Friendly Street Poets, often referred to as just Friendly Street, is a

poetry reading A poetry reading is a public oral recitation or performance of poetry. Reading poetry aloud allows the reader to express their own experience through poetry, changing the poem according to their sensibilities. The reader uses pitch and stress, and ...

group and publisher in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, established in 1975.

History

Friendly Street Poets was inaugurated as a fortnightly

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

reading on 11 November 1975, organised by

Andrew Taylor Andrew or Andy Taylor may refer to: Sport * Andrew Taylor (footballer, born 1986), English footballer * Andy Taylor (footballer, born 1986), English footballer * Andy Taylor (footballer, born 1988), English footballer * Andrew Taylor (Australian ...

Richard Tipping Richard Kelly Tipping (born 1949) is an Australian poet and artist best known for his visual poetry, word art, and large-scale public artworks. Examples of his work are held in major collections in Australia and abroad. Early life and educati ...

and

Ian Reid Ian Reid may refer to: * Ian Reid (skateboarder) (born 1977) * Ian Reid (Alberta politician) (born 1931), former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta * Ian Reid (Scottish clergyman), leader of the Iona Community 1967–1974 * Ian Reid ...

. The first meeting took place on the roof of the former Gordon Sim Choon fireworks factory, on Union Street (off

Rundle Street Rundle Street, often referred to as "Rundle Street East" as distinct from Rundle Mall, is a street in the East End of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street to East Terrace, where it becomes ...

) in the

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

of Adelaide. Then

Chief Justice of South Australia Of the judges of the Supreme Court of South Australia, , 14 had previously served in the Parliament of South Australia Edward Gwynne, Sir Richard Hanson, Randolph Stow, Sir Samuel Way, Sir James Boucaut, Richard Andrews, Sir William Bundey, S ...

, John Bray, himself a poet, was present.

Jenny Boult Jenny Boult (8 October 1951 – 1 November 2005), also known as MML Bliss, was an Australian poet, playwright, and editor. Early life and education Jennifer Boult was born in Warwickshire, England, in 1951, migrating to Western Australia with he ...

was also instrumental in setting up the group. It soon became a monthly event, and after about a year of meeting at the

Media Resource Centre Mercury CX, formerly Media Resource Centre (MRC), is a not-for-profit film and television training organisation based in the Lion Arts Centre on the corner of Morphett Street and North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, which aims to give scre ...

(then at 1 Union Street), the group moved to the Federal Box Factory. In 1977 a selection of the best poets from that year's readings was published as the ''Friendly Street Reader'', and a similar volume has been produced annually since then.

Events

The society holds regular events where anybody can read their own work, and all are given time, listened to and applauded in a welcoming atmosphere. The readings took place at the Box Factory in central Adelaide from 1977 to 2003, when funding was cut. They moved back in 2017.

Affiliated poets

Connie Frazer (1925–2002), poet, writer, activist and feminist, was involved with Friendly Street since its inception until her death, and was published in many of Friendly Street Poet anthologies, as well as having two of her collections published by them. Among the more well known poets to have connections to the group are Graham Rowlands,

Peter Goldsworthy Peter David Goldsworthy AM (born 12 October 1951) is an Australian writer and medical practitioner. He has won major awards for his short stories, poetry, novels, and opera libretti. Goldsworthy began his writing life as a poet, as described i ...

, Jeff Guess, John Bray,

Louise Crisp Louise Crisp (born 1957) is a contemporary Australian poet, deckhand, and fire tower watcher. Early life and education Crist was born in Omeo, Victoria and studied linguistics, anthropology, and prehistory at the Australian National Universit ...

Mike Ladd Mike Ladd is an American hip hop musician from Boston, Massachusetts. He is based in Paris, France. ''The Guardian'' described him as "the king of the hip-hop concept." Early life Mike Ladd was born in Boston, Massachusetts. As a child, he live ...

, and Jan Owen. M.L. Emmett, a British poet also worked on the Friendly Street Poets Board as Publications Officer and in other leadership roles for four years.

Publications

The ''Friendly Street Poetry Reader'' (aka ''The Reader'', with some variant titles and sometimes subtitled) has been published annually since 1977, with the first issue compiled by Tipping and including a selection of poems at Friendly Streets meetings since 1975. There is an index of the Readers published between 1975 and 2007, available at the

State Library of South Australia The State Library of South Australia, or SLSA, formerly known as the Public Library of South Australia, located on North Terrace, Adelaide, is the official library of the Australian state of South Australia. It is the largest public research l ...

, created by past poet at Friendly Streets (a former librarian), Betty Collins. The anthologies have been launched at

Adelaide Writers' Week Adelaide Writers' Week, known locally as Writers' Week or WW, is a large and mostly free literary festival held annually in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. Considered one of the world's pre-eminent literary events, it forms part of the ...

for many years. In the 1980s Friendly Street began publishing collections by individual poets, including the first collections of

, Jeri Kroll,

Kate Llewellyn Kate Llewellyn (born 15 January 1936) is an Australian poet, author, diarist and travel writer. Biography Eldest of four children of Ron and Ivy Brinkworth (née Shemmald), Llewellyn was born Kathleen Jill Brinkworth in 1936 in Tumby Bay on Eyre ...

, Steve Evans, Jude Aquilina and Rory Harris. Since 1995 the ''New Poets'' series of anthologies have been published, with each one containing the first collections of three poets. Many of the publications have been in conjunction with Wakefield Press and Writers' Week, with the Readers launched at Writers' Week. ''Best of Friends: The First Thirty Years of the Friendly Street Poets'' (2008) is divided more or less into two-halves; the first section outlines includes a history of the society, and the second is a selection of poems from the anthologies published in the first 30 years.

References

External links