Every second Sunday from 9am – 11am tucked away in the in the historic cinema at the Beenleigh Historical Village a group of men and women get together to perform bush poetry.
The bush poem is a style of poetry that depicts the life, character and scenery of the Australian bush. The typical bush poem employs a straightforward rhyme structure to narrate a story, often one of action and adventure, and uses language that is colourful, colloquial and idiomatically Australian.
Bush poems range in tone from humorous to melancholic, and many explore themes of Australian folklore, including bushranging, droving, droughts, floods, life on the frontier, and relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
The Logan Performance Bush Poets formed in 2014 with six members and has been growing over the years. While the group is mostly seniors, everyone is welcome to attend and join the group with no cost involved.
The Logan Performance Bush Poets do not read their pomes but rather perform them. This can be a relatively full on experience for the poet as some of the poems are quite long.
When watching a performer you can’t help but really get into the performance as they execute a story with passion and conviction. While the stories within the poetry can be ear catching, the way the poet expresses their voice makes for the most interesting of experiences.
While the group do enjoy what they do, each year they have the opportunity to perform in competition at the Annual Muddy River Written Bush Poetry Competition.
The three day event, September 11, 12 and 13, sees poets come from far and wide to perform in Novice, Classical, Modern, and Original classes along with one minute poems and other entertaining forms of poetry.
For more information on the Muddy River Competition or if you would like to get involved you can visit the The Logan Performance Bush Poets Facebook page or call Gerry King on 0499942922.
