Vessels of Love 2024
love in transmission
Curated by The Salons
“Love travels via lines in transmission, in threads and thoughts, in communication. Across wires and waves between thumbs on keypads and satellites in the stars. Our loves are written in lines, often conveyed by electricity, silicon and precious metals.”
Some of our poems address issues that may prove distressing, more information is available
Albert Lin
WATCH — leaving leaves
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Albert Lin is a spoken-word poet, musician, general jack-of-all-trades, and person with a day job. He doesn’t take himself very seriously, and thinks the same of his work. His work focuses on love and wonder and joy, while exploring his life and emotions. Albert has created hour-long theatrical poetry shows, had his work displayed in art exhibits, and has performed in and out of Sydney in various contexts, including recently at the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
Ali Whitelock
WATCH — the treeless hill
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Ali Whitelock is a Scottish poet living on the south coast of NSW with her French chain-smoking husband. a brief letter to the sea about a couple of things is her fourth book. Her previous collections include and my heart crumples like a coke can and the lactic acid in the calves of your despair (long-listed for the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal in 2021). Her memoir, poking seaweed with a stick & running away from the smell was published to critical acclaim in Australia and the UK.
Gillian Swain
WATCH — call
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Gillian Swain is a poet based in the Hunter region on Wonnarua land and grew up on Awabakal land. Gillian’s poetry appears in various journals and anthologies including the Australian Poetry Anthology Vol 10 (2023), Burrow (Old Water Rat Publishing, v1,2,3), Live Encounters magazine: Special Australia-New Zealand edition (May 2021) as well as Poetry for the Planet: An Anthology of Imagined Futures (2021, Littoria Press), What We Carry: Poetry on Childbearing (2021, Recent Works Press) and others. She is involved in running various poetry events including Poetry at the Pub (Newcastle) and was the Co-Director and Poetry Curator of the IF Maitland writers festival in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Gillian has recently established the popular poetry event Culture Club: Poets Society. Her debut poetry collection is My Skin Its Own Sky (Flying Islands Press, 2019) following her chapbook, Sang Up (Picaro Press, 2001).
Luke Patterson
WATCH — to what earth we’re heir
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Luke Patterson is a Gamilaroi poet, educator and musician living on Gadigal lands. His poetry has appeared in several journals and anthologies including Nangamay, Mana, Durali: First Nations Australia LGBTQIA+ Poetry. Luke’s research and creative pursuits are grounded in extensive work with First Nations and other community-based organisations across Australia.
Magdalena Ball
WATCH — ithaca
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Magdalena Ball is a novelist, poet, reviewer, interviewer, vice president of Flying Island Books, and managing editor of Compulsive Reader. Her stories, editorials, poetry, reviews and interviews have appeared in a wide number of journals and anthologies, and have won local and international awards. She is the author of several novels and poetry books, most recently, the critically acclaimed verse-memoir Bobish, published by Puncher & Wattmann in 2023.
Paris Rosemont
WATCH — glad bag
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Paris Rosemont, author of Banana Girl (WestWords, 2023), is an Asian-Australian poet. Publications: Verge Literary Journal, FemAsia Magazine, Sky Island Journal (USA). Winner: Hammond House Origins Poetry Prize (UK), New England Thunderbolt Poetry Prize. Shortlisted: Proverse International Poetry Prize (Hong Kong), New Writers Poetry Competition (UK). Awarded: Atelier Artist-in-Residence (Ireland); WestWords/Copyright Agency Fellowship. She is currently working on her second poetry collection with the working title Chaos rode into my life on a shiny black Kawasaki.
Richard James Allen
WATCH — credo
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Richard James Allen is a multi-award-winning poet, filmmaker and choreographer, and a performer in a range of media. Artistic Director of The Physical TV Company, his work has been screened, broadcast, published and performed widely across six continents. His thirteenth book, Text Messages from the Universe (Flying Island Books, 2023), reflects a lifelong engagement with Buddhist and Yogic philosophies. He lives in Sydney on the unceded lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.
Acknowledgements
The Salons would like to thank the following amazing humans and organisations, without which this project would not be possible: Marty, Andrew, Herbert at wonderfoon, James and family at the Sustainable Printing Co, Gleebooks, Eastside FM and Angela Stretch at Poetry Sydney. And of course, our poets: Albert, Ali, Gillian, Luke, Maggie, Paris and Richard.