Friday Finds

HAPPY FRIDAY! I hope you're ready for the weekend as much as I am. It's been a hell of a week and doesn't look to be slowing down, not with Queensland Poetry Festival on this weekend and Brisbane Writers Festival kicking off on the coming Wednesday. Plus I'm househunting at the moment, which is basically straight up insanity. Ah well. How about you? Any weekend plans? Or are you heading to the festivals this year?


WATCHING

This week, I won free tickets to a preview screening of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and it's already a contender for my favourite film of the year. Go see it! Pack tissues!

It's not a secret that I LOVE Bob's Burgers, so these new Funko Pop figurines are at the top of my Christmas list.




READING

Reading-wise, I am alllll about Ms. Marvel. It's pretty much everything I've ever wanted in a superhero comic. I've re-read the trade paperback's way too many times.

Looking for something to read? Check out these 24 books you should read based on your fave TV-shows. 

Brodie Lancaster is one of my favourite music and pop culture writers and this piece on the disregard for fangirls is both fascinating and pretty much sums up my highschool experience.




LISTENING TO

I'm a huge Sara Bareilles fan, and a huge fan of the film Waitress, so the fact that she's written the music for the stage musical is wonderful. Especially if this song is anything to go by.



Also this video of Little Mix singing acapella is basically giving me life for the weekend.

The Owlish Guide to Queensland Poetry Festival

Queensland Poetry Festival is one of my favourite local events. It always does such a tremendous job of bringing in brilliant artists around strange and compelling themes. This year's is shaping up to be particularly awesome, with a great lineup of local and international artists, panels around resistance, language and race, and a wonderful highlight musician in The Bell Divers. My picks for the festival are below. 

WEDNESDAY 27 AUGUST
Not Much to Tell You
Kaitlyn Plyley is a local poet and storyteller and all sorts of charming. Her solo show is a combination of poetry and comedy, cultural critique and storytelling and should be pretty darn wonderful. 

FRIDAY 29 AUGUST
QPF Official Opening
The official open is always a great event, and features the announcement of the winners of the Val Vallis Award and the Thomas Shapcott Prize. Plus, y'know, drinks! Food! Mingling! 

Needlepoints of Light
The official open is always fun, but it's the following event worth sticking around for. A showcase of some of the most exciting poets of the festival (this year Warsan Shire!) and a stellar musician (this year The Bell Divers!), Needlepoints of Light is shaping up to be one of the must-see events of the festival.  

SATURDAY 30 AUGUST
Tongue Tied: poetry and Asia
This year, QPF has offered up a few panels, and Tongue Tied looks like a really interesting one. MC'd by the (rather brilliant) Eleanor Jackson, QPF will be speaking to four poets with ties to Asia about language and connection. 

Night Uncurls its Palm
All of the evening poetry readings tend to be good ones, but this one is particularly awesome, with a lineup to rival any poetry event in the country. Warsan Shire! Eleanor Jackson! Luka Lesson! David Stavanger!  

Teen Makeouts Hate Poetry
One-sided conversations, contemporary dance and a complete melt down of language is a pretty great way to sell an event, even more so when it involves teen-focused pop culture. 

SUNDAY 31 AUGUST
Celestial MonstersI mean, the theme is celestial monsters. 'Nuff said. 

Riotous Punk Angels
Poetry as resistance has been around almost as long as poetry itself has been, so it makes for a pretty perfect panel. They'll be talking about anger and warfare, discrimination and more. 

Into the Warmth
Poetry and food have an interesting relationship, so it's pretty great to see them interacting through Yum Cha at this year's poetry festival. Particularly with the poetry stylings of Zenobia Frost and Candy Royalle. 

The Space Between: film screening
Poets! Film! Multimedia artists! This is always a good one.  

The Bedroom Philosopher
The Bedroom Philosopher (Justin Heazlewood), is one of Australia's most innovative cross-medium artists, so it's awesome to see him headlining his own slot at this year's festival. It should be pretty great.  

The Unknown Future of Everything
Finish off your festival experience with a slam!  

You can view the whole program over at their website.

Your Guide to QPF

We're kicking off the festival season this Friday with Queensland Poetry Festival - a free, two-day celebration of poets and poetry held at the (rather lovely) Judith Wright Centre. It's always pretty great, but I figured I'd knock in some of my highlights below to give you an idea of the diversity, the titles and maybe nudge you in a few directions.

FRIDAY
The Official Opening from 6pm followed by Set Fire to the Air. Shane Rhodes! Eleanor Jackson! QPF has pretty consistently featured a brilliant singer-songwriter - last year having opened their festival with a set by the (rather tremendous) Holly Throsby. This year, Bertie Blackman will be taking the stage so you know it's going to be an awesome launch.

SATURDAY
First Thunder Spoke, 10:30 - 11:30. The combination of Ynes Sanz, Zenobia Frost, Sachiko Murakami and Aden Rolfe is pretty close to a perfect modern poetry line-up

Alchemy and Praise, 2:45 - 3:45. Tao Lin! 'Nuff said. Or, if you'd prefer. Breathe the Shadow, on at the same time. Betsy Turcot and Jennifer Compton are both pretty amazing after all.

Dancing in Abstract, 4 - 5pm. I'd honestly recommend anything with Nathan Shepherdson, but as he's launching his newest collection here, the day the artists stood still, consider it doubly recommended.

SUNDAY
UQP Launch, 10:30 - 11:30. I've long been a fan of Rachael Briggs, so her winning the Thomas Shapcott Prize this year for an unpublished poetry manuscript is kind of wonderful. The launch of the winning collection, Free Logic, is a great way to start your Sunday.

Language of Light, 11 - 12pm. This session has an excellent line-up, including the awesome Vuong Pham and Sachiko Murakami. Definitely one to check out.

Sharp Accelerations, 5 - 6pm. The QPF Filmmakers Challenge is always an interesting mix of vivid imagery and languid words. The showcase for this years finalists is sure to be great.

And, of course, how can you miss the festival close? Especially with a name like Kissing the Dawn, the end of the festival will stage some of the best and most compelling voices of the festival and say farewell to the rest in style.

You can check out the full program over at the website.