It was a cool night on April 18th

It was a cool night on April 18th when I headed into the warm light of the Wheatsheaf Hotel for an evening I’d been looking forward to for weeks. It was the public Speakeasy, where I’d mingle with fellow writers, friends, and all those who enjoyed the simple pleasure of having people read stories to them. The work was of the usual high standard, ranging from Chris Willis’ cheeky humour to the potent, hypnotic phrases of Melanie Pryor.

The moment I entered the back room, I felt the familiar buoying feeling of being here, among a friendly bunch of people who loved words, and a sprinkling of starry lights. Joseph Moore called our eyes to the stage with some casually lovely guitar and soft, paperbark tree vocals. Delana Carbone, our MC for the evening, spoke her whimsical words and evoked images of circus smiles and flights of imagination, and we kicked off the evening with Mister Mario Pilla. Our favourite flame-haired fiend sauntered onto the stage, armed as always with his usual witticisms and a poem or two. He humorously and eloquently outlined some concerns in 'To a Lady Who Took Offence When I Turned My Back on Her to Find Sleep', insisting that ‘tis not that you’re uncomfortable. ‘Tis more that I’m uncomfortable.’ And received a ‘standing ovation’ after encouraging the audience to participate in a game of standing and clapping.

There were plenty more laughs to follow as Chris Willis passionately related the epic tale of facing his annotated story drafts. ‘The thought of editing this piece makes me sad. Sadder than when Mufasa died!’ He spoke with great enthusiasm and his richly intertextual work flitted along with vivid imagination. Piri Eddy entertained us as well with a hilariously fast-paced metafictional piece, playing two characters at once as they argued about the difference between positivity and realism, and the limits of their power as invented characters. ‘The writer… He knows.’

The mood came down as we all settled in and Samuel Williams lulled us with a lullaby in a murmuring voice. He then told us a moving story about the anxieties of growing up in 'Staying Up All Night with Andy'. An older brother seeks independence, while the younger seeks the closeness and simplicity of the past. ‘Had he always been this naked in the bath? It seemed unthinkable.’ Susan Nelson used vivid, almost tangible description in her piece about the slow degeneration of a grandparent’s health—the fragility, brightness and speed of life. And Melanie Pryor hypnotised us as always with her words, flowing like water, and vivid imagery. ‘Bone, the symmetry of boundless existence … silhouettes of summer legs in the sun…’

Kenneth Nixon employed light humour and a quick, neurotic tone about a character searching for narrative and passion in even the most mundane places, and Dominiek Neall spoke of youth, beauty and family in his story about a young girl. ‘Mishka danced beside me like a large, ecstatic golden retriever.’ Peter Beaglehole was our final student reader, concluding the set with a humorous work about apprehension toward adult responsibilities and the loss of childhood ease. ‘Skinny bastards, with their exoskeletons. You never see a fat ant.’

Our lovely headliner, Kalinda Ashton, author of The Danger Game (2009), concluded the night with a fascinating piece about dissociative disorder. She described the illness with remarkable perception in 'I Can Remember Much Forgetfulness' as her protagonist struggled to explain his experiences to a shrink: ‘I don’t feel … that they are just confused memories … It is merely that I know that this life I have is not my own … [This life] is an underexposed photograph.’ I listened, captivated, to a story of a man separated from the life he thought he had a right to, and went home to a wife he feigned knowing at all, and did not love. It was tragic and funny and intriguing—the perfect story to end the night.

We had pizza delivered in the interval and a raffle at the end, with fabulous prizes organised by the Speakeasy team, headed by Threasa Meads and Alicia Carter. Chatting pleasantly for a while afterwards, I wondered what more I could want in an evening out. It was yet another magical night, wrapped in sweet narrative. .



 

 Reviewed by Miranda Richardson Miranda Richardson is a third year BCA: Creative Writing student at Flinders University. She loves cloudy days, sweets, and art in all its forms.

At the Wheatsheaf Hotel April 18

Joseph Moore is a singer-songwriter from Adelaide. He likes to think of himself as, that guy you hear in the background at the local pub, strumming the guitar, singing chimey and pretentious songs about love, loss, the state of the world, and being a sappy prick. This extraordinary optimism has earned him the admiration of Arts students and family members everywhere.

Kalinda Ashton is the author of the 2009 novel The Danger Game, and has published short fiction extensively in Australian literary anthologies and journals. She lectures in literature and creative writing at Flinders University.

Mario, Speakeasy veteran, whilst searching for an idea, accidentally happened upon three. One, he owes to tobacco, the ingestion of which, while considered very unhealthy nowadays, wasn't so unhealthy in the early 1800s. The other two he owes to Lord Byron, whom it was considered rather unhealthy to ingest in the early 1800s, but whose ingestion is very much encouraged now.

Chris Williss laboured long and hard trying to think of some witty and clever bio for you, some words that might impress or entertain you as a preface, if you will, for his story reading. However, as he sits, tea in hand, pen lid securely gripped between his teeth, legs sprawled on his bed, and his laptop between them and his toes facing upwards at an angle of approximately 45 degrees, he realised that he has, precisely, jack all. So he instead wrote this.

Susie Nelson is from England. She’s at Flinders studying a Graduate Diploma in Creative Writing. There are two things, well three really, that she’s most proud of having achieved in her life. The first two are her boys, James and Matthew. Her third achievement is having the courage to turn her life upside down and come to Australia, to get a different perspective on the world we inhabit, and improve her writing skills.

Ken Nixon enjoys university, history and the odd drop of Pimms around Christmas. This is nowhere near as interesting as the things he hates. At the top of this list are fussy felt patterns, BBC period pieces and writing bios! Piri Eddy is a writer. Sometimes he has trouble thinking of what to write. He plans on making a career out of it.

As we approach the London Olympics this year, Dominiek Neall is very disappointed that the poetry composition event is no longer running. Being absolutely craptastic at sports, Dominiek turned to poetry after accidentally shooting her P.E. teacher in the leg with a misguided arrow. Her prize-winning sonnet ‘You plus Me equals Eternity’ composed for Johnny Depp has resulted in high acclaim from Johnny Depp fan-girls and one restraining order from Mr Depp’s lawyers.

Samuel Williams is a third year BCA creative writer whose work has been published here and there. He's addicted to being frantically busy and having no time to scratch himself, so he likes snappy writing and short books – the shorter the better – and poems, so long as he doesn't have to spend hours trying to figure out what they mean.

Melanie Pryor’s work has featured in poetry competitions, street press and short story anthologies. She is studying Honours in Creative Writing, and has found a library growing in her house, full of gods and myths and all that falls in between. There are also a lot of abandoned cups of tea.

Peter Beaglehole is taking Honours in Creative Writing at Flinders University; he also performs as a musical comedian.

Delana Carbone

Speakeasy in the news on April 27