Experiment with form and process in poetic intensives with three of the most exciting poets in the country, Jazz Money, Luke Patterson and Anne-Marie Te Whiu. Sign up for one workshop, or more, then join us for readings and reflections at the end of the day.
Poetic Cartography with Jazz Money
9:30am - 11:30am
Each one of us is a unique choreography of story, place, time and memory. We journey through the world on paths that intersect, interweave and intertwine with countless others.
Join Wiradjuri poet Jazz Money to consider your unique cartography. Explore how poetry can reveal the world around us in exciting and surprising ways, and offer openings to consider the living histories and stories of the places we write from.
A workshop for anyone seeking to write with more attention, more intention, and more connection. Expect thoughtful writing prompts, reflections from Jazz on their own writing practice and an invitation to reflect on how paying close attention can be threaded through our poetics. Whether you’re just starting out or already writing poetry regularly, this workshop will offer real talk, practical tools, and creative inspiration to help you connect more deeply with place, sharpen your voice, and write with clarity, care, and conviction.
Weaving Poetic Diamonds with Anne-Marie Te Whiu
12:30 - 2:30pm
Many writers have a second life – a side-project, another medium, the thing they make when no one is watching. A novelist who paints. An academic who crochets. A poet who moonlights as a silversmith.
Join Australian-Māori (Te Rarawa) poet, weaver, editor, producer and educator Anne-Marie Te Whiu in a workshop of exchange and ideas-building as she shares her creative side-hustle and invites you to share yours, forming connections between artists and artistic practices across form and process. Discover what happens when we let go of creative silos and let one artform spark another.
Participants are invited to bring along a sample of work produced alongside their poetry, such as ceramics, painting, photography, knitting and jewellery making. Participants will leave the workshop with drafts of two new poems and connections to other artists in the community. If participants wish to bring photographs of their side-hustle creations instead, they're welcome to do so.
Our Commonweath (Wink, Wink) with Luke Patterson
3:30pm - 5:30pm
Not every poem begins as a poem. Some begin as a recipe, a rumour, a family saying, a football chant, a shopping list, the wrong lyrics to a favourite song, or something your grandmother always said.
This workshop raids the living archive of stories, rituals, songs, sayings and everyday objects, asking what becomes possible when words are treated less as property than as part of a commonwealth. Through playful writing experiments, shared acts of making and small exchanges between participants, we’ll build a temporary commons of stories, images and borrowed phrases.
Together we’ll experiment with language as something carried, translated, gifted and held in our care, discovering how poems emerge from the lives words have lived before they reached us.
Expect playful, occasionally odd writing experiments, moments of collaboration and opportunities to borrow, gift or carry language for someone else. Equally, we’ll honour the right to keep a story in your own care. Listening, observing and choosing not to share are all part of the workshop.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Jazz Money is a Wiradjuri poet and artist. They are the author of the multi-award-winning poetry collections how to make a basket (2021) and mark the dawn (2024), and the illustrated children's book The Frog’s First Song (2025). Jazz’s first feature film WINHANGANHA (2023) was commissioned by the National Film and Sound Archive. As a visual artist, Jazz works with poetics to create immersive storied spaces. Their writing and art has been presented, performed and published around the world.
Anne-Marie Te Whiu (Te Rarawa) is a freelance poet, editor, cultural producer and weaver. Her central praxis focusses on artistic collaboration and platforming the sovereignty and amplification of Indigenous and POC artists. Anne-Marie has produced and curated festivals and events for over 20 years including the Queensland Poetry Festival which she co-directed from 2015-2017. She has guest edited multiple poetry collections and journals including the Woven anthology, Whisper Songs by Tony Birch, Solid Air: Australia & NZ Spoken Word and most recently the Cordite Journal: 116 Remember alongside Palestinian scholar and writer Micaela Sahaar. Mettle is her debut poetry collection published with University of Queensland Press.
Luke Patterson is a Gamilaroi poet, educator and musician living on Gadigal lands. His poetry has appeared in Cordite Poetry Review, Plumwood Mountain, Rabbit, Running Dog and The Suburban Review, and in the anthologies Active Aesthetics, Firefront: First Nations Poetry and Power Today and Best of Australian Poems 2025. His research and creative practice are grounded in extensive work with First Nations and other community-based organisations across Australia. His debut poetry collection, A Savage Turn, is out now with Magabala Books.
VENUE, PARKING and ACCESS
This is a seated event.
Parking onsite is limited to 11 cars, including 1 fully accessible spot. If you have access needs, please email varuna@varuna.com.auto request a suitable parking spot.
View an on-site map for parking and directions to Varuna and the Varuna Reading Room.
Drivers can drop-off their passengers onsite and then move to the recommended parking area.
Recommended parking is kerbside on Cascade St (not Sherman Av) and walking to Varuna's main entry on Cascade St or alternate entry on Sherman Av.
Varuna's driveway, car park and gardens are uneven and care is recommended when accessing the property at all times.
If you require T-loop, closed captions, Auslan interpreters or accessible parking, please contact Varuna directly on varuna@varuna.com.au or call 02 02 4782 5674 to speak to Erin English.