A BRUSH WITH POETRY'S NEW HOME

The former glass blowing studio behind Café on Queen

Hazel Hall from ACT & Wallendbeen

Lindsay (performer) and Gillian from ACT (left)

Greg Piko (co-MC) from Yass & ACT

Robyn Sykes from Binalong takes a break from her role as co-MC

A bunch of poets and poetry fans, a rustic former glass studio, views across to Balgalal Creek and beyond to bush and pasture lands, wattles in bloom — what more could you ask for? Café on Queen, Queen Street, Binalong is the new home for A Brush with Poetry. Jan Giles and Curly Sykes' hospitality includes an array of breakfasts, lunches and snacks, cakes, scones and cheese plates, a roaring fire in the back room, tables in sunny outdoor spots, plenty of space to stretch your legs, and currently, larger than life garden sculptures by Wayne Trethowan. 

Poets bask in the light pouring in through large windows, the audience is entertained by the performances and the wildlife outside and the stained glass window (designed by moi) casts its own colours. We were pleased to have over twenty regulars attend plus an extra half dozen café customers join us — excellent for a change of venue, on a long weekend (half the village is probably away), with major festivals in neighbouring towns! Today we heard free verse, bush poetry, performance poetry and haiku. It was sad, funny and dramatic. Congratulations to co-MCs Robyn Sykes and Greg Piko.

A Brush with Poetry is a Binalong Arts Group Inc (BAG) event coordinated by Robyn (also Pres of BAG). It welcomes poets and poetry performers of all styles, and sometimes singers and musicians, to its shared mike. They come from across the Canberra & Yass Valley region and from neighbouring regions. There are occasional featured poets. The next Brush with Poetry is on Sunday November 25. It kicks off at 2 pm but it's a good idea to arrive early and get your orders in ahead. Come for lunch. Bring a poem.

Meanwhile a huge thank you to the Black Swan Gallery (going through some changes) where Brush was hosted superbly for a number of years. 

(I'm a regular and also on the Brush working group.)