A world of Music!! Sitting with friends discussing the Cornish film Fisherman‘s Friends, in which a fast-living London music executive heads to a remote Cornish village, trying to sign up a group of shanty singing fishermen. Contrasting the deep values of family, friendship and community and ‘fame and fortune’, this character is drawn to the depth of traditional ways whilst also presenting the world with some beautiful, traditional song!
“…and what about OUR girl?” asked one friend, excitedly – Cairns audiences were spellbound and proud the night before our meeting, listening to CASSANDRA WRIGHT. Cassandra Wright and Jan O’Donnell in recital, featuring Dayna Johnston on clarinet and Charlotte Wright, Soprano. Two of my friends had taught Cassandra, thusly our excitement and pride was heightened!
London based soprano, Cassandra, is currently completing a Master of Arts majoring in Vocal Performance at the Royal Academy of Music. Since commencing her studies in September 2019, she has been accepted as a member of the Academy’s prestigious Song Circle and is preparing the role of Ilia (Idomeneo) for the upcoming Vocal Department Opera Scenes. She also performed in ‘The Magic Flute’.
Cassandra holds a Graduate Certificate in Performance and a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours from the Queensland Conservatorium. Preceding myriad awards in 2019, Cassandra was the winner of the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Aria Competition in 2018 and the Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition in 2016. This outstanding singer’s operatic roles are also many and she performs regularly with the internationally acclaimed group, The 7 Sopranos. Our Congratulations are extended to Cassandra WRIGHT and continued good wishes for 2020. SDGs 3/4/5/17
Travel Associates in Cairns and colleagues nation-wide are proud of this: “Thank you Travel Associates for partnering with us and walking the journey with precious girls who had no voice, but who now know healing, hope and purpose.” Bloomasia. www.bloomasia.org Empowering women to find a new future. Healing, hope and purpose for girls who have suffered horrific human rights abuses.
M. was shading a beautiful rose with edible crimson, her hand steady, her face a study of concentration as she brought the hand-crafted sugar flower to life brushstroke by brushstroke. I caught her shyly looking up at me and she reminded me of a little child ….’This is absolutely beautiful’ I told her. She broke into a big smile and I thought of the power our words can have. This little one endured so much horror in her short life and was told she was worthless. A kind smile, a soft face and constant words of encouragement have the power to spark something new – a kernel of self-belief that maybe she has values, abilities and talent. Maybe she can think of a future with hope and excitement?
Details of abuse are not shared to protect and dignify the girls who come through Bloom. Bloom Asia was founded by Ruth LARWILL who worked with Travel Associates for many years before moving to Cambodia. Travel Associates Summer 2019/20 p.38 – SDGs 1/2/3/4/8/10/16/17
Stories! Histories! Queenslanders and Australians are reaching back into relatively recent social history, pulling sometimes gently, sometimes fiercely, threads of Truth, Dreams…Meaning is not always retrieved, or re-composed via this process, ‘though at times it may be….
Joan DIDION’s essay ‘The White Album’ was presented as theatre, by Lars JAN and Early Morning Opera, as part of the Sydney Festival. Didion famously opens her essay, “We tell ourselves stories in order to live…” – and then proceeds to lose the story and give us threads, fragmented scenes that she doesn’t claim to understand. The threads, fragmented series of scenes and those belonging to the dreams that defined the 60s and crossed generations. Didion claims that the essence of the 60s dreams died with the August 9 shock Manson murders. Rich in social history and fragments we may never understand, a chorus conveys the crowds, student groups protesting for peace, alternative dreams of communal living that were all such important features of the 60s, and so savagely destroyed by the violent, individualistic ‘commune’ leader, Charles Manson. Then, in later decades, the dreams disappeared altogether, defeated by a blatant capitalistic-materialistic system. Challenging and interesting threads continue to be woven….. theaustralian.com.au/arts p.9 Jan 10 2020. SDGs 3/4/5/11/17
On a recent trip to Fremantle, Western Australia I read an interesting novel. ‘NEVER NEVER’James PATTERSON and Candice FOX.
“It’s easy to go missing in the middle of nowhere.”
Detective Harriet Blue needed to get out of town, fast…from Sydney New South Wales to the West Australian desert, where three young people have disappeared from the Bandya Mine. In this unforgiving land, she has no idea how close she is to a whole new kind of danger…
This fast-paced novel is fraught with twists and turns and it reveals truths and the underbelly of our mining industry! It is disappointing NOT to discover further information about co-writer, Candice Fox – however, only an Aussie with genuine knowledge could have revealed the truths and underbelly that solidify setting, tensions and a plot to surprise readers!! www.penguin.co.uk SDGs 3/4/8/11/12
WOMEN’S HISTORY – ‘Wearing Paper Dresses’ Anne BRINSDEN. A tremendously polished, heartbreaking debut… a story of mothers and daughters, a saga of two generations of women on the land. Enthralling. Tragic. Romantic. Absolutely unputdownable. A Woman’s Point of View by Jennifer: offers the CWA Cookery Book. Valuable Information: The Land: offers ‘….Naturally, considering the compilers, the woman who lives in the country has been carefully catered for. No longer, if she decides to tan a sheepskin, will she have to go further than her own bookshelf to learn the method. She will also find how to: make a wool mattress, cure bacon, construct a bush ice chest and a fireless cooker, make soup and candles; and repair an iron tank. Pan Macmillan Australia: Chapter Sampler, 2019. Social history! A compelling story of country Australia with all its stigma, controversy and beauty. SDGs 1/3/4/5/8/10/15
OUR HISTORY IN VISUAL ART! – PHOTOGRAPHY, SCULPTURE….MORE STORIES in exhibitions shaped with great love….
Interdisciplinary Artist, Emily PUXTY, combines ceramic and photographic works to consider HOW the retelling of the implicit vulnerability and intimacy of early shared adult experiences can be communicated.
‘WITH LOVE’ POP Gallery
381 Brunswick Street FORTITUDE VALLEY QLD 4006
‘THE TIME OF LIGHT’ – Brisbane based Artist, Courtney COOMBS, responds to the unique role of LIGHT in the Metro Arts galleries. As one of many former arts students who first exhibited at Metro Arts, this up and coming Queensland Artist offers her exhibition with tenderness and reflection, as a loving farewell to the space bneart.com SDGs 3/4/8/12/17
‘To whom shall I go to learn about the one I love?’
Kabir says: “When you are trying to find a hardwood forest
it seems wise to know what a tree is.’ 1440-1518: Hoka-Hey = Completeness Bennett S.
